Tokyo - 1 Japanese Inn, 1 Capsules, 1 Hostel, 1 AirBnB & 5 Hotels I Stayed Before

What a long title. Plan to simplify it but it seems like plain boring. 

Searching for accommodations can be pretty tedious, especially when Tokyo has been labelled to be one of the most expensive cities and to keep within budget it's not an easy task. For this scenario, I always set a price range between RM200-300 per night for a hotel room of two. Before one proceed to book any sleeping accommodations, here are few tips I would like to share:

• Get to know the area you plan to stay cause Tokyo's main attractions are scattered around. Much of the Tokyo's budget stay including hostels can be found in the Taito area, especially Asakusa and Ueno. Taito area is not a bad idea to save your cost but bear in mind, in order to get to more popular areas like Shinjuku, Shibuya and Harajuku might takes 40 minutes to an hour by train. 
• The most cheapest option of course would be the capsule hotels but do take note, majority of them cater for male guest only. There are few can accommodate for female guests but quite limited. 
• Search for more affordable local chain hotels like APA, Sunroute, Smile, Tokyu Stay, Toyoko Inn and more. The rooms are usually tiny and cramped, but most of them are conveniently situated near to stations. 

That's all for my sharing. Now it's time to check out the kind of sleeping accommodations I stayed before. To date, I've stayed and experienced 9 different type of sleeping accommodations throughout my 6 trips to Tokyo. And normally I don't book the same accommodation when going back to the same country/city, unless that particular stay creates the best, a pleasant and unforgettable one.

1) House Ikebukuro

It's my maiden trip to Japan, thus my first time going to Tokyo. My friend did all the planning as well as the booking and she booked to stay at Tokyo House Ikebukuko. It's a Japanese-style room where we slept in tatami. Location wise, it sits in the calm neighborhood of Ikebukuro and once you walk further, there is vast array of shops and eateries. The toilet and bathroom is located outside of the room and it's shared. The icing on the cake? Free basic breakfast is provided every morning.

Date Stayed: 29th October - 2nd November 2010 (4 nights)
Room Rate Per Night: RM113
Nearest Station: JR Ikebukuro Station and Ikebukuro Subway Station


2) Smile Hotel Tokyo Asagaya

This is exactly the first conventional hotel I stayed when I went Tokyo in 2015 with my mom and my two younger brothers. Because two of my brothers were kinda huge in size, so I need to search for a room with two single beds, rather than a queen bed. Trust me, the queen bed doesn't fit them in. Smile Hotel Tokyo Asagaya is conveniently located adjoining to JR Asagaya Station. This is my family's favourite hotel because not just that there's a Starbucks, McD and plenty of eateries nearby but there is a 24 hours department store within the walking distance.

The downside of the hotel, the nearest metro station (Minami-Asagaya) takes approximately 10 minutes walk from the hotel. 

Date Stayed: 4th July - 11th July 2015 (7 nights)
Room Rate Per Night: RM280 per night for a twin bedroom.
Nearest Station: JR Asagaya Station


3) Smile Hotel Tokyo Nihonbashi

I wish to stay back at Smile Hotel Tokyo Asagaya (as above) but because the room rate shoot up dramatically after a year, no choice but to choose other hotel. Booked another local chain hotel, Smile Hotel again but this one is located at other area which is Nihonbashi. Probably because the location is in the heart of Tokyo, the rooms were indeed cramped and tiny. The advantage of booking this hotel is that it's so close to Kayabacho Metro Station, less than 5 minutes to Tokyo Metro Station. 

Date Stayed: 4th July - 11th July 2016 (7 nights)

Room Rate Per Night: RM448 per night for a twin bedroom and RM400 per night for a double-queen room. 

Nearest Station: Kayabacho Subway Station 

4) Tokyo Ekimae Bay Hotel

Before joining my friends for Hokkaido trip, I flew to Tokyo first. It's my first time to travel around the capital city all by myself. And I thought why not experience staying in capsule hotel since I never try it before after been to Japan quite a few times? This capsule hotel I booked is not that cheap as I expected but the ultimate reason why I booked here is because it is short distance to the bus terminal as I need to catch the earliest bus heading to Haneda Airport.  

Due to flight delayed and causing me to arrive at this hotel at wee hours, therefore I didn't have the chance to fully explore the whole hotel but what I know is that their services were exceptionally impeccable. Before I step into the capsule room, there are few row of lockers for the guests to store their bags. Unfortunately, it couldn't fit in my 26" luggage bag and so, I just left outside. Inside the locker, there's a Japanese Kimono robe for each guest to exchange before going to bed. 

Talking about their bathroom, I was totally "Wow" non-stop the moment I stepped in - spotless clean, bright and it smells good too. 

Date Stayed: 14th October - 15th October 2017 (1 night)

Room Rate Per Night: RM196 per night for a capsule room - female only.

Nearest Station: A 7-minute walk to JR Tokyo Station and a 2-minute to B1 Exit of Nihombashi Metro Station. 

5) Wise Owl Hostels Tokyo

Right after I done with Hokkaido trip with my friends, I went back to Tokyo again before leaving back to Malaysia. Like I mentioned earlier, I will not book the same hotel/hostel cause I love to experience new things. The reason behind why I booked here - simple, it's all because of Fukurou which indicates owl in Japanese. I'm big fan of owl. The rest, I'm sorry but nothing to shout out. 

Date Stayed: 23rd October - 24th October 2017
Room Rate Per Night: RM109 per night for a bed in female dormitory.
Nearest Station: Hatchobori Subway Station


6) AirBnB - Villa Minowa Tokyo

It's my virgin experience of booking AirBnB in Japan. The reason why I never thought of booking my sleeping accommodation through AirBnB before this is because it was heavily banned by the government, not until it is legalised in 2018. Guess I make a right choice of staying here because first, the host went above and beyond to ensure we have the best experience during our stay. Secondly, the whole place was sparkling clean as well as the bathroom eventhough it's separated and shared. Everything is well prepared and absolutely complete which making us feel like home sweet home instead. The best part, there is a 24-hour supermarket just across the road. What else can we ask for more? The link here.

Date Stayed: 13th March - 15th March 2018 (2 nights)
Room Rate Per Night: RM270 per night for a large private room.
Nearest Station: 2 minutes walk to Minowa Subway Station


7) Hotel Villa Fontaine Tokyo-Nihombashi Hakozaki

Hotel Villa Fontaine is another local chain hotel similar to Smile Hotel. Two reasons why I would recommend to stay at this hotel are because the limousine bus to/fro airports at the Tokyo City Air Terminal is only 1-minute walk from the hotel and another one is because there is a complimentary breakfast provided. Who can't resist free meal, right?

Date Stayed: 17th March - 19th March 2018 (2 nights)
Room Rate Per Night: RM320 per night for a double bedroom with free breakfast.
Nearest Station: 2-minute walk to Suitengume Subway Station


8) Sun Members Tokyo Shinjuku

For my recent trip to Tokyo which is end of June this year, I decided to book and stay at this hotel because it's the most closest to my client's hotel and still, within my budget. I don't want to stay at the same hotel as my guest cause it's significantly pricey. Of course I wish I could stay there as that particular hotel is quite popular and well-known but for the price of RM700 per night, I guess it's wise for me to pick other hotel instead. Choosing to stay at Sun Members Tokyo Shinjuku is not a bad idea after all because the room is pretty spacious than my client's room. 

Date Stayed: 27th June - 29th June 2019 (2 nights)

Room Rate Per Night: RM432 per night for a standard triple room.

Nearest Station: 550m away to Tochomae Subway Station and 15 minutes walk to Subway Main Station.

9) Hotel Listel Shinjuku

Just when I thought I will be staying the same hotel throughout the whole trip, out of sudden my client decided to change hotel cause the previous one she stayed kinda uncomfortable for her. Very cramp according to her. Therefore for my last two nights, I booked and stayed at Hotel Listel Shinjuku just to next to her newly booked hotel. Turned out the new hotel I booked, the room tend to be more cramp than the previous one I stayed. Another thing is I personally think that the location of this hotel is not that convenient and excellent comparing to all the hotels I stayed previously. So it's best not to book this hotel at all cost. 

Date Stayed: 30th June - 2nd July 2019 (2 nights)
Room Rate Per Night: RM269 per night for a small double bedroom.
Nearest Station: 10-minute walk to Shinjuku Sanchome Subway Station

Another thing you should take note when booking a double bed room is to make sure whether the bed is in semi-double (some use the term small double) or standard double queen size bed cause the first one is relatively smaller. Even my sister and her husband who are in average size felt that the semi-double bed is too squeezy for them.

After this, my next few upcoming posts are all about Japan, my favourite country! 日本が大好きです