Hotel Gracery Ginza

The hotel has plenty of upscale shops and restaurants nearby, and you can walk to shinbashi for more local places to eat. The lobby is a comfortable spot overlooking Ginza streets, with free basic drinks, and the luggage room has lockers and security straps. For the price and location, this is a great hotel. I stayed one night in a room with two single beds, spacious by Tokyo standards. The rooms aren't brand new, though they looked better in person than in the pictures. There are thoughtful practical touches, like water and ice stations on every floor, multi-connector charging cables, and a nightlight and foot light on each headboard. The amenities bar has sheet face masks, bath salt, face cleanser and lotion, toothbrushes, and more. There's also a cute herbal bar where you can mix your own blend to help with sleep.

The location was unbeatable for shopping, the metro, and places to eat. When I got tired, I could pop back to the hotel, drop off my bags, rest, and head out again. The staff were always around if I needed help, even with umbrellas, and the lobby had a great selection of useful amenities with products I really liked. The rooms were small, as you'd expect in Tokyo, and it was hard to open all my luggage at once.

Getting to the lobby takes an elevator from the small entrance on the first floor, across from the Lion Beer Hall building. The lobby itself is on the third floor, with free drinks and a small place to wait. There's just one restaurant, Sakura, serving a Japanese-style breakfast buffet. Paid laundry is available, with separate cashless payments for the washer and dryer. You can leave your bags in the secure, self-service locker area beside the laundry machines. There's even a luggage scale in front of the waiting area, handy for checking your bags before heading to the airport and avoiding overweight check-in fees. It's a small boutique-style hotel. The staff were friendly and helpful, especially the cleaning team, and the bathroom was clean, though a little dated.

The room was quiet, and there was enough space for my two suitcases. After I switched from an inward-facing room overlooking drab stairs, I had a much better view from a higher floor. Housekeeping also gave me extra towels when I arrived, which was a nice touch. The free early check-in at noon was available if I filled out a form for their free membership. It's a good-value hotel for Ginza, with an excellent location, but it has its flaws. The room was okay sized for Tokyo, though not particularly clean, with ignored carpet corners, and it felt old, like everything was frozen in time. The bed was clean. The shower head was awkward to use on its wall mount because I couldn't easily adjust its height or angle, so I held it most of the time. The front desk is on the third floor.