Ice Mountain Guest House

The comfortable beds, strong heaters, daily fresh towels, free toothbrushes and slippers, and discounts on cafe food and drinks were all good. We could also leave our luggage there for a while before and after checkout. Soundproofing varies by room, but ours was pretty good. On the second floor, we had bathrooms downstairs. The stairs were steep and a bit difficult going down, though the downstairs bathrooms were fairly clean. Noise wasn’t as bad as some reviews suggested. The soap and shampoo weren’t watered down, the water tasted fine, and there is a mirror in the common room. I only had two complaints: no toilet paper was replenished in the upstairs bathrooms, so we took some from downstairs, and by later in the week hair had collected in all the women’s shower drains, along with some period blood that wasn’t cleaned. I’d suggest adding mirrors in the rooms and a stair railing. The stairs aren’t really up to the employees, who were relaxed and did their best.

The shared toilet serves both men and women, and there’s only one. The rooms are bare-floored and poorly soundproofed, so people walking through the common areas can disrupt the rest of your day. There’s a washing machine, but its detergent was empty and nobody refilled it; the drying function didn’t work either. The shower water stayed very cold even at its hottest setting. After showering, you have to climb back up the narrow, steep outdoor stairs, which are cold as well. There’s no lift, so you also have to haul heavy luggage up those stairs. All in all, it was a very bad experience. I don’t think anyone would want to stay here.

The rooms were quiet enough, towels were clean each day, and the hotel wasn’t too far from the train stop. Still, I wouldn’t stay here again if I visit Tokyo. I spent six nights on the second floor, and my only complaint besides the shower location was the route to get there. You leave the second-floor dorm, go down sheltered steps to the first floor, then take a very steep staircase with no railing to the basement showers. Going down felt much worse than coming back up because of the risk of slipping or falling.

It’s about a seven-minute walk to the station, and check-in was easy. Staff replied quickly, and there were plenty of replacement towels in the shower room. But I don’t think this is good value. For a little more money, I’d choose a hotel with a more convenient bathroom. The basement toilet is outdoors, so every shower means going down narrow outside stairs in the cold. There’s no mirror in the room either, which makes getting ready inconvenient. The walls are very thin: you can clearly hear other guests talking and people coming and going. For a guesthouse, I thought the place wasn’t cleaned properly. The soap didn’t work, the sink was dirty, the soap seemed diluted with water, and my towel had dark spots on it.