IMPREST STAY Tokyo Kamata

The rooms were spacious and clean, but the website photos felt misleading about how close the train is to the building. It runs right beside it every five minutes, and the place isn’t soundproofed. The trains continue until midnight and start again at 5 a.m.; the shaking from the spring beds didn’t help. They did provide earplugs. I’d avoid the third floor right next to the tracks. We also couldn’t get into the building for hours when we arrived. Apparently, the code we’d been given wasn’t updated for our door. Once we reached the owners, they gave us an emergency code and said to use it only once.

A heads-up for anyone booking: check-in is self-service. There won’t be anyone there to receive deliveries, which can be a problem if your luggage is being transferred from another hotel. You can also hear the trains from the rooms. The rooms are roomy and clean, with both air conditioning and a heater. There’s a nice, wide kitchen counter, and I appreciated the bathroom and laundry area.

The two-bed apartment was spacious by Japanese standards, but sleep was rough. Constant train noise affected the bedrooms, light came in from the neighboring property, and the mattress and pillow weren’t comfortable. There was no tea towel for drying dishes, the sofa was filthy and badly needed cleaning, and there weren’t any USB points.

The service was appalling, and the location made it impossible for us to sleep. The building sits right next to a railway bridge, with trains every five minutes until midnight and again from 5 a.m. It’s so close that the building shakes, and it’s extremely loud. We arrived exhausted after a flight and left after the first night because we couldn’t sleep. The host refused a refund for the rest of our stay, saying they hadn’t received any messages, and Booking was no help either. Future guests should be told clearly that getting a normal night’s sleep here may not be possible.