Issyuku Hotel Kaminarimon

My reservation was for Tokyo 2020, but Japan’s travel ban on foreign nationals meant I couldn’t enter the country. I contacted the apartment through Booking.com to explain and ask for my deposit back. After two follow-ups, I still got no reply. Booking.com customer service got involved, but the apartment refused the refund. When I called, someone who spoke Chinese and very little English said they’d deal with it within a week. Months went by without an update. It was disappointing that the host showed so little flexibility over circumstances beyond my control. Friends with reservations at locally owned Japanese hotels and hostels got full refunds during the same travel ban, even on non-refundable bookings. Update: Booking.com told me I qualified for free cancellation, so I thought that meant a refund was possible, especially since many Japanese hotels were refunding travelers who couldn’t come because of the ban, including people with non-refundable reservations. The phrase “free cancellation” felt misleading. I also sent evidence that foreign nationals couldn’t enter Japan for the Olympics, but was told it didn’t prove I couldn’t travel. I hoped the host would understand why I couldn’t use the booking. Canceling earlier would also have given them more time to find another tenant, since local spectators were still allowed to attend then.

Close to the Metro, and near the main road in Asauksa Central.

The mattress was the one real letdown: I could feel its springs while lying on it, and it should be replaced. Otherwise, the accommodation was clean and good, with a well-equipped kitchen and the convenience of two bathrooms. We stayed four nights, and the location worked well.

For a group, this place works really well. The room feels warmer and more spacious than you might expect, and there's room to sit around and have a drink. I'd rather stay here and spend the money saved on other things than pay for an expensive hotel.