Shimane Inn Aoyama

The room was quite old, but it was clean and reasonably spacious, which I appreciated. I stayed for three nights and felt a bit uneasy about the male receptionists. There were several, and the difference between the friendly ones and the arrogant, brusque ones was striking. Both of the latter were elderly. Every day, one of them handed me the key with one hand while busy with something else, without even looking at me. I was surprised. The female receptionist was kind.

I stayed here on March 19, 2019, for business in Omotesando since it was fairly close. It was ¥9300 per person with breakfast. The room size was fine for a business traveler given the location, and despite being on Roppongi Street, the double-glazed windows kept it surprisingly quiet. A humidifier in the room would have made me rate it higher.

The walk from Shibuya Station is just under 20 minutes, and Omotesando Station is about 15 minutes away. There are quite a few gentle slopes along the way, and when I walked back around 11 PM, the streets were almost empty. Breakfast comes in Japanese and Western styles, with around six soft drink options. The wall-mounted hairdryer took ages to dry my hair, and a lot of the staff seemed unfriendly.

I booked a non-smoking room because my mother was hospitalized nearby, but the room smelled strongly of cigarettes. They seem to hand out rooms without keeping smoking and non-smoking bookings separate, so watch out for that. The front desk service wasn't very good either. As they say, you get what you pay for.