Shinjuku East Hotel

The rooms are small, as I expected, and being dated is understandable for a cheap place. For one or two nights it might be fine, but I stayed 10 nights. The deal breaker was the so-called non-smoking rooms. I’m sure nobody had smoked in them for a while, but they were probably smoking rooms before. The plastic was yellowed, and running the AC or heater filled the room with stale cigarette smoke smell. I ended up with a stuffy nose and slept badly because I was cold and needed to turn on the heat.

The desk staff were terrific, friendly, and always greeted us whenever we passed reception. The hotel is in a great spot, around a 10-15 minute walk from the main train station, with other private train lines closer. The rooms were small, as expected, and generally clean, though there was a bit of mould in the bathroom. On the third day I bought a ¥300 bottle of mould remover across the road, sprayed it on, left it for 30 minutes, then rinsed it away. I had no more trouble with mould for the rest of my stay. It’s a shame the cleaning staff don’t take care of this themselves, as that kept the rating from being higher.

The endless choice of places to eat nearby is a big plus, and it’s only a few minutes’ walk to sanchome station. Convenience ruled the day, and I’d stay here again. The apartment was bigger than typical Tokyo accommodation, though much of the extra space was made up of huge patios that weren’t very usable. There were two of us in the three-bedroom apartment. Two rooms had two single beds each, while the third was a partitioned area in the kitchen with a single bed. None of the room doors had locks, and there was no safe. There was one toilet room and one room with a shower and tub. The apartment had just one small TV, in the kitchen, and it looked like a relic from 20 years ago, with Japanese channels only. The kitchen had all the appliances and utensils needed for cooking. Everything had Japanese writing and labels, so if you don’t read “kanji,” make sure you have google translate. Check the cups: the first coffee cup I picked up still had a lipstick mark, and the next had a hardened coffee ring around a stain at the bottom.

The place is old and outdated, though in decent condition, and at that price I didn’t think it was worth it. I asked to change my booking from four nights to three, but they told me to cancel and re-book. Doing that would have cost as much as staying three nights.