Ugard Shimomaruko

The worst part was how little cleaning had been done. There was hair everywhere, white bodily fluid stains on the pillows, and dirt in the kitchen, bathroom and fridge. The kettle still had water left by the previous tenants. When we arrived after a full day of travel, there was no hot water, so we couldn't even shower. We called the number in the instructions and found out a large rental company owned the building. They had no idea what it looked like and first gave us misleading directions for fixing the problem. Eventually, they told us to fix the gas boiler ourselves, which didn't work. After we argued, they said someone would come the next day to look at it and clean again. We didn't want to leave our things with a stranger, so we agreed on a time and waited. The accommodation stopped communicating, nobody came, and we left nearly an hour after the agreed time. When we came back, the water had been fixed and they said it had been cleaned, but it was still dirty and the stains on the pillows remained. Almost nothing had changed. We were angry and tired by then. Booking's English support didn't help, and we couldn't afford to move, so we had to stay. At least we explored Tokyo and only returned late in the evenings. The internet barely worked, and neither did the phone service, which we assumed was due to the concrete building. We knew the place would be small, but the layout was so poorly thought out that there was nowhere for clothes or bags. The washing machine was useless without a dryer function; shelves or a wardrobe would have been much better. It took us a month after leaving to write this. If you respect yourself, avoid this place. If you have to stay, keep it to 1-2 nights and hope nothing goes wrong, because the rental company handles communication and problems horribly.

I stayed five nights at this apartment-style hotel, which is a few minutes from Shimomaruko Station and seems suited to longer stays. It was very clean and comfortable, with a thorough cleaning between guests. There are cooking facilities, but plenty of restaurants nearby too, so you can do either. Working remotely is also possible.

We stayed for seven days. The place was neat and clean, and had what we needed: a table, chairs, air conditioning, a washing machine and a bathroom dehumidifier. There aren't any closets, but that wasn't a deal-breaker.