Hotel Reviews – Japan

J Residence

Tokyo, Japan
6/4/2015 – 20/4/2015
External link to booking website (opens in a new tab)
Rating 4/5
Summary Very small flat but well designed
Review

Nice little apartment with tiny modular bathroom with bath and hot water, a/c, large fridge, single hob gas cooker, microwave, rice cooker, kettle, vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, iron, TV (no English channels), table and two chairs and cupboard.

Wired internet i.e you will need your own cable to connect a laptop and/or your own cable & wifi box to connect tablets and phones (not sure if they had these in reception for rental?)

Very well located for underground station and a couple of supermarkets.

Highly recommended.


Cleanliness Excellent Noise Quiet Staff Very Good
Breakfast No        
A/C Yes Fan No Fridge Yes
En suite Yes Hot & Cold Yes Kettle Yes
Cupboard Yes Desk No    
           

In Room Wifi Excellent Generator No Connecting Door No
TV Yes English Channels No USB/HDMI on TV No
Sockets >2 Lighting Good Balcony No
Drinking Water No Coffee/Tea No Soap & Towels Yes

Lift Yes Security Adequate Anti Mosquito None
Pool No Safe No    


Gojyo Ivy

Kyoto, Japan
20/4/2015 – 27/4/2015
External link to booking website (opens in a new tab)
Rating 4/5
Summary Very small flat could have done with a bit more space
Review Nice little apartment with tiny modular bathroom with bath and hot water, a/c, large fridge, single hob gas cooker, microwave, grill, rice cooker, kettle, vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, iron, TV (no English channels), table and two chairs, clothes rail and cupboards.  Could have done with a bit more room for preparing food.

Wired internet cable supplied for connecting a laptop but you would have to bring your own wifi box to connect tablets and phones.

Very well located for bus stop and a small supermarket.

Highly recommended.


Cleanliness Excellent Noise Quiet Staff Good
Breakfast No        
A/C Yes Fan No Fridge Yes
Ensuite Yes Hot & Cold Yes Kettle Yes
Cupboard Yes Desk Yes    
           

In Room Wifi Excellent Generator No Connecting Door No
TV Yes English Channels No USB/HDMI on TV No
Sockets >2 Lighting Good Balcony No
Drinking Water No Coffee/Tea No Soap & Towels Yes

Lift No Security Adequate Anti Mosquito None
Pool No Safe No    


Toyoko Inn

Osaka, Japan
27/4/2015 – 1/5/2015
External link to booking website (opens in a new tab)
Rating 4/5
Summary Small but well appointed room.
Review We had a room with two beds designed so that luggage could be slipped underneath for storage.   This was ok but a little inconvenient – the room could have done with being slightly larger (but what do you expect this is at the cheaper end of the range).

Room had TV (no English channels), WiFi (adequate although peer to peer was blocked), air conditioning, kettle, tea, tiny desk, hair dryer, safe, what looked like a trouser press, it even had a wall clock and a little emergency torch.  Also module bathroom with shower/bath with hot water and combined toilet and bidet.  Quite a lot for such a tiny room.

Buffet breakfast was very good – coffee, tea, rice, vegetables, pickles and sweet pastries.

We did have two very minor problems with this hotel.   Every morning they would telephone to ask us when we wanted the room cleaned and every morning we explained that for such a short stay there wasn’t a need for the room to be cleaned – we didn’t even need clean towels.  But we would find a carrier bag hanging on the door handle outside with a new set of towels.  So we would leave our “once used” towels outside and they would take them away but at one point we had 15 clean towels in room that was hardly big enough for the normal set of 5!   That was problem one – the hotel is hardly environmentally friendly.

Problem two was the incessant “when do you want your room cleaned” calls and the final call on the morning of our penultimate day where they told us that they would be cleaning the room because that was the rule.  So on our way out be spoke to the manager in reception and ended up having quite a heated argument.  Eventually convinced her that it wasn’t necessary to clean a hotel room every day especially when the guest doesn’t want it cleaned – but only after she told us it was her hotel, it was a company rule and she would have to check with head office!  We returned after our day out to find a little hand written note apologising for upsetting us and saying that they had waived the rule on this occasion and only for us – so expect your room to be cleaned daily whether you want it or not.

Officious but highly recommended.


Cleanliness Excellent Noise Quiet Staff Very Good
Breakfast Excellent        
A/C Yes Fan No Fridge No
En suite Yes Hot & Cold Yes Kettle Yes
Cupboard No Desk Yes    
           

In Room Wifi Good Generator No Connecting Door No
TV Yes English Channels No USB/HDMI on TV No
Sockets >2 Lighting Good Balcony No
Drinking Water Yes Coffee/Tea Yes Soap & Towels Yes

Lift Yes Security Good Anti Mosquito None
Pool No Safe Yes    

Note: Information is based on the room or rooms that we stayed in, although some may be gleaned from nosing around.