Stays: Toyoko Inn Tokyo Shinagawa-eki Takanawa-guchi
i’ve been reading about how small japanese business hotels are, and i’m glad to report that the rooms are compact, but in no way the claustrophobic terrors that they are painted to be in online reviews. granted, there’s only space for the bed, the desk, and space for two unpacked luggages, but the room felt bigger than it was.
i highly recommend the shinagawa branch of the tokoyo inn chain of business hotels. (not that the other branches aren’t up to par; i haven’t stayed in any others!) the location is excellent for those flying in from (and out of) haneda airport, there’s excellent ramen just across the street, the heater’s powerful enough to keep the 10 degrees cold air out, and as a bonus, the breakfast’s pretty decent!
the best thing about breakfast: it’s freshly baked in their own kitchen! you can peek in at the baker’s from the the dining area. it doesn’t have as much variety as full-service hotels, but it’s got that homely feel.
What's left of the hotel buffet at 8am.
Our shared breakfast.
we arrived about 7am, showed the receptionist our printed reservations (no deposit required), and paid up. they don’t have a proper luggage storage room, and instead, anything you leave behind will be stashed next to the receiption area and loosely secured together with all the other left luggage under a net.
when we returned at about 11pm, a different receptionist handed us our keys, and – surprise! gave me a choice of two sets of toiletries/cosmetics to choose from! i can’t read japanese so i have no idea what i was picking, but my limited kanji knowledge suggested that i just scored 4 different types of facial care. only for the ladies – the men don’t get it. 
one last handy tip – if you’re going to stay in tokoyo inn hotels for more than 10 days, you could consider getting a tokoyo inn club membership. up till end march 2011, membership’s at a promotional rate of ¥1500. you’ll be rewarded with 1 free stay after every 10 days of stay, and you get 30% off room rates for sundays and public holidays. membership details available on their website, and you can sign up at any toyoko inn receiption.
tokoyo inn (shinagawa)
check-in/check-out: 1600 / 1100
price: ¥9250 for a double room (includes breakfast. wi-fi and two internet terminals are available in the lobby.)
address: 4-23-2, Takanawa Minato-ku, Tokyo
url: http://www.toyoko-inn.com/e_hotel/00029/ (reservations online, up to 3 months in advance)to get there:
exit at shinagawa station, turn left. cross the road, continue in the same direction, and you’ll find it on your right within 5 minutes. there’s also a very handy map on the toyoko inn website.
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