Tokyu Stay Takanawa (Shinagawa Area)

The hotel is conveniently located above the Sengakuji Station which serves both the Asakusa Line and Keikyū Line (the latter goes straight to the Haneda Airport Terminals). If you are coming from Haneda with luggage, make sure you use the A2 exit as it’s the only one with an elevator and is the closest exit to the hotel. The Takanawa Gateway Station which serves the Yamanote Line and Keihin-Tōhoku Line is about a 5 minute walk. Between these two stations, you can pretty much get anywhere in Tokyo directly or with one transfer. The hotel itself was in very good condition and felt pretty new. The staff was friendly and efficient - both check-in and check-out was quick and smooth. If you forget any toiletries, the hotel provides an assortment of things for free that you can take from a little table by the elevators. The hotel offers “Limited Housekeeping” which means that they will exchange towels and empty your garbage - that’s it. I was rarely in my room except to sleep, so it was not an issue. The room was surprisingly big at 18 sq m (~193 sq ft) for the smallest room in the hotel. For comparison, the APA Hotel next door’s smallest room is 11 sq m (~118 sq ft). They packed a lot of amenities into the room - a microwave, washer/dryer, a mini-fridge, pants press, hot water kettle, in-room safe, air purifier, slippers, hangars, etc. The washer/dryer was excellent, and the hotel provided complimentary detergent which was a nice touch. I would suggest running small loads - otherwise drying will take forever. Having a washer/dryer allowed me to bring only a carry-on for my week-long winter trip to Japan. My comfort double room had a double bed that was a bit on the firm side, but was comfortable enough - I slept well every night and that’s all that mattered to me. The bathroom was pretty basic, but the water pressure was great, and it was nice to relax in the tub after a long day of walking. Also, the vast majority of the rooms have no view as they look directly at the outside wall of the neighboring buildings. I believe units 8 and 9 on each floor face the street in front and units 18-20 face the cemetery of Ganshōji next door. On the plus side, the room was incredibly quiet given the hotel's location. My only complaint about the room was that there was very little room to store clothes because there was no closet or wardrobe. I brought very few clothes, so it didn’t really matter for me, but I think it might bother some people. The buffet breakfast at the Bumblebee Café in the lobby costs about $12 at current exchange rates. It had some standard western fare (e.g. yogurt with fruits, sausage, scrambled eggs, toast, etc), but it leaned more heavily towards the Japanese breakfast (e.g. miso soup, ochazuke, pickles, white rice, natto, etc.). It also had some random items like salad, chicken karaage, and meatballs. I wouldn’t call it gourmet, but for $12, it wasn’t bad. I paid about $90 per night for a six night stay in Tokyo, which I thought was a great deal given the hotel’s location and the in-room washer/dryer. The photos of the rooms on the hotel website are pretty accurate, so I am including photos of things that were not shown.

Accommodations were great. The breakfast meal was delicious with great selection. The staff were so incredibly kind and helpful. We needed help to ship our luggage to our next hotel. They were so patient with us in that process. We paid at this hotel and received our luggage at our next hotel the next day with a note from Tokyu Stay Takanawa. The shipping costs for the luggage were slightly miscalculated, and they kindly gifted us a gift card of a higher value as an apology. I am blown away by this customer service. If I ever find myself in Japan again, I will be staying at this hotel again. Highly, highly recommend.