1899 Hotel — Hotel in Tokyo

(Text added after flight back home)

IN A NUTSHELL This is a tea themed boutique hotel suitable for those who would like to learn more about japanese culture and have a quiet stay within the city centre (Shimbashi is only a one stop away from Ginza subway and 3 stops away Tokyo JR). It is good both for first comers to Tokyo, or those who have visited many times and want to look for a special accomodation experience.

DO NOT COME if ....

— you want convenience for transport. It is a solid 10 minute walk to Shimbashi station (JR and subway) and the restaurants around the station. After a long day of sightseeing the walk can be quite tiring.

— you have hyperactive kids speeding back and forth the breakfast area hallway. Honestly this is not a hotel for family. The hotel sells tranquility and your misbehaving kid will spoil all that and affect the other kids to misbehave. Spilling hot tea or coffee on their head is not a laughing matter, we don’t want it to happen to your child. If you choose to stay here, please be an effective and responsible parent. Don’t just feed them or play with your phone, teach them manners and safety concept, thank you!

這是一家販賣安靜環境的酒店, 包括住客也要有紀律才可以安靜. 不適合帶太活躍的小屁孩來住. 在早餐區有男孩故意揮舞雙臂奔來奔去一邊大叫很討厭, 其他桌的孩子也有樣學樣在賽跑, 要知道食客都捧着食物跟飲料, 萬一被熱茶跟食物淋倒就不知要怪誰了.

另外登記時. 有兩個大約大學年紀講美式英語的女生在大堂收行李, 卡住櫃檯, 我要側身走過去, 那亞裔女生沒在怕, 一箱一箱慢慢收, 收了十多分鐘, 在大堂擺地攤那樣很難看, 大堂很小沒有空間做這種事, 會擋到別人, 要收請盡快, 不要把大堂當自己房間, 請自律!

TEA the room gives you a cool Balmuda filter teapot and a full set of ceramic teapot/cups, yet the tealeafs is provided in forms of teabags which do not match the high tech image built up by the ambience and equipment provided. It feels a bit odd as it’s supposed to be the theme of the hotel, I was looking forward to having a tea party when I read reviews of “4 types of tea” and felt some sort of anticlimax to see the teabags. if you ask to clean up room, they will refill the teabags by random. So you may get to drink other flavors from their hotel selection.

The receptionists act as teamasters as well. If you happen to have time 15:00-22:00 you can ask them to serve you. (and won’t be in teabags!)

ROOM The room design is compact and functional, lots of free amenities and pyjamas, and a tea themed lamp, I particularly like this small table that can be swiftly pushed from the sofa/couch area to the bedside, so you can enjoy tea anywhere in the room.

MEAL the hotel has taken past comments by heart and improved their breakfast, now not only you have toasties, you will also have eggs, sausage and Japanese grilled fish, chicken and veggies to choose from. But it’s no hotel buffet, that’s true, if you ask for variety after a few days stay. For one to two nights it’s very good.

Not so good points: cutlery, The plates they use are 2400 yen - 3000 yen (each) designer plates by Arita, but the cutlery are all plastic and you drink from plastic/paper cups. if you are a westernized guest you need to eat your scrambled egss on a plate.... with chopsticks. and the wood used to make the chopsticks are very fragile and breaks easily. Proper cutlery would have matched the plates and the ambience of the hotel better.

SERVICE Everything the users here said is true. Staff are friendly and helpful, but as it’s opened only for four five months, they still need some warm up. when the hot water machine in the breakfast area was emptied, I asked for help and the staff still took a while to figure out the obvious (no more water). During check in, Instead of being told the check out time, I was told I can check out at anytime with the tablet in the room, so I asked again to double check that this is really true, and the answer was still "yes you can check out anytime"; but when i came back on the last day to pick up luggage at 5pm, I realised my room is locked and "anytime" means "anytime before 12:00nn". This lost in translation moment was resolved, or else i would have to pay one full day...

AKA the tea hotel.|For our final accommodation of this year’s Japanese adventure, we stayed at the opposite end of Ginza from where we began. ||Once again, a lift took us up to the airy lobby, which features an inviting tea room. More on that later.||This hotel had the smallest bedroom of the three we stayed in, although we planned to be mostly out anyway. However, this doesn’t mean a cut in amenities. Oh no. We still had customary PJs, which were more akin to nightshirts, waiting for us on the bed. This small bed is up against the far wall with a TV and slim shelf on the opposite wall. They managed to fit in a tiny sofa and coffee table next to a luggage shelf. There is storage space under the bed too. ||Storage||Open wardrobe with four quality regular wooden hangers and a shelf above||Slim shelves under the TV and around the bed.||A narrow cupboard next to the fridge, which we used for clothes storage during our final two days after removing the glasses and other items||A narrow shelf housing the tea service||One deep drawer||Bathroom||Bathtub||Plenty of mini toiletries||Hand soap||Hand shower over the bath||Towel rack with additional towel rail underneath||Amenity kit including cotton buds, and of course, toothbrushes||Food and refreshments||This hotel elevated the Japanese tea experience. We had a special kettle that not only allowed us to select the temperature but also featured a super thin pouring spout. Immediately added it to my ‘most wanted list’. In addition, we had a teapot, two Japanese tea cups and a little empty pot for tea bags.||On the last day, I was exhausted and had aching muscles and we decided to request a tea ceremony in the lobby. By this, I mean we selected a complimentary tea from the menu, and a beautiful ceremony unfolded in front of us. There was no waiting, no reservations, and no need to leave the hotel.||There is a fabulous café on the ground floor where we enjoyed lunch on our first day before heading out for the penultimate day of this Japanese adventure. I ordered a signature latte drink just as we were finishing lunch. I can’t recall what it was, but I watched them make it. It took two people, a good five minutes to craft this with the customary love and care that only the Japanese dispense in bucket loads.||Amenities||Two different pairs of slippers so we know which ones belonged to us||Kimono/nightshirts||Fabric refresher||Dehumidifier||Fridge||The variety of lights was fun from the book reading light to the floor lighting and all controlled from the bedside.||Lots of USB and other charge points||Safe (in a drawer as has been the case in all three hotels)||TV on wall opposite bed (ditto)||So we ended our trip with another fine hotel and a Japanese tea...

Hotel 1899 is a new, tea-themed boutique hotel in Tokyo. This is one of my favourite hotels in Tokyo. I stayed at about half a dozen other hotels in Tokyo over the years.

Room: The design here is beautiful and thoughtful. Rooms are small (average sized for Tokyo) however their layout is highly functional. Minimalist, clean design is broken up with unique pieces such as the lamp that resembles a matcha whisk. The bed is hard but comfortable and there is a nice seating area by the window. Our room was on the 9th (top) floor so we could catch the very top of Tokyo Tower. A luxurious touch is all the great in room amenities: matcha waffle cookies, nice tea selection, fancy toiletries.

Hotel: I love that the entire hotel is non-smoking. It's also accessible for people in wheelchairs and for baby strollers. Breakfast which is a nice mix of Japanese and Western food is served in the cafe. In the evenings, the helpful reception staff make tea to order including matcha.

Location: The location is really the only potential downside to 1899. It's located about 10-15 minutes walk from several different metro or JR stations which could be too far for some people. The closest attraction is Tokyo Tower.

Staff: The staff are the best part of the hotel! Reception staff are warm, helpful and fluent in English. Housekeeping staff do an amazing job also. Special thanks to Naoki-san from reception for her help.

I would highly recommend Hotel 1899 for anyone who likes unique spaces with genuinely...