Anshin Oyado Shimbashi — Hotel in Tokyo

This was my first experience at a capsule hotel & I’d been curious to try for years. I was really pleased & highly recommend the Anshin Oyada. The staff will walk you through the facility, explaining how it all works, and provide a handy sheet in various languages for first time Capsule hotel guests. There are also signs all around guiding you to various amenities in Japanese and English.

Things you should consider before staying at this (and other?) capsule hotels. It is a different experience from a western style hotel. This one is single gender- just men. I think most are? It primarily serves the salarymen who work late or live very far away. There were some tourists, but they were very much the minority. Second, there are elements of Japanese style dorm/communal living: shared eating areas, shared areas for storing personal effects, but most significantly shared bathing areas. Before staying, decide if you are OK with, and willing to comport yourself as a Japanese person in the bathing areas. Most of the people here are locals and going to work. We should respect that.

Also, If you have luggage, verify they will allow it & you will be able to store it securely to your satisfaction. Some capsule don’t allow bags with wheels, or may have very limited storage space.

The corridors, elevators and common spaces in most Japanese buildings are are not large & common spaces are often quite crowded. Japanese people tend to be very, VERY polite and there are lots of unspoken rules governing interactions. In smaller space it is even more important. I find the experience generally enjoyable and appreciated the opportunity to be with people in a non-western way. Plan to be very mindful of the space you occupy in close quarters.

As mentioned above, the shower / bathing facilities are quite nice, though communal. So if you are not comfortable with that, or unwilling to be open to that, capsule hotels may not be a great fit for you. Using the shower room & grooming area in the morning was an experience- taking back to living in dorms. Most of the guests were getting ready to go to work.

The cafe provides a limited menu of free food & drinks. It also had a little Co-working space and a few massage chairs. WiFi speeds are OUTSTANDING- so I was able to get a little work done to boot!

They also provide communal use slippers and ‘pajamas’. People change out of their work clothes, clean themselves, then into the pajamas.

I wasn’t sure what to expect in the ‘capsule’. It felt spacious and cozy at the same time. though I am open-minded and will sleep most anywhere as long as I feel safe and can recline. There are several capsule floors. Each floor has a small bathroom area outside of the capsule room. You have a wristband with a badge you use to get into your floors sleeping room. The capsules are stacked two high. There are small steps & handles enable you to climb to the upper. Each capsule has a wall mounted TV, outlets, a fan, a light, a pillow and heavy blanket. The end of the capsule has a rolling shade you pull down when getting inside for visual privacy. I didn’t feel claustrophobic at all. There isn’t a lot of auditory privacy, but this is where the manners of Japanese people and awareness of appropriate behavior stands out.

People were very conscious about being quiet when in the capsule rooms. If you are a light sleeper, or can’t get comfortable with the idea of essentially sleeping in a very nice ‘barracks’, you might find any capsule hotel a challenging experience.

I did see on the the sheets that they list hotel style rooms, but didn’t see them. I was surprised at how much it cost- more than I expected. It was about $85 US, per person, per night.

I would absolutely stay again at a capsule, hotel and very much enjoyed this one. I wouldn’t want to have lots of luggage with me, or travel with someone who...

First of all, I need to clarify that I am not Japanese not Asian, which may absolutely make my opinion biased. ||I enjoyed every bit of my holiday trip in Japan up until the point I stayed in this hotel. What bothered me the most was how slow and inefficient everything was. Let me walk you through:||1) As you enter the hotel (male-only), you are asked to take off your shoes and use the sandals they provide (which is normal in Japan). You then need to put your shoes in a locker and give the staff your locker key so that they keep it and give you your room’s/luggage locker’s key. You have to do this every time you enter or go out, there’s no taking your room’s key outside of the hotel. This is an important annoyance and will always take several minutes. |2) If you have medium/big luggage you have to store in the first floor either in a very narrow locker or on top of it, with yet another locker/key the staff has to provide. You cannot take big luggage up to your room as there will be no space (room’s are in floors 4-6). |3) It is recommended (but not obligatory I think) that you wear some bath clothes the hotel provides (a brown, saggy outfit that is always too wide or too short where it’s not supposed to). Most of the passengers wear these as pijamas during their stay and change to regular clothes in the luggage storage room before they go out.|4) Baths and toilets are clean, modern, and provide every bath product you need (including styling products, toothbrushes and even mouthwash). There are many toilets and lavatories throughout the hotel but there are no private showers. The only existing showering area is that of the Onzen (basically about 20 open showers in a room where everyone gets cleaned before entering the hot bath). This is especially important for people who don’t feel comfortable being naked in public. The hot bath is ok.|5) Each room has a lot of capsules that are usually full, so do expect snoring and late-night comers. Still, it wasn’t very noisy to me. The capsules themselves are comfortable and fully equipped with cables and even a TV. The air gets kind of hot and thick at night but there is a common AC that compensates for that.|6) Breakfast consists of onigiris (rice triangles with various stuffings) that you make yourself with a vending machine. The ingredients and tastes are a lot stronger and maybe unpleasant for a westerner compared to the onigiris you can get in a market.||So, in conclusion, if you are familiar with Japanese culture and food, this may be a decent stay especially considering the location and if you like onzens. To me it wasn’t much of a cultural shock but I disliked my stay. The staff barely speaks any english, they are slow, and the huge mess with keys and luggage and shoes is just not worth it. I will not come back again, even if it means paying double for a...

First of all, I need to clarify that I am not Japanese not Asian, which may absolutely make my opinion biased. ||I enjoyed every bit of my holiday trip in Japan up until the point I stayed in this hotel. What bothered me the most was how slow and inefficient everything was. Let me walk you through:||1) As you enter the hotel (male-only), you are asked to take off your shoes and use the sandals they provide (which is normal in Japan). You then need to put your shoes in a locker and give the staff your locker key so that they keep it and give you your room’s/luggage locker’s key. You have to do this every time you enter or go out, there’s no taking your room’s key outside of the hotel. This is an important annoyance and will always take several minutes. |2) If you have medium/big luggage you have to store in the first floor either in a very narrow locker or on top of it, with yet another locker/key the staff has to provide. You cannot take big luggage up to your room as there will be no space (room’s are in floors 4-6). |3) It is recommended (but not obligatory I think) that you wear some bath clothes the hotel provides (a brown, saggy outfit that is always too wide or too short where it’s not supposed to). Most of the passengers wear these as pijamas during their stay and change to regular clothes in the luggage storage room before they go out.|4) Baths and toilets are clean, modern, and provide every bath product you need (including styling products, toothbrushes and even mouthwash). There are many toilets and lavatories throughout the hotel but there are no private showers. The only existing showering area is that of the Onzen (basically about 20 open showers in a room where everyone gets cleaned before entering the hot bath). This is especially important for people who don’t feel comfortable being naked in public. The hot bath is ok.|5) Each room has a lot of capsules that are usually full, so do expect snoring and late-night comers. Still, it wasn’t very noisy to me. The capsules themselves are comfortable and fully equipped with cables and even a TV. The air gets kind of hot and thick at night but there is a common AC that compensates for that.|6) Breakfast consists of onigiris (rice triangles with various stuffings) that you make yourself with a vending machine. The ingredients and tastes are a lot stronger and maybe unpleasant for a westerner compared to the onigiris you can get in a market.||So, in conclusion, if you are familiar with Japanese culture and food, this may be a decent stay especially considering the location and if you like onzens. To me it wasn’t much of a cultural shock but I disliked my stay. The staff barely speaks any english, they are slow, and the huge mess with keys and luggage and shoes is just not worth it. I will not come back again, even if it means paying double for a...