APA Hotel Asakusa Tawaramachi-Ekimae — Hotel in Tokyo

We’ve been to many APA hotels in Japan but in particular in Asakusa district, our favourite ward to stay in Tokyo. APA is true to its quality and customer service always maintaining the highest level of quality in its room and hotel facilities plus a superb customer service experience from its staff. What we loved about APA hotel is their complete toiletries and ammenites provided in your rooms whatever size you booked. Everything you need in a room is there - cleanliness, comfy beds, table, excellent lighting, big TV, fast WIFI, hot tub and Japanese toilet, Yukatas, and lots of toiletries and ammenities all part of your booking. Check-in and check-out was also fast, smooth and easy.||We decided mid-Autumn to visit Tokyo and stay again at Asakusa, our favourite place in the big city. We’ve never been to Tawaramachi area of Asakusa which also has a station in Ginza line. So while looking for a place to stay we found early via Agoda - APA Hotel Tawaramachi Ekimae, a Double room non-smoking for 3 nights at just 350 SGD++ - what a gread deal it was on a weekend. Its also the first time we booked an APA hotel with a Public Onsen facility provided so were pretty excited and we know how classy and elegant APA hotels are. Our expectations will be met that’s for sure but little did we know that this is also one of the closest APA hotels to a Tokyo train station. Getting here, the fastest is to alight at Tawaramachi station just beside Asakusa station via Ginza line. There are 3 exits that will lead you to this hotel but Exit 1 using the Lift is the fastest just 3 mins walk to your right. The hotel is perhaps one of the biggest APA and check-in is at 3 PM, standard for Japanese hotels. If you’re room is ready you have the option for early check-in for 1K Yen per hour. They can also offer late check-out for 2K Yen per hour. We left our bags first and went to University of Tokyo to check its Autumn foliage before coming back around 3 PM for check-in.||It was pretty busy when we arrived since its the standard check-in time and little did we know this is one of the most popular APA hotels in this area with lots of tourists booked. So we fell in line first with the other guests checking in and it took about 30 mins. So tip - don’t check-in exactly at 3 PM because this is the same time other guest maybe checking in. We did self check-in with assistance from the Lady staff and we were booked at 9F. The layout of this APA hotel is similar to some of theirs with an outdoor/open air concept at the center of the hotel - so you would feel the chilly autumn air in their hallways so better suite up when you get out of your room. As expected or more than our expectations, the room/toilet is quite big, spacious and super clean and tidy when we came in. Its perhaps the biggest APA hotel room we were booked in. Even though it says 12 sqm it feels more than that. The difference here is the bed - there is not space under the bed for your bags but because the room is so big we didn’t need it. Upon entering, toilet/tub is on your right and is definitely bigger than the one we have in Ekimae. As said, they will shower you with generous toiletries and amenity kits. Their signature APA hotel body shampoo have that aromatic scent that gives you a relaxing vibes. Water pressure is strong and heating is easy to use and manage. Tub is easy to fill and just the perfect size of Japanese toilet bowl. There is a luggage rack across the toilet and the pathway have space for your luggages. Full body mirror just ahead of the rack and the big flat screen wall mounted TV beside it. The full on complete study table is just beside the toilet with its signature brightly lit APA lighting. Here you can find their signature booklets and magazines and a very bright mirror. On the left is where the Kettle/Phone and Mini-fridge are located. They provide complimentary water on the first night. Then next to the table is the very big Double bed - true to its fine, high quality bed, blankets and pillows provided only by APA. Their soft and comfy, clean and relaxing. Our room also has an in-house Air Purifier, Slippers, Shoe Horn and Yukatas provided and replenished daily. The hotel can do Daily housekeeping upon your request.||As mentioned, this is the only APA hotel with Public onsen located at the 14F separated between Men and Women. Just use your Room key cards to enter and upon entering your would see shoe lockers for your slippers right away. Then proceed to the locker/powder room area where you could pick any free lockers. They provide weighing scale and the coin laundry is here - only 2 so wasn’t able to wash due to long lines. This place could be crowded especially at night so try to do some time mgmt. Once you put your towels and clothes then proceed to the shower area Japanese sit down style to cleanse yourself. They have 2 onsen - indoor and outdoor. The indoor is jacuzzi style and less hotter than the outdoor which is 2 private small tubs and a big common tub. The outdoor pools are hotter but their perfect for cold weather. Onsen is pretty clean, spacious and well managed. It is open till midnight before re-opening again at 6 AM. I got to enjoy, relax and rest well at their Onsen every night following a long day of walking and travelling.||Check-out was self-managed and we just dropped our key cards. It was indeed a great and comfortable stay only at APA hotel Tawaramachi Ekimae because of its proximity to subway station, modern complete rooms with lots of toiletries/amenity and of course the relaxing public Onsen which saves us money from trying outside ones. Keep up the Exceptional work and service provided APA hotel Tawaramachi Ekimae we had the most fabulous stay during our recent Tokyo Autumn trip and will surely come back again - definitely the best APA hotel in Japan. See you soon!!!...

ChatGPT

You said: Can you improve my review,

Chaotic would be an understatement. You queue up in the masses before being crammed on to the ship. Unfortunately classic Japanese etiquette of lining up patiently goes out of the window with the tourists. It's the wild west! The ship, doesn't have enough seating for the number of passengers which may result in you looking for a place to stand.

The lake is beautiful and probably on clear days the views are spectacular. But in all honesty, it was all a little underwhelming and didn't live up to expectations. ChatGPT said: Here's an improved version with a smoother flow, sharper descriptions, and a more engaging tone:

"Chaotic would be an understatement. You queue in the masses, only to be crammed onto the ship in a frenzy. Unfortunately, the usual Japanese etiquette of orderly lining up is abandoned by the swarm of tourists—it’s the wild west! The ship itself lacks enough seating, so you may find yourself wandering in search of a place to stand.

The lake is undeniably beautiful, and on a clear day, the views are probably spectacular. But in all honesty, the experience felt underwhelming and didn’t quite live up to expectations."

This keeps your original sentiment but makes it more fluid and vivid. Let me know if you’d like further tweaks!

You said: A decent place to stay if you want to be out of the madness of Shibuya and Shinjuku. Asakusa is a cool place with so much to see and do, without the masses of tourists.

The hotel is fairly modern with a beautiful lobby. Checking in was chaotic, as we arrived a bit early, and so many people were checking out. There were suitcases everywhere and crowds of people just stood all over the place. The staff were super friendly, especially the ladies who cleaned our room.

The room is very small, and we struggled to fit in 2 large suitcases. Luckily the hotel was a base for us to sleep in. Before leaving we just crammed our suitcases and will organise them better st the next hotel that had more space.

The room had a fridge, tv, soft bed but the rooms are incredibly warm. The heating is centrally controlled therefore be prepared for a very hot night! Overall, it's a decent enough place to stay and will do a job. Just don't expect rooms with any space. ChatGPT said: Here's an improved version with better flow, clarity, and a more engaging tone:

"A decent place to stay if you want to escape the madness of Shibuya and Shinjuku. Asakusa is a cool area with plenty to see and do, without being completely overrun by tourists.

The hotel itself is fairly modern, with a beautiful lobby. However, check-in was chaotic—our early arrival coincided with a flood of check-outs, leaving the lobby packed with people and suitcases everywhere. That said, the staff were incredibly friendly, especially the housekeeping team, who kept our room spotless.

The room was tiny, and fitting in two large suitcases was a real challenge. Thankfully, we were only using the hotel as a base to sleep in. Before checking out, we just crammed everything into our bags, knowing we’d have more space to reorganize at our next hotel.

The room had useful amenities like a fridge and TV, and the bed was soft, but the temperature was a real issue. With centrally controlled heating, the room was uncomfortably warm, making for a restless night.

We were staying on the 13th floor and getting a lift takes forever in the mornings....if you want to get out of the hotel promptly, leave the hotel before 9:30!

Overall, it’s a decent enough place for a short stay—it does the job, but don’t expect spacious rooms or a particularly relaxing...

This was our first time visiting this APA branch, and this was also the first time we disappointed.

Though the facility was quite brand new - newer than my previous APA - the service we received was quite bad.

I will start with the pros: Location: next to Tawaramachi station. BUT from Inaricho, meaning if you would like to head to Inaricho/Ueno station, this Ginza line forces you to walk more/cross the main road to reach another stairway side. Which is a bit annoying for my group. Facility: in general, the room design is good, as the APA standard.

Next, the cons: Services: We had 2 separated bookings due to my personal reasons. The font staff called us on the first check-out day to ask if we would like to continue staying in the same room. At first, I told them I would like to change the room (due to hygiene reason since I know I would get a new cleaner room, and I would like to try another room with another view). However, after finding the room, we did not receive the room with the view requested. So we decided to stay in the same room and request the cleaning. After coming back, we found that the dust was still the same, and we did not receive the water bottle at all. I called the front staff again and they told me ‘If I stayed in the same room, though the bookings were separated, I would not receive any more water’. Wait… what?! Did you really mean I (and my sister) would only get 2 small water bottles for the whole 6 nights?! That’s crazy! I suddenly walked to the front and negotiated. Finally, I got 2 more bottles. How should I feel…? Another APA branch did not treat me like this 🙂‍↔️ Services (2): This may be a small issue. But when we checked out and walked out from the hotel. No one said ‘お気をつけていってらっしゃませ’ to us at all. This was a bit weird, for the Japanese service standard we’d received throughout the past 10 years. The room: MANY DUST AROUND THE ROOM! I got sick and was thinking it’s because of weather. But actually it’s because of the dust. The air purifier always turned red and seemed like the desk, top of the bed, and other objects, hadn’t been cleaned properly. Onsen: This APA branch has onsen, which is good. However, it’s really weird if you want to use the washing machine. There’s only 1 machine in the women side (not sure about men’s) and it’s located next to the dressing lockers. Which means when you wait or use the machine, other naked people will walk around you, and vice versa. It’s a bit awkward for us and them.

I would not recommend this branch. But I still like APA. Next time I would stay in the previous APA branch...