APA HOTEL SHINJUKU-KABUKICHO TOWER — Hotel in Tokyo

EDIT: I decided to edit this review and add these comments after reading a few reviews I considered unfair. I stayed for 8 nights and I'm surprised by how many people giving bad reviews don't read the instructions available in the room (in english) or don't even bother reading the hotel information available on booking platforms (also in english) prior to booking it.

CHECK-IN/CHECKOUT: You can have either performed via self-service terminals that provide english options (check-in will take about 10 minutes, checkout will take 1 second) or wait to be assisted at the front-desk. Keep in mind this hotel is in a very busy area and receives a lot of Japanese guests as well so, as such, the lobby can get quite crowded during checkin/checkout hours, especially in the weekend, which might lead to some wait time, so plan ahead.

ROOM: Rooms are small, but very practical and more than enough for you to relax. Bed is super comfortable. By default, room service will be provided every fourth day, but you can request it daily by hanging a sign on the door (this information is available in a panflet in the room and on the TV dashboard), otherwise they'll just leave a daily ammenities package outside your door. Bathroom is amazingly practical, relaxing and well stocked. Water from the tap is drinkable (there a BIG BLUE "Drinkable" sign on it, in english), so you can use it to refill the water bottle you'll get as welcome gift on the first day. If you're a very big person (vertically or horizontally), the bathroom might not be too comfortable to use. Keep in mind that, if you travel with big luggage, this room won't have enough space for you to unpack everything at once during your stay and move comfortably. You can have enough clothes unpacked for 2 days and a lot of stuff on the desk, but everything else is better off neatly stored in your bag or plastic bags unless you need it readily available. I was there with a partner and both had a large sized bag, a carry on bag and a backpack. We didn't have any space issues until the later days from our stay, after we filled the room with plastic bags from shopping sprees.

FACILITIES: Hotel offers restaurants, massage and a spa. Some other hotels are changing to freely allow tattoos in spa/pools, but not this one, unfortunately. You can request cover up patches at the front-desk and apply then to use the spa, if your tattoo is not MASSIVE.

STAFF: Friendly and very polite. Not all of them communicates effectivelly in english, but they have written english instructions and will use it to guide you through if needed. If it comes to it, they will even pull up google translate to make sure communication is clear.

LOCATION: Kabukicho is one of the busiest places (if not THE busiest) in Tokyo at night. This means you're close to pretty much anything you might need (food, drugstore, enterteinment, transport), but also means it gets busier than your average location at night. This is not an issue by all means, but something to...

INABILITY TO HANDLE FIRE EMERGENCY

In a nutshell: APA Kabukicho Tower Hotel did not handle the fire situation correctly, and did not provide adequate information about the fire, nor did they voluntarily offer explanation or apology.

My family and I stayed in the hotel early-mid June. On 6/9 morning around 7am, there was a fire on the first floor of the hotel. We first heard many emergency vehicles' coming towards the hotel, and after about 5-10 minutes of hearing the first fire truck/ambulance siren, the hotel fire alarm sounded, instructed us to evacuate. We lived on the 26th floor (the hotel has 28 floors), and did not want to risk taking the elevator. My family and I encountered three other guests, and we fought open the emergency exit door to go down stairs outside. The staircase is pretty narrow so everyone lined up to descend the stairs one by one. To some extent it prevented some possible elbowing, but the one-man line makes the descending process a bit long. As we reached closer to the ground, I saw two firefighters exited the hotel from a separate staircase to the hotel restaurant on the second floor. When we reached the ground, I saw fellow hotel guests stood frightened and disheveled in the little plaza in front of the hotel. We were herded right back inside the hotel as the hotel staff said the situation was resolved. Nothing else was said. No explanation or apology was given.

After the family trip, I emailed the hotel expressing my concern about the situation and asking for explanation. Here is what the hotel replied:

"Dear xxx,

Thank you for your staying at our hotel but we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to you.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

Best regards."

The last two lines were even in a smaller font size. No one signed the email. (Knowing a bit about the Japanese work culture, words not in the same font size and no signature in a business letter are just not allowed, not to mention the grammar mistakes) I sincerely do not feel that they took my email seriously.

The thing that bothered me the most was not the email nor the attitude, but the way the situation was handled at the start of the incident. The very first thing the hotel staff should do after noticing the fire is activating the fire alarm immediately, NOT AFTER ALL THE EMERGENCY VEHICLES HAVE ARRIVED. This procedural misconduct I have to point out, is unbelievably dumb and scary. Seeing the London apartment fire in the news today, I feel very lucky that the fire I experienced was quickly contained. I hope the hotel could read my comment in a serious manner, and improve their emergency SOP to ensure the safety of their...

First of all, the location of this hotel couldn't be better. It is right in the heart of Kabukicho, 2 minutes from Hotel Gracery (the hotel with Godzilla on it), 5 minutes away from Robot Restaurant, less than 10 minutes from both Memory Lane and Golden Gai. The location was awesome. So many things to do and see around it. The hotel itself though left lots to be desired. The room itself was tiny and the bathroom had only enough room to get in and turn around in. There is no way that two people would be able to fit in a room with luggage. There's just absolutely no room. The bed is pushed up against the wall on three sides so it feels like you're sneaking into some college student's dorm room to spend the night. Outside the room, there's a large open air atrium. It rained while we were there and the rain looks like it's raining inside the hotel. What's the point?? Why not use that space to make the rooms a little larger?? We arrived around 1pm and was told that check in starts at 3 but if we wanted to check in earlier, it would cost extra. Sooooo..... What you're trying to tell me is that you care more about money than customer service. The lobby was filled with luggage of people waiting to check in and at 3pm, the scene becomes chaotic as everyone returns to try to finally get into a room. If a room is available before 3, why not let people check in a little early? You can tell they fully staff at 3pm to prepare for the onslaught of guests checking in. Also, they have no restrooms in the lobby of the hotel which I find strange. People have just traveled hours to get to Japan and then ridden on a train for an hour and a half and finally get to the hotel but can't check in and there's nowhere they can go to relieve themselves? It's terrible. And last, the wifi literally only worked in the room. We were surprised at how spotty our cell phone data service was in Japan, seeing as it is an electronics mecca. I would have to search routes prior to leaving my room and screen shot it in order to find my way around. Even walking down to the lobby, you instantly lose wifi capabilites. There were several instances where I had to take the elevator back up to my room just to get wifi. For the money, this place is not all that. Our friends stayed in a capsule hotel and loved it. Said the space was just as small but the place was cheaper and the customer service...