Araiya — Hotel in Tokyo

We stayed in Araiya for the mandatory 2-week self quarantine after an international flight to Tokyo. While "self quarantine" sounded like being a prisoner, we indeed enjoyed the stay at Araiya! Staffs were so kind and friendly. For example, during our stay, one of us had a birthday. They gave us small but cute birthday sweets (though not a cake) with a personalized message! The house was a small old row house. Despite the age of the building, the renovation added a nice combination of old and modern. While in the midst of Tokyo's business district, I had a good time to chill out in this cozy house after all those tiring months in the U.S. What I most like in this house wss the small space on the second floor, which connected the bedroom and the stair. There're a glass-window shelf that displayed beautiful Japanese modern ceramics, a "suikinkutsu"-like dripping water station, and a small sofa chair. There I enjoyed reading a book, reflecting the experiences in these months on myself, and sinking into a deep thought.

On the practical side, it was also a good place to work as well. Internet connection was superb---much smoother than Comcast's XFinity that I had in the U.S. A big TV (50 inches?) had an HDMI jack (and a cable) so you can connect your PC. Every room was equipped with a plenty of power plugs and extension codes. Being located just a block away from a subway station, the neighborhood was not noisy, especially quiet in night. Delivery services are easily available. There's a towel dryer (I haven't see anywhere in Japan, only in Europe); we can also borrow a clothes hanger for drying and put it in the entrance space. With a powerful fan, all clothes were completely dried over a night. (We washed clothes just by soaking them in a bath tub, since there's no washer.) Staffs were always available, voluntarily checking any need (and changing amenities and linens every 3-4 days), and willing to help us having a pleasant time despite the situation.

The booking process of the "self-quarantine" plan may be a bit odd, since the first contact with the hotel was an intermediary who was in Myanmar. But no worry. What I found from their website was that this intermediary guy used to work with Araiya's owner and eventually decided to start his own business in Myanmar. And also that Araiya's owner seems to be more like a social entrepreneur, who seriously finds the social values (like cultural exchanges and diversity) in the hotel business---they even provided free lodging at another property of theirs for international students who got stuck in Tokyo. It was featured in NHK World and it would suggest that there's no worry about their finance. Anyway, soon I got a contact with staffs at Araiya and I paid directly to...

I love this hotel. We stayed here for several nights, and the location is amazing. The people are great, the restaurants nearby were amazing, it’s super close to the subway and it’s just a few stops from Shibuya, and many of the other places to see. I would stay here...

Best experience I've ever had in a hotel they really made me feel welcomed and it was super friendly they even took us to the metro station for and showed us how to get to the airport....