First Cabin Akihabara — Hotel in Tokyo

Ever wanted to experience 'First Class' flights? Were you hesitant because of the 'meh' reviews you heard from your affluent friends? Were you tired of sleeping in capsule inns that costed about 3000-4000 yen a night but having to listen to the guy in the next capsule farting or shuffling around all night? Were you sick of sleeping in 'Guest Houses' where the owner spoke absolutely no English and you were crammed into a small room with 20 other guys from all over the world? Did you have complaints about the hygiene of other capsule inns or cheap motels and/or the air conditioning thereof?

Now you can try out being in a 'First Class' flight yourself. All of these problems... all of your curiosity about the 'First Class' cabins... are addressed in this accommodation. Yes, that's right: First Cabin Akihabara is there to give you(well, perhaps not the night of your lifetime, but...) what you've always wanted to experience: A first class-cabin-like room at a great location, with some serious hygiene and a welcoming staff. It is conveniently located near Akihabara Station which is, in turn, within spitting distance of Tokyo Station, and boasts excellent service that will make you feel as if you are in a five-star hotel for a budget price.

Some of the other points I liked about this place: There is no price variation between days of the week. I mean, if you use a Japanese domestic reservation service like Yahoo! Travel or Ikkyu, most hotels have cheaper rooms on Sunday/Monday nights and expensive rooms on Friday/Saturday nights. No such 'tricks' with this hotel.

I briefly mentioned this but their hygiene is outstanding. They are quite serious about using ethanol to disinfect everything they use. Ethanol is dirt cheap, but kills almost everything including bacteria and encapsulated virus. Okay maybe not as effective with fungi but those shouldn't be here in the first place IMO. Trust me, I have experience in microbiology...

Some of the Japanese people are talking about this, but capsule inns usually place one capsule above another so if you are sensitive you will be awoken every hour or so by the other guys shuffling in adjacent capsules. That cannot happen here because they didn't place capsule above capsule! This slightly drove up their price but so what? It has made their facility that much more comfortable.

The exterior of the hotel is cool. Very cool. With a deep blue glow at night. You can take a great photograph here, although I agree that you don't need to sleep here to do that.

The only downside of this accommodation will be that it will never take off(and actually that it is near the Showa-dori exit of Akihabara Station, where no tourist actually ever goes). Oh, and while you can't help it as actual airplanes don't have those yet either, it'd be cool to have a convenience store somewhere on the first floor... or at least in the vicinity... the closest convenience store at this point is the 7/11 about a block away. I guess it's about the distance from an airport terminal to the actual plane, but...

I liked this place. The 'First Class' cabin at 4900 yen is worth every penny it costs. I had a chance to look at some of the 'Business Class' capsules as well as I walked by, and they looked much better than normal capsule inns, too. At 3500 yen? Yes please. I would recommend the 'First Class' over 'Business Class' if you are not a student anymore and that short on money, but if you're on a budget I think the Business Class should work for any businessman, too. Why didn't I give it five stars? As I already said, because it does not...

I went out of my way to try a single night at a capsule hotel and chose the First Class cabin. This went a lot better than I expected, mainly because my impression of a capsule hotel was a small claustrophobic space barely high/wide enough for an adult to sit up in the bed. However, First Class cabins at First Cabin are huge enough for you to stand and store belongings inside the capsule.||||Pros:||- Quiet, you will get a very good night's sleep||- Convenient location, less than 5 minutes walk from JR Akihabara Station||- Very clean and modern, and although the amenities are shared, they look as if they belong in an upmarket hotel.||||Cons:||- Quiet, you will hear others snoring. Similarly if you snore, others will hear you.||- Quiet, if you make any sort of noise, others will hear you. Every single noise is magnified x10 here.||||I would stay at First Cabin and would recommend other travellers to do so, however it is generally not a good idea if you are working or need to be able to take...

Wanting to try a 'Capsule' hotel, I discovered the upmarket First Cabin chain that has bigger units. You have a full size bed and a long bench down one side to place small item on and in. Luggage can be left at the front desk, but I kept my smaller backpack and had in on the bed with me. At the very edge of the bed is a pull down shutter, which is not lockable. There is enough height to sit back on the bed to read etc. but the walls are all around the bed - there is no floor space. You are expected to be fairly quiet in capsules, but there are common areas where you can talk with others. The bathrooms were clean and tidy with products to use. In the common room there were vending machines for limited hot food, drinks and ice creams. The staff were very helpful and spoke some English. Great location near Akihabara. I would recommend paying a little extra for a slightly wider room as you have floor space for bag, can sit on the edge of the bed and store items...