Galois Hotel Shin-Okubo — Hotel in Tokyo

Overall an excellent Japanese business hotel (3 stars) that is clean, new, and 3-min walk to the nearest train/ subway station (JR Yamanote line). Good value for money. I especially love the public bath on the 2nd floor that is open to all hotel guests. Bonus point as I was the only person there the entire time when I used it on a Friday morning. :) Room was compact (that was expected of Tokyo) but comfortable and well equipped for my 4-night stay. I love the DHC products in the room as well as the sample skincare packets up for grab at the lobby. I've also used the coffee and tea machine in the lobby multiple times. Housekeeping did a good job and the 2 free bottles of water every day was a nice touch. Even though some of the staff don't speak much English, they do try their best to help (including using a translation device).

Only pet peeve was their early check-in policy: As my flight arrived very early in the morning, I wish there were an early check-in option (I would be willing to pay up to 1/3 of the nightly rate to check in a few hours early). Even after I came back after lunch at 2.45pm, I had to wait till close to 3pm before I was allowed to check in. In US and Europe (where I traveled the most in recent years), usually as long as there is availability, early check-in wouldn't be an issue. My friend who has lived in Japan said apparently most Japanese hotels are very strict with early check-in, so perhaps this wasn't unique to this...

It takes a bit of work to get here from Narita airport but I found the hotel worth the price. The location may seem far but it is really close to the Yamanote Line, and Tokyo's transit system is so robust that it is really easy to get around. It is also located in an area that has a variety of foods from outside of Japan so it is nice to have the option of trying other things if you get tired of Japanese food. The hotel staff were very nice and the amenities were great. My favourite was the public bath as it was so nice to soak our bodies after walking over 20,000 steps a day. I also really liked that the hotel staff would leave you fresh towels and water bottles every day by your door. The room itself is small like most hotels in Tokyo but it's manageable and the location is quiet. My partner really enjoyed the window shades because they kept the room pitch black. The washroom was small but that was never a problem for us because we would always use the public bath anyways. My only complaint is that the pillows were not the comfiest. They provided a hard pillow and an extremely soft pillow but nothing in between. This was a minor issue and I got used to it. AC was also a bit noisy but I am used to tuning those out. I would recommend this hotel if you want to be near Shinjuku but not actually stay...

We stayed for 5 nights in January 2025. The hotel seemed newer and updated and was extremely clean. Very small rooms but that is expected for the price of the room. The location cannot be beat! Literally 2 minutes walking to the JR Shin Okubo station and Yamanote line. The area is very busy during morning and evening rush hours but we didn’t mind. We did not eat at the hotel or make use of the public bath. Tons of food options both Japanese and other around the hotel, the Siddique food stall and market directly across from the hotel were very good. There is a 24 hour 7/11 right outside the hotel as well. I appreciated having to scan your room card to go up to your floor, I like that added security, although we never felt unsafe. The rooms were exceptionally quiet and we could not hear other guests or street/subway noises at all and we were on the 7th floor. The blackout curtain was also exceptional and made the room completely dark. New towels and water bottles were provided every day. While the staff did not speak much English, we used translate apps and they were friendly and helpful in arranging luggage transport and taxi pick up. We had a great stay at the Galois and would recommend to anyone traveling on a budget - the location cannot be beat...