Hotel Trend Tobu Asakusa Ekikita — Hotel in Tokyo

I contacted the hotel in advance as I was a travelling with a knee injury and on a wheelchair. They responded that I would have no problem with the hotel even in a wheelchair, but nope. That was so terribly inaccurate.

While the hotel was equipped with a lift, the rooms were so small that my wheelchair took up most of the (already narrow) floor space even when it was folded. While I could use my crutches to get around, the room was very difficult to maneuver in so I ended up having to wobble around awkwardly while clinging on to the wall for support. What’s worse, there was an extremely tall step from the room to the bathroom and each bathroom use (whether to shower or just to pee) became a very painful experience.

Our room was a superior twin room which is already a squeeze for one person with a large luggage for 14 days (our stay at this hotel was for 4 days, but our overall trip duration was 14). It’s even worse for two people with two large luggages and one wheelchair. There was a dressing table, a chair, wardrobe and minifridge in a corner of the room but access to it was completely blocked by one bed and it’s impossible to access any of these without having to climb OVER the bed. I wonder which designer thought that this was a good idea. It’s such poor design and usability.

My booking was for 3 rooms for 5 people. Two members of my group reported difficulty in using the bathroom because it’s nearly impossible to not knock your head into the wall while sitting down/getting up from the toilet bowl. One of them resorted to using the toilet in the lobby every night. As for me, I could not use my crutches in the toilet at all as it was way too small so I resorted to grabbing onto the bathtub and towel rack for support (and even I ended up banging my head into the wall multiple times).

If I had known that the accessibility at this hotel was going to be such a bad joke, I would have cancelled my booking and gone elsewhere. It was already a struggle for the 4 able-bodied members in my group, and even worse so for someone who is mostly reliant on a wheelchair or crutches to get around. “No problem in particular” for a wheelchair user at this hotel? Definitely not. I do not like places that are not truthful about matters of such importance.

Wheelchair accessibility and shoebox-sized rooms aside, the location was good. It’s just a 3 minute walking distance from Sensoji Temple and less than 10 minutes away from Asakusa Station, supermarkets and the shopping district. There’s also a nice cafe serving up coffee and melon pan just outside the entrance.

But otherwise, this place is just...

Facilities: The room is relatively small but has complete facilities and the hot water is very comfortable.Hygiene: Very clean.Environment and transportation: Not bad, the front desk is small. The transportation is relatively convenient. It only takes more than an hour to take the access express from Narita Airport to the hotel.Service: Very, very bad service... Because I arrived on a red-eye flight, although I knew it was difficult to check in in advance, I still politely asked (I used would like to ask) if I could check in in advance, or if I could, I could pay. There is a certain fee. The man at the front desk was very impatient and said it was only available at 3 pm on time. I had to store my luggage and wait until almost 2:30 in the afternoon before returning to the hotel to wait for check-in at 3:00. At almost 2:30, a group of people came and they were all ready to check in before officially checking in. After getting the room card, they were very loud. I emphasized three times that the check-out time is 10 o'clock in the morning... I don't know how this man treats other people. Anyway, I feel very uncomfortable... It can be explained directly that our situation does not allow early check-in, so it is very difficult. Sorry, there is no need to loudly emphasize the check-out time many times. It could have been a kind reminder. I want to say that in the service industry, isn't it necessary to maintain basic courtesy? Even if there is no problem with other services, I will not stay...

Less than 5 minutes to the temple, close to a yamazaki convenience store, and the train station. The lobby was small, nothing other than the front desk and a shelf with amenities you may need (you’ll only find bath products in the room). We stayed for 4 nights, didn’t request any cleaning so fresh towels were left in front of our door every day. When we requested for our trash to be changed to one of the receptionists, he definitely did not understand, so we just left our trash and used towels in front of our door and they were taken. Since hotel prices have gone up significantly, this is the perfect place to stay if you want to be close to Asakusa. Also, they do not give out complimentary water so make sure to buy a bottle before...