Ikebukuro Royal Hotel — Hotel in Tokyo

I knew from the minute we walked in that this was not going to be a great experience. We happened to come in the back entrance and my daughter said, "this looks like a place they would film a horror movie". The place is dark and dingy. The front staff only had one person who spoke some English and he wasn't there the whole time. Our group checked in and for a group of teens they had us not only on different floors but in different towers, which was not ideal for us chaperones.||The elevator is very small and the doors shut quickly. I found out the hard way that the safety for something in the way of the door doesn't work well, as my arm and shoulder were bruised as the doors rapidly shut on me as I was battling to get my suitcase inside. The hallways were not well lit and only some of our rooms had safety locks on the inside. Some rooms had a key and others a card.||Bathrooms and bedrooms were very small as our most in Japan and particularly Tokyo. But the furniture and bedding was dismal. Table tops scratched up, mismatched comforters in the same room. Carpet and paint tired and peeling. Moldy shower curtains (shower itself worked well). Window did open but street noise is loud if you choose to open it. Air-conditioning worked too well and during the day our rooms were like ice boxes but at night they turned it down and it was alright. There were no in-room controls for air or heat. There was a blow dryer, slippers and robes, along with basic toiletry items. Bidet type toilet seat, which you will see everywhere in Japan and learn to love very quickly! Towels were rough but clean.||We had breakfast included, but staff forgot to give all of 8 rooms breakfast tickets so there was confusion. The food was not good, catering to Chinese business men, even our Japanese guide said she didn't want to eat anything there. There was some bread for toast with jam and margarine. ||Area is less desirable as it seemed to be in a fringe area of massage and brothel type places. But walking distance to ikebukuro station. This is a huge station so getting out of the station and finding any hotel is a challenge. There are so many exits which take you to different areas. You want the north exit for this hotel.||Bottom line - stay elsewhere, this is too low end for...

I knew from the minute we walked in that this was not going to be a great experience. We happened to come in the back entrance and my daughter said, "this looks like a place they would film a horror movie". The place is dark and dingy. The front staff only had one person who spoke some English and he wasn't there the whole time. Our group checked in and for a group of teens they had us not only on different floors but in different towers, which was not ideal for us chaperones.||The elevator is very small and the doors shut quickly. I found out the hard way that the safety for something in the way of the door doesn't work well, as my arm and shoulder were bruised as the doors rapidly shut on me as I was battling to get my suitcase inside. The hallways were not well lit and only some of our rooms had safety locks on the inside. Some rooms had a key and others a card.||Bathrooms and bedrooms were very small as our most in Japan and particularly Tokyo. But the furniture and bedding was dismal. Table tops scratched up, mismatched comforters in the same room. Carpet and paint tired and peeling. Moldy shower curtains (shower itself worked well). Window did open but street noise is loud if you choose to open it. Air-conditioning worked too well and during the day our rooms were like ice boxes but at night they turned it down and it was alright. There were no in-room controls for air or heat. There was a blow dryer, slippers and robes, along with basic toiletry items. Bidet type toilet seat, which you will see everywhere in Japan and learn to love very quickly! Towels were rough but clean.||We had breakfast included, but staff forgot to give all of 8 rooms breakfast tickets so there was confusion. The food was not good, catering to Chinese business men, even our Japanese guide said she didn't want to eat anything there. There was some bread for toast with jam and margarine. ||Area is less desirable as it seemed to be in a fringe area of massage and brothel type places. But walking distance to ikebukuro station. This is a huge station so getting out of the station and finding any hotel is a challenge. There are so many exits which take you to different areas. You want the north exit for this hotel.||Bottom line - stay elsewhere, this is too low end for...

We were mentally prepared for a below-average stay here. Not too difficult to find, exit C9 and cross 3 short streets. The “lobby” is extremely run-down, just a simple counter and co-shared with the dining area. Room is really small for luggage storage and packing. Everything were in bad shape; even the carpet was worn out and floor has slight depression. And I sneeze frequently probably due to the lousy room air. There is completely no view! While the window can be opened, do note that the parapet can lead to your neighbour’s window..||A simple TV, fridge and worn-out sofa that you hardly feels like seating on. Surprisingly we have no complaint of the bed, good enough comforter and pillow case though. The restrooms were elevated at least off the ground so has to be careful before you trip in middle of the night!. And there is no makeup of the room!! They just left a new set of bedsheet/towers etc outside the room, definitely not acceptable||There's a public bath on the top floor but you have to pay to use it, not cheap too. There is no wifi (quite unbelievable rom my other stays..) so we have to stay within the Metro station or try to “grab” the bandwidth from “Toshima free-wifi” :.||The only GOOD point will have to be its location. Close to Ikebukuro station and also just next to a red light district. It is thus surrounded by love motels. Otome street is just nearby with its female anime/manga action. There is Excelsior nearby and we took breakfast at Modiva just so near to the hotel. We even walked for 20 mins to Sunshine City on our 2nd evening here! For departure we lugged our luggage along main street to Metropolitan Hotel where we took the limo bus.||I will not return...