MIMARU SUITES Tokyo Asakusa — Hotel in Tokyo

I recently stayed with my family for 3 nights/4 days in Mimaru Suites Tokyo Asakusa (hereafter, abbreviated in this review as “MSTA”) in their 2-bedroom Japanese-style suite. Note — do not get this property confused with their Mimaru Tokyo Asakusa Station property, which is a different property. This review is for MSTA, not the Station property. The Station property has its own TripAdvisor page. ||In short, my experience at MSTA was quite average and there were some areas of disappointment. As in all my reviews, below is my list of pros and cons, starting with pros:||PROS:|1. Outstanding location - this is the biggest pro, in my view. MSTA is located just a few minutes walk to Asakusa station, where you can hop on the Tokyo Subway (such as the Ginza line) or the Skytree line (to get to Tokyo Skytree - a large mall and observation tower complex). Furthermore, there is a convenience store (MiniStop) just 1 minute walk from the hotel and Asakusa’s major sites and shopping streets and restaurants and department stores are within 5-15 minutes walking distance. The number of dining and shopping choices can be overwhelming (a good thing!). Sumida river is just across the street, which makes for pleasant river walks.|2. Friendly staff - the front desk employees always smiled and greeted us whenever we went out for the day or whenever we returned to the hotel. |3. Big suites, well-equipped with appliances and good for families/groups - Tokyo has a relative dearth of suite-type / multi-bedrooms rooms for travelers. MSTA is part of the Mimaru chain, which bills itself as apartment-hotels. MSTA offers large, multi-bedroom suites. The 2-bedroom Japanese-style suite we stayed in had 2 separate bedrooms each with 2 twin beds. There was also a tatami sitting area with “bean-bag” type seat cushions; two futon mattresses were also provided in the nearby closet for guests who want to sleep in the tatami area. A kitchenette connected with a living room contained a full-size refrigerator and freezer, microwave, sink, dish sponge, dish washing soap, utensils, pots, pans, plates, bowls, dish drying rack, water kettle, a small induction stove, and a combined washer-dryer unit (this washer-dryer was especially appreciated!). The living room area contained a long table, TV, and chairs. In terms of bathrooms, there were two toilet areas and two shower areas, and of course, sinks. Each room had a mounted AC unit which provides air conditioning or heat. ||CONS:||1. Limited hotel services — anyone considering booking at MSTA should keep in mind it does not offer many traditional hotel services. This was a bit disappointing given that MSTA room rates aren’t cheap - one can stay in 4-5 star full-service hotels in Tokyo (albeit to be fair, smaller rooms than MSTA) for the same or less cost. First, the front desk is only staffed by MSTA personnel from 7am to 10pm daily, unlike in normal hotels, where front desks are staffed 24 hours. After 10pm, I believe the front desk is staffed by a security company that MSTA outsources to. Furthermore, there is no daily room cleaning - suites are only fully cleaned every 4 days. There is daily trash removal, towel replacement, and topping up of amenities such as toilet paper etc, but no daily room cleaning. Even the daily trash removal, towel replacement etc. is only done between the hours of 9am and 1pm. Thus, if you plan to sleep in, you may very well miss/forego the daily trash removal and towel replacement service!|2. Suites very humid and not that clean— I was a bit disappointed with the overall hygiene level of the suite. I had even emailed the property before our stay, asking them to make sure the suite was clean before we checked in, and had received a reassurance reply from MSTA. However, there were many disappointing lapses after we checked in — the tatami room floor had black streaks, which suggested it has not been cleaned for a long time. The tatami room “bean-bag” type cushions (provided by MSTA to sit on the floor) smelled bad, suggesting they had not been laundered for some time. The sofa/seats in the living room room had brown and red stains and streaks over the cushions. I didn’t dare sit on the cushions during our stay. The suite was also very humid and musty throughout the stay, even when running the air conditioning or the dehumidifying function on the air conditioner units. Towels hung up overnight would not dry. Laundry hung up overnight also did not dry properly. The hotel needs to find a way to control humidity levels. I asked to borrow dehumidifier units but was told by MSTA staff they weren’t available. The suite contained one air humidifier (for adding moisture) which obviously we did not use given that it was already too humid in the suite. |3. Poor soundproofing; noisy — the soundproofing between floors was very poor. During the morning and evening, we could hear clearly stomping and running around from the guests upstairs, which sometimes continued for hours. This did not make for a comfortable stay. ||In conclusion, I found my stay at MSTA decidedly average. The location and the large, well-equipped suites were all pros/pluses. However, the issues with hygiene/suite cleanliness, suite humidity, and noise/soundproofing between floors were cons that seriously disrupted the stay and it’s my hope that MSTA finds ways to solve those problems. Otherwise it is difficult for them to justify the high price tag and limited services when such glaring problems ...

I stayed here with my daughter (13), sister and nephew (11) for 4 days. We stayed in the premium 2-bedroom suite. The suite was very clean and comfortable. The staff were friendly and helpful. The location was fabulous. If you don't know much about the Asakusa area it is a great place for dining and shopping and there is a wonderfully short scenic walk across the river to the Sky Tree. There is a park nearby that had a stage with a band and some cafes and pop-up shops. This hotel is a 1 -2-minute walk to train and subway stations making it easy to see the whole city. The shopping district (a 1 -2-minute walk) has a lot of offerings from trinkets to handmade items and a lot of clothing and luggage / bag stores. We spent almost a day there and didn’t hit all the shops but managed to fill a whole other suitcase with our great finds. Lots of options to eat within a couple of minute walk of the hotel also. The neighborhood felt very safe, and we let our kids run to the convenience store (1/2 block from the hotel) by themselves on multiple occasions. We loved having the theater room to hang out together and watch movies while winding down after a long day of sightseeing. The washing machine was also an added bonus as we had come from a 7-day trip in the Osaka/Kyoto area and had a lot of clothes to wash so we didn’t have to pack as much.

Our room came with all the amenities (rice cooker, iron, ice maker, coffee maker, indoor grill, etc..) and though we didn’t think we would use them, we did and ended up loving the option to make a quick bite to eat in the morning rather than dining out. The bathrooms were nice, and the shower/bath area was spacious. The bedrooms were cozy and had a nice Japanese vibe. We loved a lot about this hotel. Our only complaints are: Because they do let dogs in some of the rooms (not ours), the lobby and elevators did have an unpleasant odor that we all noticed when we first checked in. One of the days the towels also had a musty / dog smell to them. Although we knew that they did not clean the room but every 4 days, it would have been really nice to have the trash taken out daily; which wasn’t done our entire stay. It also would have been nice to have some tea and coffee replenished in the room. They did offer one packet of coffee on check-in but nothing else. UPDATE: After hearing back from them they did offer tea and coffee in the lobby that we missed.

Other than those minor things, I would highly...

Stayed 7 nights in a 2 bedroom apartment for 2 adults and 2 teenagers. We stayed on the 11th floor (3 rooms on our level) facing the tokyo skytree. Children and wife were elated with the hotel. This hotel is probably for families as we saw mostly caucasian guests with babies families at the lobby.

Location - Excellent. Away from the crowd and surrounded by convenience with restaurants and stores (for any last minute shopping). Ichiran ramen is a short 5-min walk away. There is a good kobe beef restaurant (Katana) near the hotel where we spent more than 100k yen over lunch. Short walk to Senso-Ji and the Akasuka walking street. Transport to Narita cost 26,000 yen. Uber from Shinjuku Takashimaya about 8,000 yen and from Akihabara about 3000 yen. Other times, we took the subway from Asakusa station which was a 3-min walk (partially sheltered). You can cut through Matsuya departmental store (1-min walk) if it is past 10am. From Narita you can also the Express train to Asakusa station but its quite a walk to the hotel from the station as the exit with lift access was slighly further.

Service - Front office staff were polite, very friendly and helpful and spoke good english. No communication issues. Staff were very friendly. No in-room dining at the hotel. Extra credits for the thin lady in glasses at the counter.

Rooms (see video) - Well equipped but pillows and beds were really really soft (2 single beds put together in one room). The beds were easily movable if want them apart. Apartment has 1 toilet, 2 shower areas (1 with bath tub), washing machine, kettle, induction stove, microwave, 2-door refrigerator and big internet TV (slightly bigger than my 70inch at home) and big sofa in living room, smaller TV (no internet/old model) in master bedroom. Towels are replenished and trash is cleared daily without fail. Bedsheets are changed every 3 days. No ironing board in the room but you can request for one at front office. Bathroom amenities need to be requested at the front office.

Overall, family enjoyed the stay and wants to...