MIMARU TOKYO AKASAKA — Hotel in Tokyo

Our family with young kids stayed at Mimaru Akasaka in a Japanese room type for a week, and here are the hits and misses we found.

😊Shoutout to: Spacious room: As most hotels in Tokyo are tiny, the 40 sqm room size was comfortable to fit 2 super single beds and futons. The bathroom has a decent-sized bathtub and a dedicated space for the basin and toilet aside. Our young kids really enjoyed playtime on their soft futons. Brightness can be adjusted as there’s another curtain blind between the decorative window and actual metal window outside.

Kitchen facilities: With a full-sized fridge, microwave, and induction cooker, you can actually cook a simple meal in your room. Bonus point: we bought wagyu meat and salt from an underground supermarket at Akasaka Biz Tower to grill them ourselves (saving $$$ instead of dining at the restaurant).

Location: The nearest entrance to Akasaka train station is just a 5-minute walk away. If you have a stroller, just walk 200 meters, and there will be both escalators and elevators at the station's main entrance. There are many convenient stores nearby too. Take note that Chiyoda is not a main line, so you probably need to switch the transit node to go to popular places like Ginza, Shibuya, etc.

Kids friendly facilities: they provide a child seat for dining, kid plates and utensils as well as kid bath tub upon requested (although my children prefer their large tub more). Kudos to this extra mile.

Pyjamas, body wash and shampoo: My favorite amenity of the hotel. Pyjamas is free size and comfy while the body wash smells aromatic. Wish they can also provide a body lotion due to the cold and dry weather.

😒The Meh part:

Cleanliness and cleaning services: Although we were informed that cleaning services are only provided on the 3rd night citing eco-friendly reasons, honestly, it is just a cost-cutting measure. Was I informed? Yes. How did I find it? unacceptable. At such a high price per night, it is unreasonable to have such a minimum service for cleanliness, which is supposed to be a foundation of any comfortable hotel stay. Not changing the bedsheet every night is okay, but not vacuuming or making the bed has nothing to do with eco-friendly practices.

On the 3rd night when cleaning service was provided, my supposedly new futon sheet had an insect crawling on it. Showed a photo to the night staff and they kindly arranged cleaning service the following day, but it still put me off so much😱.

Service: Ok, the futon is nice and fluffy, but you have to make your own 2 futon beds, which takes 20 minutes to complete. They just provide a mattress, sheet protector, and another bedsheet set where you have to fold and make sure they are neat. When you come back from traveling all day long, who has the energy to do this? You will have to redo the futon every 3 days too. Again, this is not eco-friendly; they just want to save manpower costs.

Small amenities: They actually provide a toothbrush, mini toothpaste, and skincare in tester sizes, but the quality is so meh that we decided to use our own 🫤. Their green tea tastes like plain water.

Laundry: Each cleaning can take a maximum load of 5 kg. The drying machine takes 3 rounds (1.5 hours) to actually dry them, so we set up a late-night alarm for it.

Overall, if you prioritize a large room with an accessible location and in-room kitchen, Mimaru is a great choice. Would actually rate 3 stars in my standards but maybe cleanliness is my personal traits and other features like room size, kitchen and location should be a higher priority, hence rating as 4 stars here. I'd still insist that at this price point, it should be...

Location - Within walking distance to Akasaka/5 min. (Chiyoda Line) and Akasaka-Mitsuke/10min. (for Marunouchi Line and Ginza Line) Subway Station. Lots of eateries nearby and at least 5 convenient stores (7evelen, Lawson, FamilyMart). 10 minutes walk will also get you to Roponggi Hills and Tokyo Midtown.

Room and Rates - Affordable for Tokyo standard, the size of the room and the amenities that come with it. The kitchen comes in handy for us as we have 2 toddlers who get hungry at odd hours. There are other kitchen electronics that you can borrow (like Rice Cooker, Toaster, etc.) from the hotel, just ask away. The room also comes with a handy device that you can bring during your sightseeing activities - you can make free calls within japan and selected countries, get attraction discounts, look at maps and play youtube non-stop for your toddlers during their cranky times! Handy is really lived up to its name during our stay and the battery life is amazing.

Service - Expect five stars service from their International (and multilingual) staffs! We love the positive vibes from each and every staff members we encountered during our week long stay. They helped us printing the Disneyland Tickets and arranged Airport Transfer. They would greet you sincerely upon entering/exiting the building and even chat with you (and your toddlers haha), it's just like coming to your home away from home. The night security who checked us in and the housekeeping lady were very courteous.

My family (of 4 Adults and 2 Toddlers) and I have always loved to stay in local/boutique accommodations because across many stays, they have been proven to provide top of the line service (esp. the warmth and friendliness) compared to the bigger chains. If there are few minor things that can be improved, that would be the Wi-Fi (the strength of it, as we kept getting disconnected) and Coin Laundry (loved the fact that you can check vacancy thru the handy device but it took quite a long time for the dryer to work its magic). All in all, we'd love to stay at Mimaru Akasaka again and maybe try the other locations for future stays - definitely will recommend to our friends...

I was very pleased with Mimaru Akasaka and would stay again and again! I struggled to find hotel accommodations in Tokyo for my family of 4, but came across Mimaru Akasaka on VRBO. It’s located close to Roppongi, so it was easily accessible to Roppongi, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo Station, and other central Tokyo locations. The walk from the train station was about 5 mins (be sure to go to Akasaka and not Akasaka Mitsuke which is a much father walk which we accidentally made upon arrival with suitcases!). I didn’t give a 5 for location because we had to leave the station to get to the hotel, but this was still pretty convenient. The neighborhood was quiet and family-friendly. It was a nice retreat from the hustle of the city without having to travel too far.

We were comfortable with a futon/ sofa bed for each of the kids and 2 singles arranged adjacent to each other for the parents. There was a cooking area and on most days we made our own breakfast from groceries from the 7-11 across from the hotel. There is also a restaurant connected to the hotel and plenty between the station and the hotel.

The shower room has a private room with a deep tub to soak away the aches from walking so many miles to sightsee everyday. There was nice pressure and temperature in the shower. It is separate from the sink area. The shower and sink rooms are separate from the toilet room with a lovely heated Toto washlet which may have been my favorite part of the hotel amenities! (I’m trying to figure out how I can get this in my house!)

There are tables to work and dine. The room was clean and new and the temp was comfortable and controllable in the room. The room is equivalent to a brand new 3.5 star hotel in the US— it’s basic but as a bit of a hotel snob who usually only gets 4-star accommodations and higher, I was very happy with it. No complaints at all.

Last but MOST IMPORTANTLY the staff are 5-star all the way! They leave no task that can make your stay in Tokyo more comfy unattended. They were absolutely wonderful. They helped make our experience in Tokyo unforgettable.

Thank you, Mimaru Akasaka!!!...