Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Tsukiji — Hotel in Tokyo

My fiancée and I stayed at the Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Tsukiji for 6 nights at the end of March. Here are the Pros and Cons.

Pros: Friendly staff, clean facilities, nice public bath with lockers and showers, free coffee and water station on 2nd floor, nice area close to the famous fish market and walking distance to convenient stores and trains, washer/dryer fridge and microwave in room.

Cons: Sadly, there were quite a few. 6 night stay and they only cleaned our room ONCE. This is a 4-star hotel and our rate averaged 55,557 yen per night. They let you know that room cleaning is once every two days (to be environmentally friendly) and you could call to request more towels, pajamas, and garbage collection during certain hours on non-cleaning days. Problem is, you have to go out of your way to do this. For us, we let it be with the standard schedule, until we came home after a full day at Disney (on a scheduled cleaning day), expecting trash to be gone, new sheets, and fresh towels, only to find that none of this happened. When I called to let them know, they said our room wasn’t scheduled for cleaning. They sent up new towels but it was just very disappointing. You also need to bring your room towel to the public bath as they don’t provide them there. The room layout is not great for more than one person. We had to move a bunch of things around to fit our suitcases, the bed has only one nightstand (a small one at that) so one person goes without a place to set things. Lights are also only controlled on one side of the bed. TV is on a side wall and the view is blocked by a protruding corner wall, meaning only one person can see if you’re lying down. There is also nowhere to hang your towel by the shower. You have to keep it out of reaching distance and walk to get it once you’re finished. Website said free breakfast but apparently that is only with certain reservations, so we found out that ours didn’t when calling the front desk (perhaps due to our reservation being booked through a 3rd party). Provided slippers are way too small for any average male but that’s what you must wear to the public bath. I squeezed my feet into them as best I could for the elevator ride down. There is a frosted window that you cannot see out of, so definitely no view in our room at least, on the 10th floor. Also there is currently construction going on at the property next door (looks like the very beginning of a project). Not horrible but definitely noticeable noise. There was a bunch of condensation/moisture on the windows inside the room as well. Lastly, the lights on the clock and thermostat are very bright at night. You can turn or cover the clock, but not the thermostat, which is on the wall at the foot of the bed facing you (pretty annoying). A few of the days we could also smell a faint scent of smoke, not sure if it was coming through the vents or windows (outside construction).

We stayed at a different Mitsui Garden hotel in Kyoto on this same trip, and it was wonderful in terms of layout, amenities, and service, so I certainly have something to compare our experience to. None of these same issues occurred. I would definitely look at other options before booking, even if it’s simply a different Mitsui Garden...

This hotel recently opened. It is perfectly located between the Ginza shopping areas and the Tsukiji fish market. It is a relatively quiet area at night, but busy and full of activity during the day. The nearest metro station is about a 5-10 minute walk from the hotel.||Check in is strict at 3pm and fully automated using kiosks. If you have difficulty the staff is very happy to help you check in. You'll activate your own key and then off to your room.||Rooms are on the small side, but not overly so for Japan. Everything has it's place. Storage is cleverly done in such a small space with room under the bed for your suitcases. Drawers usually have something inside so they are not all available for your clothing. One drawer has the room safe. Another contains a tea kettle. And so on. Slippers are provided for you.||My room had a washing machine in it and a good sized refrigerator and freezer. I don't know if all the rooms have this but it was a nice arrangement to have. The toilet/bidet is a separate room from the shower. And the shower is pretty tight quarters. But it works.||There are QR codes in the room to provide English instructions for things. This was extremely helpful for me as I don't speak Japanese. I appreciate these touches to help guests from all over the world feel comfortable. The staff was lovely and friendly. Always welcoming you with a smile and a bow which I returned. I was happy to see them all each day and they were willing to answer any questions a person had.||My one big disappointment was the restaurant for breakfast. I chose a room rate without breakfast as I had plans several of the days, but one day I chose to go up and try the breakfast. It was expensive (3,300 yen) and it was awful. There is a small buffet selection and you choose one main dish also to add to it. The buffet food was barely warm and mostly cold. It did not taste good either. The main dish (I chose some fish) was fine but nothing special. I avoided the restaurant the rest of the time. There are many restaurants around the hotel that are so much better and even the convenience stores had plenty of food that tasted much fresher and was less expensive. This experience kept me from giving 5 stars for this hotel.||There is a small lounge in the lobby where you can have a drink and relax. But it is quite a small area. However the bartender/server located there was very very friendly.||I'd definitely return to this hotel and just continue to eat elsewhere. It really is a wonderful location and the staff makes it a place worth...

The Mitsui Ginza Tsukiji is a relatively new hotel, located on the edge of the Ginza district and almost literally next to the outer Tsukiji market. The hotel is about 10 mins walk from the Higashi Ginza station, which allows direct (non-stop) metro access from either Haneda or Narita airport, although this station has only one lift access point (all the rest of the exits require stair climbing). The hotel features a self check-in and check-out system using kiosks (similar to airline kiosks), this was multi-lingual and uncomplicated. The kiosk would also code the room keycard (black motif for men, white motif for ladies). Staff members were usually around to assist with the check-in. We chose the corner room for the additional space; there are only 10 such rooms in the hotel. Although slightly awkwardly shaped, the room worked really well for us - with a separate entrance corridor containing the wardrobe and lavatory, the main room with a large french window and small seating nook area, and the shower/bath, vanity sink and washer/dryer located on the other side of the room. Everything worked really well - the walk-in shower (uncommon, based on my search of Tokyo hotels), the convenience of the laundry facilities, a large fridge-freezer, USB-C and power sockets (Japanese, no international) everywhere, and soft diffuse lighting. The French windows let in lots of light with plants in a window box accentuating the ambience, but also did let in some traffic noise, although this wasn't a major problem. Kettle and teabags provided in-room, but there was a common "relax" area on level 2 with 24-hour access to Nespresso coffee, ice machine and dispensed water, while iron/ironing boards were available in the lift-lobbies. The decor through the hotel was calming and restful, mostly in wood-toned shades. Everything throughout the hotel appeared immaculately planned to the smallest detail. Staff were always friendly and helpful. On the ground floor, a cafe/shop and left-luggage facilities, while a Japanese common bath in basement was available. Location was unbeatable - away from the hustle of Ginza, but still within walking distance, and just a step away from Tsukiji outer market. Depending on the price listed, this Mitsui branch should feature high on shortlist. Small suggestions: perhaps provision of teaspoons would be helpful, in addition to the standard fork/spoon cutlery. Overall, a really comfortable and enjoyable stay. (Note that there is currently construction happening on the eastern side of the building, but we were not troubled...