Shinjuku Kuyakusho-mae Capsule Hotel — Hotel in Tokyo

First of all, this is not a capsule hotel for everyone, its main target customers are those people that miss last train after having fun at Shinjuku, thus the 10am to 2pm must check out rules. I had previously stayed in other capsule hotel at Japan and they don't have this rules, and I can understand why it had caused much frustration and inconvenience if you are staying for longer period in this hotel.

I would first share the pros of its. Yes it is cheap, and situated around 9min from shinjuku JR station, it is very convenient. it has hot bath area, the very reason I booked the hotel for. The bath is awesome and it's the saving grace. The hot bath is nice, try it. It provided the basic toilet amenities, washing and drying machine, facilities wise, it cater the most basic needs so not much to complain. They have english speaking staff so is really convenient for people that cannot speak good Japanese.

Here come the cons. The air conditioning is not constant through the sleeping area, the first few day i slept at the lower floor, it become freezing cold at night and I nearly caught a cold due to that. with no blanket provided, I have to use my winter jacket as blanket. then on third day, they accidentally let someone sleep in my pod, so i was moved to another pod which is on 2nd level, and it doesn't have such big fluctuation of temperature at night, I had better sleep because of that.

secondly, for some reason, the window at the toilet is opened 24/7, it become such a challenge when you have to use the toilet at midnight due to the freezing wind it blow into the toilet at night. Oh ya, the Wifi is bad, you can only use it at louge which might not be convenient for some

thirdly, remember the rules to check out everyday between 10am - 2pm? I thought it would not be a problem to me, turn out it is. I had one bad day during the trip that I had a bad diarrhea and accidentally dirtied my trousers because of that (I normally won't want to say this publicly as this is so embarassing, but I have to, so you know how annoyed and frustrated I am). As I am nearby to the hotel, I had no choice but to made a trip back to the hotel. They at first refuse to let me in due to the cleaning policy, but after negotiation, they allowed me to use the toilet and have a change of clothes. however, I noticed that with such dirty situation, it is near impossible for me to just get change, so I have no choice but to ask if i can use the bath, telling them i am sorry i am in such situation and i know they are cleaning. however, they insist I cant, so I have no choice but to see what can I do with toilet, with sink as my only water resouces. I wish to emphasize that despite my dirty situation, I tried my best to clean up, and any mess caused is immediately clean up by me. Yet one of the staff try to stop me from cleaning myself and my clothes. I tried to explain that I have to clean it a bit before get myself into new clothes and throw my dirty clothes into washing machine later. After much negotiation, finally i was allowed to use the bath house, WITH ADDITIONAL 2K YEN CHARGE. Fine, at least get the job done. It is a very bad experience for me, I dont think anyone would want to experience the same situation I go through, I mean, we all know Japanese society is very rigid and strict with rules, and I don't blame the staff, they go by rules set by the company, but it certainly give off a very bad experience due to the lack of flexibility, human touch and hospitality. For my situation it already can be considered as emergency, as the cold weather and the dirty condition of my trousers has caused eczema to my skins, yet the hotel do not offer help and proceed to charge me for using their facilities at their cleaning period. just wow, imaging you are in an emergency where you are covered in blood yet the hotel shove you off with the 10am to 2pm cleaning rules.

My advice to foreign travelers that want to stay long term in this hotel, better not, you never know what will happen to you and you will feel real bad if you fall into...

This review is for the gents. The layout of this capsule hotel does an excellent job of minimizing unnecessary noise in the sleep area, which is why I'm giving it such great stars, among other reasons. At least on the men's 7th floor, there were no lockers for dudes to slam open and shut, there was a maze of hallways which increases your chances of your capsule being in a low traffic area, and the toilets were behind a heavy closing door. Plus, the wifi reached me just fine. Also, the spacious common area on the 4th floor (I think) let's people who want to have a place to gather to do so they don't end up needing to chill in the sleeping area.

Concerning luggage, it seems if you have a duffle sized bag, you can fit it in the locker on the lobby floor, but if you have huge travel luggage, it seems they have a shelf for it within eye shot of the front desk guys, but that's all the security you're gonna get, I suppose, but those are just my visual observations on the big bags situation.

Concerning the men's baths and sauna. They are very great for the price of this place. The sauna is spacious and there are 3 baths, a hot one, a bubbly hot one, and a really cold one. The baths looks especially beautiful in the morning sunlight. Also, the blue pajamas are probably the most stylish I've seen at a capsule hotel yet. You can expect to use complementary hair styling foam, hair tonic, toothbrush with toothpaste on the brush, soap, shampoo, an exfoliating towel, and face foam. They will also provide you a hand towel and a large bath towel. I didn't see any shaving cream or razors but maybe you can buy/get one from the front desk, I dunno.

The front desk gents were also friendly and happy to help me, but I do speak a little Japanese, so there's that.

Because I am asocial and hate the concept of "fun", the only thing I hate about this capsule hotel is its location to entertainment and dining. Man, that place is crowded at night. There were some weird foreigners that stood around on the sidewalk near the capsule hotel (not related to the capsule hotel) only to heckle non-Japanese people for heaven-knows-what---even going so far as to try to grab my arm. I was walking around for dinner and was grabbed, obstructed by, and touched by at least 6 or 7 in a span of 5 minutes. So stay safe, they give off a creepy vibe.

Okay. Thanks for reading my novel.

TLDR: This is a good place to go if you like capsule hotels and...

Shinjuku Kuyakusho-mae Capsule Hotel can be a bit tricky to find if you can't read Japanese. It's located under the British pub (which tends to be quite loud on a Saturday, Sunday night). You take an elevator to the 3rd floor and it brings you to the main reception lobby where you check-in. You take off your shoes and walk straight into the main lobby. The staff was very friendly and welcoming as soon as I walked in. They let me keep my luggage around the locker area even though I arrived earlier than my check-in time. Once I checked-in and put my luggage away though I did notice a cockroach walking on the floor, it was pretty disturbing to be honest...

The Pros - The hotel is very affordable for a few nights, personally I only booked for 2 nights and decided I wanted a room with a little more personal space. It's located in the entertainment district of Shinjuku with alot of restaurants, pubs, clubs, clothing shops and also great for sight seeing at night (would recommend bringing a camera for pictures). The lounge is very relaxing and there is a small restaurant as well. Good for breakfast and there is a TV with appliances for coffee, tea or hot soup from the vending machines as well as drinks! Disposable toothbrushes and razors are available in the shower/washroom areas which is convenient. Staff were very helpful and accommodating!

The Cons - The cockroach wasn't good to see as I was worried about leaving my luggage and clothes on the floor after that. The shower area was okay when I first checked in at 3pm but when I tried to shower in the morning it smelled disgusting. The open shower concept doesn't offer the most privacy however if you are comfortable showering around men it is okay lol. The fact that I had to worry about my tattoos being visible while showering was a little ridiculous and I found that pretty discriminating (they can kick you out for having tattoos and you won't get a refund) although I didn't end up getting kicked out it was still dissapointing. The capsule is pretty small but I was still able to bring a backpack and leave it in there while sleeping, not the most comfortable though.

All in all staying at a capsule hotel for my first time was pretty cool and I can now check that off my bucket list. Would possibly consider coming back if they got rid of that discriminating against tattoos rule as everyone should be able to express their personality thru body...