Smile Hotel Shinagawa Sengakujiekimae — Hotel in Tokyo

Everything in this hotel suits every aspect I need.

Rooms. I was worried at first when booking the room because there was no option to choose (smoking/non-smoking) like any other hotel. Turns out that every room here are all non-smoking! The room layout is typical Japanese hotel. It’s not big, but gladly not too small. There is enough space to open 2 luggages on the floor and another one on the counter. There are plenty of hangers. Comfy bed. Warm blanket. Perfect amenities. Great water pressure and A/C is working well even in hot summer weather. They also offer daily towel changing and housekeeping services on request.

Service. Beyond expectations. The staffs speak perfect English and they are really polite and helpful. At lobby you can find free coffee, tea, ice cubes. There are laundromats (100-300 yen) too. Breakfast service is located at Nakau restaurant opposite side of the hotel. Good chance for a morning walk as you have to cross the overpass to the restaurant. The breakfast is in sets of 4 options. They are huge, well-filling, and delicious!

Location. This hotel is close to Sengakuji station (A07). The nearest exit is A4 (~100 m). However, I would recommend those who carry heavy luggages to use the elevator at A2 exit instead. Only 3-5 minutes walk from A2. Sengakuji stations has Keikyu Line and Asakusa Line which connects to many parts of Tokyo conveniently. This area is quiet and safe even at night.

Definitely worth the price. I will come back and...

This is a hotel chain (I didn't know that). Honestly, it was all I imagined to be and more. As a chain business hotel, staff more or less left you alone unless you asked for assistance (e.g. no room service unless you put up the magnet to ask for it, although housekeeping will still leave fresh towels and trash bags daily). Check-in was prompt, smooth, seamless, with the staff speaking fluent English.

First impression was that the hotel was very professional, with the fact that it was beside a 7-11 that was beside the metro was a huge plus in accessibility. Upon entering my room, I was pleasantly surprised that it was more spacious than I imagined.

Breakfast was actually not in-house, but at a Nakau restaurant across the street. I didn't know initially, but Nakau is actually a Japanese chain restaurant. I tried it for supper one night, and it was decent to say the least.

The only possible nitpick is that I did not know that it would be so far from most cities of attraction, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ueno, etc, all took about 25 minutes by train. I saw that the Tokyo Tower was pretty near so I assumed it might have places of interest here, but I think this city isn't where typical tourists would go to. That said, Sengakuji of the Akasuka line is a 2 min walk, and Takanawa Gateway of the JR Y line is like a 10 min walk, so still pretty accessible -- just don't miss the last train!

All in all I have...

The rooms are small, but quite nice, the bed is comfortable and amenities were provided (the toilet seat heating and the hair products were great lol). Not very convenient if you have multiple suitcases or big luggages however. There’s a 7/11 almost right next to it, and a subway station is less than a minute long walk, so the location is quite convenient, as it is very easy to commute through places (Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku, etc.). The breakfast was great, not many options but the food is fantastic and very big portions, the restaurant is across the street from the hotel and very cute. However, I have to say what impressed me the most was the staff, especially the front desk. They were extremely kind and helpful, tried their best to answer our questions and tell us anything we might need to know. I didn’t see their names, but a young man and a slightly older one at the front desk welcomed us and the younger one checked us out when we left, we even took a picture with him before leaving because he left such a good impression on us. We left only to visit other cities in Japan but we will be coming back, so they were kind enough to let us leave the luggage at the hotel with them. Overall, I would 100% recommend this hotel because it’s an amazing deal for a good price and I would...