the square hotel GINZA — Hotel in Tokyo

I've stayed here twice, and I really like this hotel.

The location in Ginza is very conveniently located near several stations for different train lines. This makes it easy to get other areas of Tokyo. The hotel is on the same block as several inexpensive fast-food options. There's a drugstore on the corner and all major convenience stores within a 3 block radius. You can easily walk into the major shopping areas of Ginza for access to upscale restaurants and shopping. The rooms are nicely organized. They're not large, but the placement of the bed and inclusion in several of the built-in couch don't inhibit the flow of traffic. We tended to tuck our luggage in the space at the foot of the bed, rather than using it with a table and chairs (the chairs are folding and hung on the wall to conserve space), and this meant we could have pretty easy access to all the things we needed (bed, refrigerator, hot water kettle, bathroom, etc.). It has a shared bath, one for women and one for men, for hotel guests only. The women's bath has more toiletries than in the rooms and nicer hair dryers (Dyson). The water is blissfully warm and they often have a window open to get a nice cross-breeze. I started every morning in the bath instead of showering in my room, and it was great. The bath was a major highlight of my trip, because it was convenient, sized appropriately for the number of total rooms in the hotel (it was never overcrowded with people during my visits), and appointed well with amenities. The little café connected to the lobby is cute and gets a good amount of traffic. It makes the place feel welcoming. Staff are very kind, and they communicate excellently in English. They made sure we understood the rules and features of the hotel. We were able to have our luggage held if we arrived too early or didn't want to drag it around before our departure. There are washing machines on the same floor as the baths that self-dispense detergent and can also dry your clothes as part of the same cycle. They also lock with a code, so people can't steal your laundry. You do need coins to run them, but it was more convenient than a laundromat—and in Japan, the laundromats are already pretty convenient.

If I find myself in Tokyo again, I'll probably be back at the...

The twin room with 19sqm was so tiny, the twin beds were basically one large bed butt up against each other to the wall. There's nowhere to open our large suitcase fully. This is entirely a design flaw- an external hand basin taking up room where there is already a hand basin in the bathroom. The long sofa bench along the window had no room for a table so it is not suitable to sit on for eating or working etc. The tech in room is good and working. There's a coffee order ticket pin to the board outside the door, where you may order a coffee from cafe downstairs - which they charge some good money for. There's no tea or coffee in room despite having mugs and kettle. The "large" public bath was very small, had no outdoor section, and water is not at all hot enough. (One of the shower in the ladies is not working) towels are not provided in the public bath, which was not mentioned anywhere except a tiny line in the "congestion" screen on the in room tablet. (We didn't check for congestion before heading to the bath so missed this message) Location of the hotel looked good on paper but it is actually a fair walk to any station!

Also adding : the beds are extremely hard. I have been sleeping on futon over tatami prior to this stay, and was still shocked when I sat on the bed when we first arrived. I have always been a firm mattress lover, due to my lower back pains. But this mattress is something else. It was as if a plank was hidden under the fitted sheet, and it hardly made a din when I lay on it. I unfortunately has a 10 hr flight the next morning, and this made it just a little tougher to deal with.

The hotel has very good communication however, and was very swift in responding to my email contact when I ask ahead if they would accept luggage via takkyubin. Not only they did very kindly accepted my suitcases ahead of our arrival, they have pre-placed them in our room prior to check it. So on that note, this is a positive definitely...

Worst hotel I have ever been in! The room is dirty and I have a ton of hair under my bed sheet. Most probably they haven’t cleaned it for years. I have bites on my neck from bed bugs. Nightmare! I am disgusted! Instead of offering a new room they just changed the bed cloths and cleaned one side of the mattress. The other side is still full of hair. No treatment for bed bugs. When I showed them the pictures and videos of the hair and my bites they asked if I need house keeping? Like what? I need a new room with a new mattress lady! I am staying another 3 nights and don’t even know if I can close my eyes at night because I am scared what will crawl over my body!! Never again!! This experience really ruined my Tokio trip!

Update: They offered a new room with hair on the bedsheet again. Is there even a room without hair in the bed? Asking for the manager is useless too. Please DO NOT book this hotel under any circumstances!! Regarding their check for bed bugs I am puzzled why I have a line of bites on my arm again after this night. It’s an indication for bed bugs. Maybe they need to educate their stuff better because if they couldn’t see the dirt and hair during cleaning I doubt they find bugs. This whole trip was a nightmare. If there is one room with bugs there are thousands if not billions. Don’t go there. Its a...