伊東旅館 — Local services in Tokyo

I am so depressed that I booked this place, because it ruined the end of my trip, which was otherwise fantastic!

I stayed in 5 Ryokans, 3 Hotels and 2 Capsule Hotels and all exceeded my Expectations and were luxury compared to this creeky old shack!

The moment I walked in I realized the House is small and cramped and dingy and it smelled of mold/humidity.

You take off your shoes, which is normal..however this is the only place in Japan that does not offer slippers and the carpet is Absolutely disgusting and filthy! Take flip flops!

The room did not at all correspond the fotos. And here I booked 6 months im advance BECAUSE the room looked cute and I received a strange room, which had no Japanese features. The Manager agreed that I booked a different room and they did nothing. They did not reply to my messages at all..this shows how "nice" the staff is in reality.

My room shared a wall with 2 toilets and yes, I could hear people pee, flush..everything. I wanted to cry...LOL

Walls are so thin. Forget about making phone calls in your room after 10pm-you even hear when someone uses an electric toothbrush!

The rooms are mostly on the third floor and showers only on the first floor, so you walk PAST RECEPTION STAFF to shower, which is weird.

They offer zero amenities...the absolute opposite from all other hotels I stayed at in japan, where you have more than enough of everything. No coffee, no tea, nothing. Zero Japanese Hospitality.

Instead they non stop bother you with painfully boring conversation. Especially the old old lady manager (chikako?) She would always talk way too much and her english is so bad !

I ordered a breakfast and she talked to me for half an hour about what I want to eat. Waste of time because she then just made micro portions of vegetables for breakfast and she would not let me eat. She talked and talked...it was rediculous! She showed me pictures of her two cats on her phone!

I mean I am a guest and staff should know their place and not talk too much, unless asked.

And yes, they remind you daily of leaving a nice review.

Whenever I put on my shoes to go out or took my shoes off when I got back, every time someone had to involve me in some stupid talk! You could never simply walk out or simply come home and relax!

The futon was Bad. honestly you can not sleep on your side ! It is like 4cm thick. I was lucky there was a spare futon in my room and used two on top of each other.

I would only recommend this place to my worst enemy.

The one good point is that tye Neighborhood around the "ryokan" is amazing !

So yea the good reviews..read between the lines ,cause most people actually do express what they did not like, however the staff tries so awkwardly hard to make a "personal connection" with each guest, involving them in mindless small talk...so if you actually leave a negative review, you feel like you personally insult a "nice" person.

However the "niceness" is really fake as it turns out. As soon as you leave they will not reply.

I left a bag of souvenier items by accident in my room and I asked the hotel several times to please ship it to me (I would send money for this in advance) and I received no...

I stayed here for 5 nights and I did not expect to have so much fun staying here.

Hotel Staffs

Chikako-san, the manager was very welcoming and friendly to every guests. Every one of the part-timers were really friendly and I would often make small conversations with them and they would teach me a thing or two about Japanese culture and their language. They would also go out of their way to help you with Takkyubin services. One of the hotel staffs followed me to the Yamato Transport Takkyubin store to assist me with the entire process. There was also this incident where I happened to checked out from Ito Ryokan already and I locked myself out of my hotel, I went back to Ito Ryokan for help because the hotel was unmanned and I was unable to converse in full Japanese on the phone. Chikako-san did not hesitate to help me make the phone call and she saved me from being locked out from my hotel room which I am very grateful for. 🥹🥹🥹🥹

Breakfast and hospitality

She would offer breakfast for all the guests such as coffee/tea and biscuits, you get to opt for a Japanese styled breakfast the day before which I did and it was really delicious. Would definitely recommend travellers to try out their breakfast for an authentic Japanese experience!

Rooms and facilities

The rooms were acceptable, traditional Ryokan styled rooms, with TV and fūton. I don’t really have much qualm about the room because I spent most of my time outside of my room as a solo traveller. Bath towels, shampoo, body wash, hair dryers are all provided, toothbrushes and toothpastes weren’t provided. Toilets and the pantry area are all shared FYI.

Location The location is super convenient, it’s located really near 3 different stations which makes it easy to go most places! The area is also really local and non-touristy so expect it to be really quiet at night.

Making friends I made a lot of friends during my stay, talking to other guests and the hotel staffs here as a solo traveller. Chikako-san and the other hotel staffs would encourage guests to befriend each other, you’ll be able to make friends with both tourists and locals staying here.

I really enjoyed my stay here. It was a really fun and weird experience because there was one time where I volunteered to help them out with translation and they also invited me to do an interview regarding what tourists consider in a hotel location etc.

10/10 would come back again and would also recommend this ryokan...

An interesting place to stay, showing you a lot of traditional Japanese culture. This is not a normal Western hotel experience, and shouldn’t be booked as such. Instead, book here for the experience of wearing a yukata as you lumber up and down the stairs of a creeky house and sleep on a tatami mat and futon: you’re looking to try something a little different.

When you arrive, you’re greeted by the staff who help orient you and bring you to your room. Since it’s a relatively small hotel, you will see a lot of your neighbours; you’ll also probably hear them as the walls are quite thin. There’s shared bath facilities, which was fine (but we did have to wait awhile to use the tub, despite booking it). Bathrooms are well-equipped, with the exception of toothbrushes. The communal washrooms may be a little odd, but they are private (where it matters).

Since it’s an old building, you’ll also need to bring your luggage up the stairs — no elevator.

There’s some amenities which we did not use (breakfast and common area). The staff seemed ready to help, but we also did not leverage them very much as it was a short stay. Their room book has a lot of recommendations for things to do and places to go nearby.

I rate this 4 stars because, despite being an interesting and welcoming place, I had some of the worst sleep of my life here. The mat combined with the thin walls meant I couldn’t get more than a few hours of sleep. It’s something to keep in mind when you book. I’d try it again, especially when I have more time (and am not at the end of a three-week...