MetroResidences Japan メトロレジデンスジャパン株式会社 — Local services in Tokyo

I booked with MetroResidences (MR) in Tokyo from March 10, 2019 to June 7, 2019. First off, let me just say that I think MR is a great business plan and provides a great service, especially for non-Japanese speaking foreigners who may find it difficult to arrange a service apartment in Japan. The staff was very responsive and helpful, and the apartment was clean and well furnished. They seem like a very promising company, and I would recommend them to a friend. I especially appreciated that they reached out to me on WhatsApp early on to make communication very easy and accessible throughout our stay, and that they arranged for someone to meet us at the apartment the night that we arrived. We were running very late and they were very accommodating.

However, the reason they don't get 5 stars from me is because they tended to consistently cause me inconveniences throughout the duration of my stay that in my view could have been and should have been avoided. Here is a short list:

1. In the contract it specifically states that we were entitled to 3 apartment keys, since we booked a 3 bedroom. However, when we got there, they only had 2 keys and MR kept one (allegedly for cleaning) until they could get us an extra one. It ended up taking about a week to get a second key, so for that whole week my wife and I had to go out of our way to painstakingly coordinate so that she would be home when I got home from work so she could let me in. I understand the logistical challenge and all, but it just seems like it would be better to give the tenant (who is contractually entitled to the key) the extra key and MR wait for the spare. Also, it wasn't a big deal since we never really needed more than 2, but we never got the third key per the contract terms.

2. The first document I received from MR didn't include all of the charges I paid for the apartment. If I recall correctly, it was missing the cleaning fee. So, when I attached this document to the invoice to expense to my client, it looked like I was getting a horrible FX rate. Luckily, they sent some other document with all the fees on it, and I was able to clarify to my client, but it did cause lots of confusion.

3. For my 2nd payment, I went to MR website about a week before it was due to see what my payment options were. I went to the Payments screen and there was no other info besides a button that said, "Make a Payment". I clicked the button thinking it would give me payment options, but instead it just said something like "payment successful". Moments later I received a push notification from my credit card that somewhere around ~$4500 USD had been charged. There was no review/confirmation screen, just straight away made the payment using whatever method I had used initially. I think this is unacceptable, and really ought to change.

4. In addition to automatically charging my card the full amount without any sort of confirmation, I was also charged more than what the payment amount was showing on the website before I made the payment. It took lots of back and forth to figure out how much I had actually been charged in JPY, but it turned out that they had left out their "service fee" of 14,400 JPY form the upcoming payment amount, which again, appeared to show that my credit card was charging me a weird FX rate. The contract did mention this service fee, but only in the context of the first payment and their own website excluded it from the pending amount due. I wouldn't mind paying it since I was getting reimbursed, but I don't like being told I am to pay one amount, and then getting charged another.

All in all, I appreciate that MR is far ahead of any other similar company I am aware of operating in Japan and the concept is great. But they definitely have some details that need to be ironed out. In spite of the nuisances described above, I would probably still book through them again and still recommend them to a friend, as finding a service apartment in Japan is harder than one might think.

I will amend this review once I find out...

We stayed at the Grand Concierge Roppongi location (unit 301) We arrived on January 16 - February 15 (Checked out the 13th just due to flight schedule).

The apartment worked out great took us a few days to sort of reorient ourselves to Roppongi but once we got oriented as to how to get around the city via train it was a pretty good location.

The unit itself is good has all you need to live quiet comfortably during your stay.

2 points I will mention that really should be addressed.

The 1st is a clock there is no clocks in the unit at all so might be a good things to add to your units is a small digital clock something that can be read at night.

The 2nd which might be harder is the dryer. It washes great but the dryer is an air dryer no heat (or at least none we could find) and that made drying alot longer as one 3 hour drying cycle still would not dry out thicker clothing like jeans and such. So it might be good considering a swap out of your Washer/dryer units to add heat ones which would make it easier to dry clothing for guest.

That said to others who might wonder on this there is a laundry mat literally right around the corner. As you exit the building turn left and you pass a small Indian current restaurant. At the first street you come to turn left there is a small juice place there right on the corner next to the Indian restaurant. As you make the left turn onto the side street right next to the juicing place is a small laundromat. We just opted to do our thicker clothes occasionally and then just brought the heavier items down and within 30 minutes they were fully dried out. Just be careful what slots you put money in as each slot is labeled what unit top or bottom that is is good for. I almost put it in the wrong slot HA HA Daytime is better as night time can be a bit busy so if you have time during the day it's easier to get a machine. 100 Yen per 10 minutes so 30 minutes is 300 at least as of this post!

The rest of the unit though was great We did not cook so stove was not used but is a 2 burner stove no oven but there is a microwave oven so for most short term rents is not an issue you have whats needed. Refrigerator was plenty good size for our needs.

Bed was comfy. There is also English instruction booklet showing you how to operate all the items in the unit. TV was nice though mainly my wife watched it as I don't speak Japanese so...

Internet was good never had any sort of issues with being disconnected or anything and speed was as good as I have here at home.

Over all is a great location. There are plenty of restaurants around the area. There are also several Groceries in the area as well a couple are marked in the info guide and you can google it also as several others in the area that are a little cheaper price wise.

For those arriving from Haneda which is where we arrived from we found this route to be easiest.

Take the Monorail from Haneda to Hamamatsucho (last stop so just ride it all the way).

Switch to the Yamanote Line (JR) and go one station north (Tokyo station direction) to Shimbashi Station.

At Shimbashi station transfer to the Metro Ginza Line.

on Ginza Line take the metro to Tammeike Sanno station and exit heading towards exit 11.

At 11 take the elevator to the surface 1st floor and then turn right out of the elevator heading South towards the Highway. At the Highway stay on the north side of the highway and follow the highway to the right and you will reach the apartment.

Takes about 30-60 minutes depending how familiar you are with the area but is convenient enough an has Elevators and escalators at all stations meaning no need to lug bags up and down stairs.

When you arrive someone will be there to meet you with the key and walk through of the unit. Trash is on the first floor be away in Japan they separate their trash so be sure to ask on the procedure as all apartments will have this as is required in Japan to separate trash!!

Over all we had an enjoyable stay and already planning our trip for the end of the year...

I stayed for 88 nights at Genovia Higashi-nihonbashi Studio A #1302.

The place is normal size for Tokyo. The place comes with a bed/ table/TV set/fast internet (was getting incredible fiber like speeds, however the wifi router seems to be the limiting factor in speeds so bring long ethernet cables to connect if you want max internet speeds). Balcony was very nice and provided a view of Tokyo Skytree. Large enough to hold a small table and chair, though none was provided for the balcony.

Kitchen is fairly stocked with the primary tools. I did not cook so I cannot comment on what was missing. I did want a can opener, but they did not have one. They had spoons/knives/forks/cups/plates/cutting board/scissors/towels. Microwave broke after a few uses, but contacting MetroResidences, they sent someone out to replace it while I was out in Kyoto (I allowed them to come in while I was not there) with a new microwave. They also sent a toaster the next day while they arranged the new microwave to be delivered.

Bathroom is decent, shower stall is large. I did not use the bathtub but it looked fairly large enough to fit me (I'm 5'11) comfortably. They provided really small bottles of shampoo/soap so be sure to buy your own.

Unit comes with a washer/dryer combo. The washer unit doesn't dry completely so you need to use the bar in the shower stall with the included combo hanger and hang dry your clothes. You should turn on the hot air in the control panel for 3-6 hours every time you need to dry your clothes.

The AC unit worked fine. It can get really hot or really cold with decent speeds.

It's quite amazing to be literally right in front of the Higashi-Nihombashi station for the Asakusa line. Location is good enough for food (3 7-elevens nearby, Lawson too, Family Mart is a bit of a walk for daily visits but close enough, Ministop is close, My Basket is too). I wish there were more 24 hour restaurants but the closest one is a Matsuya about 5-10 minutes away by foot.

Sound: very quiet. The noisiest thing are the police/ambulance sirens but I didn't even hear it at all. I could not hear my neighbors at all (I don't even know if I had any, that's how quiet they were!).

Price: decent, about $1400/mo after ~150JPY = 1 USD conversion.

My only 3 minor complaints: the bed + pillows are in bad shape and needs to be replaced as soon as possible. The bed has springs that are poking up in certain areas more than others, creating an uneven feeling for my back. The pillows were lumpy to the point where I had to go to Nitori and buy my own pillow. The bed frame is very creaky every time I shift position while sleeping.

Second complaint is the table needs to be replaced. The screws are constantly being loosened every time I use it. There are no screwdrivers so I have to manually twist with my fingers the screws back in.

Third complaint: the refrigerator may need repair. I bought a $5 thermometer from Donquixote and it showed 12-13C even at the coldest setting. Refridgerator needs to be 10C if you're storing milk or other perishables. I wasn't storing perishables so I didn't bother asking MetroResidences to look into this.

Overall I think I will like to use the service again the next time I am in...