Nippon Seinenkan Hotel
The Nippon Seinenkan Hotel is a great choice for people traveling to Tokyo on a budget. This simple and clean hotel is at the heart of Tokyo in an upscale neighborhood just blocks from the Omotesando crossing famed for its fashion boutiques. What I enjoyed most about the Nippon Seinenkan was taking a quiet, early morning stroll among the lush greenery that surrounds the hotel before starting my day in bustling Tokyo.
The rooms are reasonably priced between 7,700 yen and 10,815 yen per person at time of print. A 40% discount is offered on Sundays and Mondays for online reservations. The hotel is a combination of traditional Japanese and western accommodations. But unlike most western hotels in Japan, you can invite three guests to your room, and all four of you can sit around a table without being in an expensive suite. More unusual, you can also do this on traditional Japanese tatami mats while still being able to sleep on a westernstyle bed. Or if you prefer, you can pull out some futons and sleep on the tatami.
Originally built in 1979, the hotel has renovated most rooms over the past decade. There are tatami rooms, western-style rooms and a combination of tatami with western beds. Rooms have Internet access, a bar fridge and a hot-water pot for making instant coffee, tea and instant noodles. In addition to a shower and bath combo in your own room, the hotel has two public baths – one for male guests and the other for females. These huge baths can hold up to 50 people, and all guests are welcome to experience this traditional Japanese bathing process that begins with scrubbing your entire body down before entering the bath. Coin-operated laundry machines also are available. Looking for a reasonably priced and centrally located venue for a seminar or workshop? There are 17 large and small meeting rooms at the Nippon Seinenkan. For larger groups, the hotel’s Saein restaurant and Alde banquet room each seats 300, with reservations required. Some staff are not as fluent in English as at the major western hotels like the Westin, Hilton and Hyatt, but they are friendly and I did not have any problems communicating.
Restaurants and Food
There are two reasonably priced restaurants. One is a quaint Hawaiian restaurant that serves burgers and a western breakfast. The other, called the Befane café, is a family style eatery where I enjoyed a roast chicken dinner for about 1,000 yen. At night you can have a drink and sing karaoke at Pub “Metro.” There also is a small stand in the lobby selling snacks, canned drinks and convenience items. Each floor has vending machines serving canned and bottled soft drinks, tea, coffee, beer and snacks including instant noodles.
Location
The Nippon Seinenkan is located in the heart of Tokyo less than a 10-minute walk from the Gaienmae Station on the Ginza Line or the Kokuritsukyogijo Station on the Oedo Line, or the Sendagaya or Shinanomachi Stations on the JR line. It is a 20-minute walk to Harajuku’s famous Meiji Jingu Shrine.
