Where to Stay | Tokyo City Guide

If you’ve got money to spend, this beautiful high-end Ryokan style hotel is the place to stay. Think minimal rooms with lots of natural fibres and blonde wood. Attracts an international crowd of fund managers, exited founders and Google execs, if that’s your kind of vibe.

At the other end of the spectrum to the Aman is the APA chain of budget business hotels. The larger hotels have a top floor sento, which is a great way of soaking away the aches of the day before bed. The larger hotels also do a really nice buffet breakfast of miso soup and cured fish (something I personally love, but can be an acquired taste). The rooms are small and basic, with little if any design flair. The chain is known for its outspoken founder and, um, unusual in room entertainment. So maybe put a lock on the TV if you’re travelling with children.

The Bed & Art Project has two micro-hotels in Tokyo; one in Keonji and the other in Akihabara. Both hotels are really multi-room apartments, with each room decorated by a different local artist. Run by an arts collective, a share of the profits for each booking goes to the artists that decorated the room. While I’ve not stayed there myself, you get the sense that staying here is like staying with some cool designer friends, so if you’re looking for an AirBnB alternative, this would be a good pick.

Another somewhat strange concept, loosely based around the Manga Kissa, Bed and Book is a bookshop you can sleep in. I’ve not stayed here myself either, but find the idea rather intriguing..

This slightly unusual concept from the team behind Nine Hours, combines a Finnish sauna with an upmarket, designer capsule hotel. The place looks beautiful, so I’d be tempted to give it a try for a single. Especially if you’ve missed the last train home after a night on the town in Ebisu, and it’s cheaper than getting a taxi home.

I really love the Hoshinoya brand. Their hotels have a similar vibe to Aman, but are Japanese owned (rather than Russian, cia Switzerland). So think beautiful lighting and amazing design mixing Japanese and mid-century modern tropes.

This new hotel-come-designer clothing store-come-nightlife destination in Shibuya is starting to breathe new life into the otherwise slightly stale Tokyo hotel sector. With a range of room sizes from tiny to large, there should be enough options to suit most (designer hotel staying) budgets.

This affordable Japanese hotel chain sits in the same bracket at APA hotel and is the Japanese equivalent to a Premier Inn or Best Western. Rooms are small but comfortable. With properties all over Tokyo, it’s a cheap way to see the city.

A slight upgrade to APA and MyStays, this local chain generally has slightly nicer rooms, a slightly better sento, and a better breakfast buffet, while still being affordable. I’ve stayed here a couple of times before and will probably stay again. 

This international hotel brand from Hilton is aimed at Millennial travelers who care about design, while not needing all the amenities of a higher end brand. It’s a reasonable choice, if slightly out of the way. However there are more interesting options opening all the time, so I’d keep this one in your back pocket.

As part of their new flagship store, Muji have opened a hotel in Ginza. It’s beautifully designed, reasonably priced, and a great opportunity to experience small space living done well.

This industrial style hotel in Shimo is squarely aimed at a design conscious millennial market. So affordable but cool. Think of a Japanese Ace Hotel before it got super popular. I don’t know if they have record players in their rooms, but I’d be surprised if they didn’t. The perfect place to come back to after a day of vintage denim shopping, rare record buying, and having out in your favorite third wave cafe of Jazz kissa.

Nine Hours operate several up-market capsule hotels across Tokyo. You probably won’t want to stay here for long, but if you’re looking to keep costs down and experience a uniquely Japanese sleeping experience, it may be worth checking them out for a night or two.

OMO3 is a simple looking budget hotel from the Hoshino brand. OMO 5 is a slightly more upmarket (but still affordable) version. I stayed in the Asaksa branch and it was perfectly lovely. Nice contemporary design. Surprisingly big rooms for a Japanese hotel. However the breakfast offering was super basic and I did miss having a sento on hand after a busy day pounding the streets. They have a new Gotanda branch opening soon so I may give that a try next time I visit.

This place looks super interesting as it's a budget hotel brand, but designed to look like a modern Ryokan. This means a nice looking sento, rain chans and a lot of blond wood. I tried to book it on the last trip but left it too late, so I think I’ll give it a go on my next visit.

This hotel is a fairly standard Tokyo hotel. It’s reasonably priced, gets a good Tripadvisor rating, and was one of your best bets for places to stay 5 or 6 years ago. Fortunately a few more design conscious hotels have popped up in Tokyo of late, but it’s still a solid choice if  you’re looking for a more international standard hotel.

My favourite Hotel in Tokyo is Trunk Hotel. It’s housed in an architecturally interesting building, in a quiet backstreet on the border of Shibuya and Omotesando. The interiors are beautifully designed, with a trendy bar, a nice restaurant, and small shop selling local designer products. As such it’s the closest Tokyo has to something like the Ace Hotel. The hotel isn’t cheap, but you’d pay similar for a hotel of this standard in New York or London.

This place on a Shimo back-street looks super interesting. It has strong Ryojken vibes, while not being crazy expensive. So if you like the idea of staying at the Honshinoya or Aman, but your budget doesn’t stretch that far, this place may be worth checking out. If you do, please let me know as I might give it a go on my next trip.