This trip to Tokyo, we were very lucky in terms of booking a good hotel. We thought we had everything settled on the same day that we bought our cheap 384SGD air tickets to Tokyo. Yet, 1 day before departure, I got a shock of my life realising that hotel we've booked was situated in Ikebukuro area instead of Shinjuku area like we wanted to.
Vibrant Shinjuku Night Life
You see, trains stop running in Tokyo at around 12+ midnight or so. And taking cabs is an unthinkable thing to me because it's expensive. Thus, Shinjuku is the best area in my opinion as there's a lot of shopping and good food around.
I panicked and did a quick search on agoda.com, my favourite hotel booking site for now, and found the amazingly cheap hotel Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku.
It was going at a cheap rate of 116SGD per night for the economy double room and of course I grabbed the deal.
With only a night's cancellation charge on the other hotel booking through booking.com (the good thing about booking.com is that they don't charge to your credit card until you arrive at the hotel and there's free cancellation if it's done 48 hours before booking date) and the discount from points accumulation on agoda.com, we ended up paying the same amount for Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku.
With only a night's cancellation charge on the other hotel booking through booking.com (the good thing about booking.com is that they don't charge to your credit card until you arrive at the hotel and there's free cancellation if it's done 48 hours before booking date) and the discount from points accumulation on agoda.com, we ended up paying the same amount for Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku.
And this hotel is located much nearer to the JR station! It's less than 5 mins walk away from JR Shinjuku South exit.
We were pleasantly surprised with Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku, it's new, clean, very well located with a big hotel lobby and the staff were friendly and helpful.
The hotel has ready copies of maps and sightseeing guide that will greatly aid your traveling plan if you're not with a tour group. Just approach the reception for any queries and they'll be more than happy to help.
Sightseeing Guide Provided by Hotel
There's also one exit to Tokyo Subway Station situated right next to Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku. Talk about convenience! This is especially welcoming when you need to take the train to Tsukiji market early in the morning and it's really fantastic to not have to walk much to enter the train station.
The Tokyo Subway entrance is highlighted with a red circle on the map above and the green box is the lovely Shinjuku Southern Terrace. Just cross it and you'll reach the super huge Takashimaya and a mega Tokyu Hands.
Long Escalator Deep Into Shinjuku Tokyo Subway Train Platform
Shinjuku Southern Terrace
The Southern Terrace provides an alternative walk back to the hotel from the JR Station South Exit. It is a more pleasant walk with less hurried people around. Also, it's rare to see so much space in the midst of Tokyo skyscrapers and it can be relaxing to chill in one of the cafes there.
JR Shinjuku Station Southern Exit
Other niceties about the hotel include:
- Non-fogging mirror (center portion) in the toilet, a nice and thoughtful touch and the first hotel I ever came across with this!
- Sandwich ironing board that saves space in the typical small Tokyo hotel room.
Bf Helping Me With My Top
- Innovative and cute magnet signs instead of paper ones.
Every morning, we'll just throw one right outside the door and it'll fly straight and be stuck on tight. Cute!
Everyone In Tokyo Is Doing Their Bit To Save Electricity After The 11 Mar 2011 Earthquake
Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku
2-3-1 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku Shinjuku
Tokyo, Japan
Tel: 03-3375-3211
Just don't end up fretting just before your trip like I did. ;)
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9 comments:
Wow great job! I love your post! My fiance and I will be staying here in October.
Hey, thanks! Enjoy yourselves! =)
is there a bidet in the bathroom?
i where in a hotel in ikebukoru when i was in japan too
Hi Anonymous,
There isn't a separate bidet but I cannot remember whether the toilet bowl come with the same function as a lot of toilet bowls in Japan are fitted this way.
Hi Anonymous,
what a coincidence! I hope to go back to Japan sometime soon. :)
hello,
i read your blog and from your positive reviews, i decided to book sunroute plaza shinjuku for my trip. i just came back yesterday.
i must say that although the description of the hotel room was accurate (service is good n room is clean), the distance from the hotel to JR shinjuku station is definitely not less than 5 mins. it was 10 mins at least.
therefore i hope to offer some advice to those who are interested in the hotel (i hope you don't mind!)
firstly, although shinjuku is considered as one of the more convenient location, it is also extremely confusing because it has multiple train lines run by different companies (and the multiple signage made me crazy haha). directly beside the hotel is owned by company A (toei line), the JR line is run by japan railway (JR), and there is another tokyo metro subway (these are the 3 lines i used for my trip and there are more lines i believe).
secondly, the walk to the different lines (aka interchanges) may not be connected. for example, i had to cross a few streets in order to travel from asakusa to disneyland when i changed at Kuramae interchange.
another point to note is that as there is A LOT of walking in tokyo, and with limited escalators (fewer now as they are saving energy) and lots of stairs n slopes, wearing comfortable shoes would go a long way :)
Hi pings,
There is indeed a lot of walking in Tokyo. I always go prepared with flats. ;)
Shinjuku has the world's busiest railway station, naturally, it would be "confusing" with all the railway lines there. But it is precisely this reason that it is convenient too.
I love Shinjuku for its vibrancy. did you have fun? And thanks for sharing, hope readers can gain from your advice!
Cheers! =)
Hi,
Its nice narration...
I am visiting tokyo next week for 20 days for training and have only 4 days to visit tokyo.
Can you guide me to plan my travel to explore tokyo at its best in 4 days.
sandypatel51@gmail.com
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