Nerdtour 2012: A Typical Tokyo hotel…

room entrance

The first night in Tokyo, I stayed at a hotel, partly to unwind and rest from the trip, and partly so I could keep the stuff I’m hauling around close to the apartment I’m going to move into. All campaigns succeed or fail on logistics, and I was determined that this one would succeed!

This hotel is the Monzennakacho Toyoko Inn, which I passed by nearly every day on the first trip I made here. It wasn’t until I was planning this trip that I realized I could save much time and energy by lugging all my stuff to this hotel, leave it at the hotel once I checked out, make a quick trip down to Shinjuku to check into the apartment (filling out pages and pages of agreement forms) and pick up the key, and come back and haul the stuff two blocks to the apartment. That part worked like a charm, but I’ll write that up in another post.

If you’ve heard that living conditions in Japan are tight with small rooms, you heard right! I had a single at the Toyoko Inn, and it was barely big enough for me (of course, I’m kind of “plus size” even for an American ^_^) and my stuff. But, it was comfortable, I was able to grab quite a bit of sleep there, and took a nice leisurely shower the next day. The free breakfast helped as well, to start me on the day!

At any rate, here are some pictures and a video of the hotel.

Enjoy!

hotel 1
It’s easier to get a full view from lying in the bed…
cubbyhole
everything you need in one convenient cubbyhole
room entrance
A view of the entrance “hallway” (objects in mirror may appear further away than actually are)
power and light
The central power location, notice the room key inserted into the wall. This turns on the electricity for the whole room, so that when you leave, you don’t waste power. Nice idea, we could use that in the US and save much money!
high tech toilet
So, why is the toilet plugged into the wall???
toilet instruction manual
… and why do you need instructions? Oh, right, “Japan”.
toilet warning
If you’re going to sit on an electric toilet, it’s good to know what to be “Cautious” about!
toilet cautions
Just a little bit of “Engrish” to start your day! After being cautious, of course!
bed and window
All in all, a nice cozy, comfortable place to crash.

Here’s the video “walkaround” I took, too!

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