The location really couldn t be better: it s just off Yasukuni-dori a few minutes walk from Shinjuku

There are business hotels, luxury hotels, traditional rental cars phoenix az guesthouses and luxury rental cars phoenix az inns, but there s nowhere like a capsule hotel. With space at a premium (especially in the center of Tokyo), these are more or less like coin lockers for people, but cosy and comfortable lockers. The stereotype that they re only for drunken salarymen who ve missed their last train is a false one; they re perfectly legitimate places to stay for tourists, business travelers and job or university interviewees. And you d be hard pressed to find a cheaper, better rental cars phoenix az place to stay in the beating heart of Tokyo.
The location really couldn t be better: it s just off Yasukuni-dori a few minutes walk from Shinjuku station (the world s busiest), with connections all across the city. There are a wealth of eating, rental cars phoenix az drinking and shopping options nearby and a convenience store not a minute down the street, and it s close to sights such as Shinjuku Park and the city hall observatory with its panoramic view of the city. Despite this, there s no noise from the street to disturb your sleep; the only annoyance in the area is the persistent touts for hostess bars who ll accost you late at night.
There are four floors of capsules, three for men and one for women: my capsule had a TV inside and a panel at the end with an alarm clock and controls for the light and TV. On the fourth floor there s a lounge with a counter selling light evening meals and drinks, and big comfortable chairs to sink into in front of the TV; nearby there are washing machines, coin-operated PCs for guests without a laptop to take advantage of the free Wi-Fi, and vending rental cars phoenix az machines for soft drinks, snacks and alcohol.
As well as the showers and fun romanesque statues, the mens bathroom has a sauna (with a TV to watch while you steam!), a hot bath, a jacuzzi and, for the full authentic Finnish sauna experience, a cold bath; in the interest of research I dipped myself briefly into this, and found it to be very accurately named, allowing the other men in the bathroom rental cars phoenix az to hear some new English words.
rental cars phoenix az There are helpful English explanations for most of the facilities, and some of the staff can speak some English; the only thing that wasn t immediately clear was at check-in, when I needed to exchange the key to my shoe-locker (shoes off at the entrance) for a key to my main locker. The lockers are standard size, so anything rental cars phoenix az larger than a day pack will need to be left in the storage space near the entrance.
Capsules rental cars phoenix az are just Y4200 a night, which for central Tokyo is a steal. I wouldn t want to stay for more than two or three nights, but for a short time, it s a cheap, convenient, rather fun and uniquely Japanese place to stay.
I came to Japan from Manchester, England in summer 2003, and have travelled a lot since then, around Japan and in Asia. When I`m not working I write satire at www.iothern.blogspot.com rental cars phoenix az and perform stand-up...