Smile Hotel Tokyo Ayase Ekimae

“Nice hotel and good location but don't book a small double for 2”

We were very happy with this hotel in that it's location was good for the station and there were plenty of places to eat nearby. We went for some really good ramen round the corner based on a previous review on here. The hotel staff were friendly although it was the first hotel in Japan where we ... more

We were very happy with this hotel in that it's location was good for the station and there were plenty of places to eat nearby. We went for some really good ramen round the corner based on a previous review on here. The hotel staff were friendly although it was the first hotel in Japan where we couldn't go to our room before check in but that was fine and they bought our bags to our room for us. When we got to the room there was a big building blocking the potential great view of the sky tower so we asked if we could move to a room with a view. They very kindly moved us to a room with a view on the same floor. The room and bathroom were small which was fine but the bed was a big single rather than a small double and too small for two people to have a really good nights sleep. We had a great view out of the little window and enjoyed seeing the sky tower lit up at night. The hotel has washing machines that you can use for 300 yen and tumble dryer for 100 which we found really useful as we are travelling for a long time. We would stay here again but we would not get a small double.

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“Just what you need, at a good price. Small rooms, but fairly good location with a JR Pass.”

The location is fairly good if you are traveling with the JR pass, it’s less than a 5 minute walk to the Ayase station which connects to the JR Lines and Subways. However getting to the Ayase Station, using only your JR Pass, does requires one extra transfer at the Kita-Senju station to a local J... more

The location is fairly good if you are traveling with the JR pass, it’s less than a 5 minute walk to the Ayase station which connects to the JR Lines and Subways. However getting to the Ayase Station, using only your JR Pass, does requires one extra transfer at the Kita-Senju station to a local JR train in order to fully utilize the JR pass for traveling around Tokyo. Alternatively, you could take one of the subway lines (Chiyoda Line) directly to the Ayase Station, but that would cost about 240yen rather than for free with your JR Pass. As expected for a Japanese business hotel, the rooms are fairly small. However, they do have everything you need. My room had a small fridge, a kettle, a flat-screen TV, a tub & shower, a desk, A/C, house-coats and good WiFi included. The facility has laundry machines, and plenty of automatic dispensing machines. The area has plenty of restaurants, convenient stores, grocery stores and activities. One of the best Ramen places I ever went to was right on the corner from the hotel. The pictures here on trip adviser are fairly accurate. I did not have the breakfast so cannot comment on it, but there are plenty of other places to eat breakfast in the area. Some floors are non-smoking, and some are smoking, so make sure you are on the appropriate floor, because the smoking floors sure smell like smoke, but the non-smoking floors were fine. I would certainly stay there again, and I found the savings more than made up for the extra 20 minute train ride to get to the heart of downtown Tokyo.

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“Same breakfast for four days”

The front office staffs were nice to Gaijin like us and the hotel is just a few steps away from the train and bus stations. The hotel is clean but small. And the good thing was if you do not request for a "make up room", they will give you a freebies like facial mask, cup of noodles etc. The brea... more

The front office staffs were nice to Gaijin like us and the hotel is just a few steps away from the train and bus stations. The hotel is clean but small. And the good thing was if you do not request for a "make up room", they will give you a freebies like facial mask, cup of noodles etc. The breakfast is yummy and healthy too. there are lots of bread selections to choose from but everyday it is the same. (four days!)

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“Very average.”

Ayase Hokusai This hotel is SMALL.  I'm only 5'6 and I feel like I'm a giant!  The bed is so small my wife elbowed me a couple of times during the night. The toilet doesn't have the usual heated seat and we arrived there in winter! It's also pretty small, with no heated mirror. It's probably suit... more

Ayase Hokusai This hotel is SMALL.  I'm only 5'6 and I feel like I'm a giant!  The bed is so small my wife elbowed me a couple of times during the night. The toilet doesn't have the usual heated seat and we arrived there in winter! It's also pretty small, with no heated mirror. It's probably suited for traveling low-level Japanese office workers. No communal baths for soaking offered. Still, it's cheap and clean, don't forget to ask for non-smoke room if you don't smoke, it's  pretty stinky. English spoken and very polite staffs.

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