During my brief trip to Tokyo, I stayed at the Hotel Monterrey Hanzomon in Ichibancho. It was a quiet little hotel on a quiet little street. But it was also right in the middle of Tokyo, just next to the Imperial Palace. Walking down the street, it felt like Tokyo, but without all the noise and crowds.
The benefit to being in a tiny residential neighborhood was that it was quiet day and night. The downside was that, other than the Imperial Palace, there was not much nearby. The metro was right across the street, so getting around the city was easy, but I'm used to staying in Shibuya, where you have everything you need around you. You don't really need the metro.
There was a nice little bakery just down the street and a tiny grocery store across the street from that. In the opposite direction was a tiny produce store and a larger grocery store. The hotel was also between a 7-11 and Family Mart, of course. That might not sound like much, but 7-11 in Japan is a million times better than 7-11 in China. Chinese 7-11 is convenient, but Japanese 7-11 actually has food you can eat. In Shibuya, it would not matter. Shibuya has food in every direction. But in Ichibancho, it was nice to have a 7-11 nearby.
The hotel itself was nothing exciting. It was a standard business hotel with all of the usual amenities. Since this was in Japan, everything was exceptionally clean and the service was polite and efficient. I have no complaints about the hotel, but I will probably never stay there again. I like Tokyo to be loud and bustling. But if you want a calm neighborhood in the middle of the storm, this is a good choice.
I can't really say, but my impression was that Ichibancho is more like a smaller city in Japan. That is only an assumption on my part since I have only been to Japan's larger city, but the neighborhood around the hotel felt like a smaller suburb. I will need to go to Hiroshima or Nagasaki to make sure.
Love to visit japan someday although I hear it's very expensive. Are you travelling in a group?
ReplyDeleteTokyo is reasonable compared to other giant cities. It's all about how you want to spend money. Tourist food and tourist hotels always cost more, but you can eat for a few dollars if you look around and go where the locals go.
ReplyDeleteI never go on group tours. I'd rather just travel with 1 or 2 other people, but I can go alone if that's the way it works out. Going with a group, especially with a Chinese travel guide, is the worst way to go.