travel

Crazy cheap hotel in Tokyo comes with a crazy catch

12 Comments
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24

For budget travelers in Japan who’re looking for a cheap place to spend the night, capsule hotels are the first thing that comes to mind, since they often charge less than 5,000 yen a night. The downside, though, is that they offer hardly any privacy, since you’re only paying for a slot in a bunk, not an actual room. In recent years, staying overnight at a manga/Internet cafe has also become a hotel alternative, but again, you’re not really getting a room, and at best a booth that’s open at the top, doesn’t have a full door and a chair that partially reclines.

So imagine Japanese Twitter user @tetsu_yan’s joy earlier this month when he took a trip to Tokyo and got an honest-to-goodness hotel room for just 1,500 yen.

▼ The Pearl Hotel Kasai, the hotel @tetsu_yan stayed at, can be seen on the far left here.

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It’s not like the hotel is in a crummy location, either. Kasai Station, on the Tokyo Metro’s Tozai Line, is just a short five-minute walk from the front door, and from there it’s just a 15-minute ride to Nihombashi, basically the heart of central Tokyo. And don’t worry, the Pearl Hotel Kasai isn’t some flea-bag dump. The property may not be anything fancy, but it’s part of a respectable chain of “business hotels,” as no-frills hotels that cater to business travelers are called. For proof, just take a look at this photo of @tetsu_yan’s room.

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Not bad at all for 1,500 yen, right? However, while there’s nothing wrong with the fixtures and furnishings that are found in the room, there’s the teensy little matter of one that isn’t found in it: a bed.

Yes, the catch to this fantastically affordable room is that there’s no mattress, frame, or any other sort of bedding included. The hotel is completely upfront about this, though, so @tetsu_yan came prepared with a sleeping bag and air mat, which he had ample floor space to lay out.

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Actually, his initial idea was to sleep on top of the wide desk/folding table that’s against the wall, but it wasn’t quite long enough for a person of his height.

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Aside from the lack of bed, it’s a perfectly normal room, with a private bathroom, shower, and working heating/air conditioning unit. Really the only problem @tetsu_yan encountered was that the construction of the door means there’s some light that seeps in from the hallway at the bottom, so you might want to bring an eye mask, or at least lay your bags right inside the threshold to block the light. There’s also no bath towel provided, though you do get a face towel. Oh, and check-in time for this room is 11 p.m., with check-out at 8 a.m., but the spartan layout means it isn’t really conducive to lounging around in anyway.

It should be noted that the Pearl Hotel Kasai does have regular bed-inclusive rooms too. For travelers with a backpacker mentality and/or a tight budget, though, this is a pretty incredible bargain. Especially with the Tokyo Big Sight convention center being only a 20-minute ride from Kasai Station, this seems like just the sort of deal that would appeal to attendees of Comiket or other events at the venue, and the hotel isn’t very far from Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea either.

Officially called the “No Bed or Bedding Waiting for the First Train Plan” (ベッド・寝具なし始発待ちプラン in Japanese text), exact prices vary by date, ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 yen, with online reservations through Rakuten Travel available here.

Related: Hotel Pearl Kasai

Source: Twitter/@tetsu_yan via JinRakuten Travel

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© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

12 Comments
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Doesn't seem very hygienic to sleep on a carpet that thousands of others could have been on before?

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Jessie LeeToday  11:16 am JST

Doesn't seem very hygienic to sleep on a carpet that thousands of others could have been on before?

Yet you sit on train, 'plane and bus seats that thousands of others have been on before?

4 ( +8 / -4 )

I travel frequently, in Kansai, Hokuriku, Tokai, and Chuubu regions and sometimes in other parts of Japan. I find that you can really get great deals between 4,000 yen and 8,000 yen. If your going to sleep somewhere, have a great nights sleep and enjoy your stay after long travels. I usually stay at a major chain Onsen Hotel because they have a great rooms and I enjoy Onsen when I am traveling. If I am in a major city like Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, or Nagoya its harder to find a hotel with an Onsen so I find an interesting hotel with nice rooms for a value price. You can get a great room at a value price depending on the time you travel, I travel frequently on weekdays and low season however you can get deals like this even on weekends, you just need to know how to book in advance and what sites to use. Sometimes this works very well as long as there is not a big event in the city, during Obon, or Golden week, book the hotel on the evening of your stay from a major website because when someone cancels hotels usually give have discounted price on rooms. If your traveling why not pay a little more and stay in a place where you can relax for the night.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Harry_GattoToday 03:43 pm JST

Yet you sit on train, 'plane and bus seats that thousands of others have been on before?

Yes but I don't lie down and sleep on the train, plane and bus seat floors....do you?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

藤原Today 03:50 pm JST

I travel frequently, in Kansai, Hokuriku, Tokai, and Chuubu regions and sometimes in other parts of Japan. I find that you can really get great deals between 4,000 yen and 8,000 yen.

It is a great deal for a single person, but most places charge on a per person basis, so the cost a room with 4+ people in it skyrockets....even for the exact same room.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Great for a Pub Crawl night!!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Doesn't seem very hygienic to sleep on a carpet that thousands of others could have been on before?

Um, you probably wouldn't want to know all the things that have happened in every hotel bed you have ever slept on, lol. Or how many times people have broken wind on the very same train seat you are sitting on.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Jessie LeeDec. 14  11:16 am JST

Doesn't seem very hygienic to sleep on a carpet that thousands of others could have been on before?

I've worked in hotels and can tell you that you'd be shocked at how infrequently carpets are given anything but a cursory vacuum and how infrequently bedspreads and shams are put in a washing machine. Don't even get me started on whether or not sinks, showers, toilets and bathromm floors are ever actually sanitized. And this is in some of the nicer hotels!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@toolonggone, i guess it depend on just what kind of sleeping gear you decide to bring then. Nobody is telling the guests to sleep directly on the carpet anyway. Would you complain when you lie on the sand on a beach or on soil? Or when you go camping in the forest? All places are dirty in some way. This is why we have tents. Besides, if humans do not mind kissing their pets, i doubt most would mind about the carpet as long you aren't crazy enough to put your face on it.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

HiroToday  07:15 am JST

Nobody is telling the guests to sleep directly on the carpet anyway. Would you complain when you lie on the sand on a beach or on soil? Or when you go camping in the forest? All places are dirty in some way. This is why we have tents. Besides, if humans do not mind kissing their pets,...

The picture in the article clearly shows the sleeping bag directly on the floor. Are you suggesting people bring camping gear and pitch a tent in the room........ not sure if a tent will fit in my briefcase. Let me get back to you.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

HiroToday  07:15 am JST

@toolonggone, i guess it depend on just what kind of sleeping gear you decide to bring then. Nobody is telling the guests to sleep directly on the carpet anyway. Would you complain when you lie on the sand on a beach or on soil? Or when you go camping in the forest? All places are dirty in some way. This is why we have tents. Besides, if humans do not mind kissing their pets, i doubt most would mind about the carpet as long you aren't crazy enough to put your face on it.

I didn’t complain at all. I simply stated some facts, as per my experience, in response to Jessie Lee’s comment about sleeping on a potentially dirty carpet. I’m really not sure what you’re on about or how kissing pets has anything to do with this topic.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

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