Given we’re staying in so many different places, I thought it would be good to review each – mostly so our agent, Tim, can see what we thought!!
First then, the Citadines Central Shinjuku in Tokyo. We had 4 nights in a pretty soulless but otherwise pleasant hotel located in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. Shinjuku reminded us of the Leicester Square/Soho area of London – neon lights, strip-joints, seedy restaurants, bars, and lots of tourists! It felt pretty safe – though the walk back to the hotel late one evening was different as some of the “gentleman’s clubs” (which were labelled ‘Tourist Information Centres’) now had bouncers of an African origin sat outside.
The hotel itself was of a typically Western style, rooms very small but functional, very clean, beds comfortable – though who designs pillows that have a bean bag on one side? Just weird. We had two rooms – our double was tiny, with a pretty rubbish bath/shower affair; the kids’ twin room was bigger and had a wetroom – so we all used that! The view out of the windows was of a huge and sprawling bar area – hundreds of tiny bars that demand an entry fee – and a large red shrine!
The staff were exceptionally helpful, their English was amazing and nothing was too much trouble for them. Breakfast was the only meal we had, it was a mixture of bacon, eggs, fish, toast, limited cereals, and pork dumplings.
The nearest Metro station was a couple of blocks, 5 minutes, away by foot. Aim for the Tiffany’s store and it’s right outside!
Overall – 4/5 – a great base from which to explore Tokyo and start the adventure.
