Two years ago, when I had to choose the kind of hotel where to spend my days in Tokyo, I found a chain of serviced apartments / hotel called TOKYU STAY. The hotel presents itself as a cross between a traditional hotel and a small apartment with all necessary services. Within each room there are in fact a microwave, a hot plate for cooking, a sink, a work shelf as in classic cuisine, and above all a convenient washing machine with dryer function. The presence of the washing machine immediately caught my attention! Unfortunately, as everyone knows, airlines companies raise the weight limit of baggage to be put in the hold of aircraft. But Tokyo is a city where you can’t walk the streets without buying anything …. indeed, is exactly the opposite! You can not think of spending a holiday in Tokyo without having to deal with everything that you buy and that you have, sometimes doing magic tricks, to bring in your suitcase!

ENTRANCE

Having a washing machine in the room is of great help! Knowing to be able to wash your own clothes when you want, allows you to pack the bare essentials, leaving free space for all the things you will buy on the way back! So I opted for this hotel and more precisely to the Shibuya Shin-Minamiguchi one.

TOKYU STAY SHIBUYA SHIN_MINAMIGUCHI

Another interesting aspect is how to make reservations. Through various travel booking sites such as lastminute.com or expedia.com when you book a trip, you must pay by credit card. If you are a common man like me and do not have a Gold , Platinum or Black card this could be a problem! When you book for two or more people at once the flight and the hotel, these sites give you the choice of paying  with 2 differents credit cards, only 2 …. at least my experiences tell me this …. and you can find you in the condition of not being able to pay for the entire trip! The Tokyu Stay chain allow, after the registration at the website, a reservation without payment, enabling you to pay once your arrival in the lobby!

MY ROOM

The hotel is very quiet and there is not a big lobby like in the Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku, but it is very organized and clean! In the square below the hotel is open 24 hours a Family Mart (like every convenience stores) very convenient to stock up on food or drink just before going to your room.

MY ROOM

THE VIEW FROM MY BALCONY

THE BREAKFAST MENU

The rooms, being like small apartments, are larger than the common rooms of the hotels in Tokyo. Mine had even a balcony! In the lobby there is a free wifi network (indinspensabile in Tokyo) and breakfast is included! The hotel, being very small, there isn’t a space where they could serve the breakfast. But in the same building there is a family restaurant called Jonathan’s where, by submitting name and room number, you can have breakfast for free!
Prices are in line with those of business hoels in Tokyo, so pretty cheap, but the services are definitely more interesting!

LINK:

http://www.tokyustay.co.jp/e/hotel/SIM/

Tokyu Stay Shibuya Shin-minamiguchi
Shibuya 3-26-21, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0002

Tokyo is a city that continues to change! Even after few months, maybe some restaurants or shops that we used to know can be replaced by something else … But not only, there are also spaces created entirely new! It can seems strange because moving around the city does not seem that there are many free spaces to build but … The Japanese take opportunities where you least expect it! A good example is the Shinjuku station! Built over the train tracks as a great bridge that contains shops and restaurants.

A novelty of the last months of 2011 is precisely this type. In the south of Shinjuku, Yoyogi more precisely, was created a village of food and life-style in a space disposed between office buildings, creating a point of interest where before was nothing.

The complex is called Yoyogi Village and is a collection of high quality services such as restaurants, cafes, soups and bakery shops and also a massage center and a travel agency. Everything was built inside of containers, like those that are on cargo ships. To enclose this space is a set of trees and plants selected and cataloged, it was almost like a botanical garden. The tranquility and the colors inspired by nature are the fundamental elements of the complex. Honestly I knew this place thanks to my Japanese friend who occasionally works in the restaurant. The restaurant is called Code Kurkku and looks like an Italian restaurant. I‘m Italian I did not think to get hit by this type of cuisine but I was wrong! The food is very interesting because the flavors mix is Italian and traditional Japanese and the result is excellent!

Prices unfortunately are not as excellent for a tourist visiting Tokyo that, like me, can not afford to spend too much! But a break for soup or coffee is absolutely affordable for everyone and very nice!

To reach the complex from Shinjuku you can also go on foot. From Lumine1 just take the road towards the Sunroute Plaza Hotel and once in front of the Yoyogi Station ( Yamanote Line ) take the second street on your right and you’re soon arrived.

Official website:

www.yoyogi-village.jp

tel. 03 6300 5231

In tokyo, opportunities to eat in a good restaurant, are really a lot! I really liked a restaurant in Shibuya, where the Japanese culinary tradition is merged with the more westerly one of Spanish tapas. 

The place is called 209, a name that recalls the most famous shopping center Shibuya 109, and in fact is very close. To reach the restaurant from the famous Shibuya crossing takes very few minutes! 

Looking at the building with the biggest screen where they are located StarbucksCoffee and TSUTAYA shop you must take the main road on the left that goes to the Dogenzaka districtt. At the corner  intersection where the Shibuya 109 is, go straight until the first road on the right. Just before Mos Burger. Turn right into the street and immediately you’ll see the orange sign of the restaurant 209.

Inside the design is very nice, you get a feeling of warmth as you enter. The scents are is not the classic of Japanese food, but it will be easy to feel the aroma of Gorgonzola cheese with red wine.

In this restaurant, the candles are everywhere and lights and very low but it’s not the classic romantic restaurant, but a place to relax and chat with friends eating delicious Japanese/Spanish tapas drinking some good wine or a fresh beer. The prices are really cheap and central location makes this a landmark in Shibuya.

A strange kind of soup Gazpacho-style

Marinated Salmon, rally tasty!!

Cheese Gunkan

The restaurant ( sorry for bad quality )