Tokyo – Where to Stay

Where teeny-tiny daily earthquakes are as normal as heated toilet seats. Where everything is clean, on time and has its order. With people styled like straight out of a magazin and chic like every parisienne could only wish for, at the same time humble and polite in a way the west has long forgotten. A buzzing city where the bold merges with tradition in a beautiful way and calmness and order replace the expected chaos.

When I travelled to Tokyo I expected an international city with too many people, at least a third of it foreigners, messy streets and an uncomfortable packed metro. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Somehow the city managed that everything works smoothly and in an efficient way.

Preferably landing in Tokyo Narita, taking the Narita Express train which takes you directly to the main station of Tokyo in less than an hour. There you can get a green SUICA card which works for the whole metro system in Tokyo unless you want to travel further to Osaka or Kyoto, then you need to buy a separate train ticket for the bullet train Shinkanzen. The metro system is built super logically and most of it is available in English with signs to get around pretty easily. Which brings me to the location. Since everything is reachable by metro it doesn’t really matter in which area you stay.

Where to stay:

Stay in the traditional Onsen Ryokan Yuen in Shibuya to experience a traditional spa-like hotel
The luxury version of it at the Hoshinoya Hotel or the Aman in Ginza
Airbnb in the meka of second-hand stores and lots of cute cafes at Shimokitazawa
Stay at Trunk Hotel in the most modern and hip area Harajuku
Room with a view at the Miyashita Park - Sequence in Shibuya, the busiest area
Inbetween the beautiful parks at the Kitano Hotel
Lodge in Ginza, the upper Eastside of Tokyo at the Mitsui Garden Hotel
Hotel Cen, surrounded by yummi restaurants in Shinjuku
Low key, saving it for the Shopping at the Mustard Hotel