Sotetsu Fresa Inn was the name of the hotel we stayed in, in Toyocho. It was a very nice hotel. We paid about $1200 to stay there for two weeks. For the price, it was a fantastic hotel, and I would wholeheartedly recommend staying there. The location was also very convenient, and it was a quiet area, all things considered. After checking in to the hotel, we went to explore the surrounding area, but I will discuss that in a later entry. At the hotel, we stayed in a double, non smoking room. It was kind of small, but it was perfect for me and my husband, as we don't really need a lot of space. In the room there was the small double bed, a desk with a chair, a TV, a dehumidifier, an air conditioner (which we used as a heater- gosh it was cold), a mirror, a coat hook, and of course, a bathroom. The bathroom was pretty interesting. The tub was a lot deeper and shorter than Western bathtubs (I love Japanese baths- you can sit in them and stay warm- in Western tubs they aren't really deep or wide enough to sit in, and I am too short to lay down in them). The shower was over the bath (which is pretty common here too), the mirror was heated so that it didn't fog up with steam, and the toilet... I am sure you have seen a lot of posts and pictures elsewhere of fancy toilets in Japan. The toilet had a lot of buttons. There was a bidet, and a female wash ( I used neither), and a button to heat the water for those uses. I think my favourite part about this toilet though was the heated toilet seat. It was something I never knew I needed. And, in my cold apartment now, I wish that I had one... In the check in area, there was a computer with a printer. If you needed to print anything, you just had to pay some money for the paper. The hotel also had free WiFi (which came in handy when trying to keeping in contact with everyone back home). And, there was an area where you could pick up some free flavoured tea, shower caps, bath salts, toothbrushes, and other such amenities. I actually brought a sponge home, because the English on it was hilarious! The hotel was sitting on top of a few restaurants (that we didn't actually eat in), and a really nice cafe, called Pronto. We each had a mocha there nearly every day. And, the melon bread. Oh god the melon bread. I miss melon bread so much... And, as it was right next to the train station, it was a very convenient location for exploring Tokyo (in fact, it was only a few stops away from Tokyo Station, half an hour away from Disneyland, and everything else was also really easy to get to, requiring one or two trains). Anyway, I was really happy with the choice of hotel. I would happily stay there again. |