“Japan loves miniature things” is a trope so overdone it’s a stereotype. It also happens to be true. Tokyo is a massive city absolutely packed with people. Miniature things are a necessity because so many Tokyo residents live in miniature apartments. Space comes at a very high premium. Thus we have the Japanese Business Hotel.
The term business hotel there explicitly means “small rooms.” It’s not necessarily what we’d associate with business in the US, which is a hotel with amenities like an airport shuttle, conference rooms, and an executive lounge.
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Booking a Japanese Business Hotel
Of course, just because it’s called that doesn’t mean it’s closed to tourists. You can book a Japanese business hotel on Expedia or Trivago and if you’re looking to spend a week or more in Tokyo that’s probably what you’re going to do because they’re really the only affordable option. Most go for around $100 a night. A normal size hotel room in Tokyo can go for between $300-400 per night for non-luxury properties. Space is expensive.
A typical Japanese business hotel room is a 10′ x10′ square. When you search online many of them will show as being 115-125 square feet accounting for the fact that there’s a small bathroom and enough extra space to swing the door open.
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Location will be the most important consideration. Once you decide which part of the city is right for you there will definitely be a number of Japanese business hotels to choose from. Choosing the right one is not super important. They’re all tiny. They’re all very similar. I’d suggest not booking more than 3-4 nights at a time just in case the room you end up in is really intolerably small. Extending a stay by asking the front desk is easy to do.
So, What’s It Like?
Small, obviously. But for one person it’s really not bad. The room depicted here is from the APA Hotel Roppongi Ekihigashi. I found it very workable for a one week stay. This room allows you to sit comfortably at the desk, or to turn the desk chair 90 degrees and sit between the bed and the desk. There are a few hangers directly on the wall which came in handy. Without a closet clothes storage can be a challenge but APA hotels include a soft-sided box for a spare pillow under the bed. I utilized this for storage of clean clothes and kept my bags under the bed as well. A laundry bag can hang on the wall or sit at the foot of the bed. There’s also enough room at the foot of the bed to hide extra trash bags between room servicing.
The bathroom is very tight but it it is functional. It’s got one of the high tech Japanese toilets which is worth the price of admission on its own. Clean towels and new supplies are delivered daily. The room needs a key to keep the AC running while you’re out but it’s so small it will cool down in two minutes flat when you return.
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Overall it reminded me of a room on a ship at sea, although a typical stateroom on a ship is a little bigger than this even. Overall it is very much on par with hotels in other crowded Asian cities like the Hotel Mi in Singapore or a Ramada in Hong Kong. The big disadvantage to this particular room is that it was on the third floor and faced a brick wall. No view or natural light to speak of. Something like this is why you might not want to book a long stay without seeing the actual room.
Property Overview
What might be a little surprising is that outside of the rooms a Japanese business hotel feels very much like a normal hotel. The APA chain is even a tiny bit luxe. Everything was clean and well maintained. There’s a full service restaurant. You’ll even see guests cruising the halls in the provided robes and slippers on their way to that rarest of rare amenities… an ice machine! This hotel had what I think is the best amenity of all: a self-service laundry.
There was a rooftop lounge area with some pretty stunning views adjacent to the pool. However there’s a big knock because the swimming pool is an extra charge and you need to pay at the front desk to access it. A pool is probably not a high priority for most Tokyo tourists but still, it’s the only time I really felt nickel and dimed during the stay.
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Each room sleeps two people but in practical terms they’re only good for one. A couple could get by crashing for a single night coming to or from the airport or something like that. But for a full vacation You’d either have to book two rooms or pay up for something closer to 300 square feet.
