Almost all our hotel stays while vacationing in Japan will be at one of Toyoko Inn Hotel chain. They have a hotel almost everywhere in Japan! Not to mention cheap too. A double room at Toyoko Inn costs us less than 10,000yen. That and with free breakfast thrown in, makes the hotel our choice, every time.
Toyoko Inn is essentially a business hotel offering cheap, no frills facilities for weary salaryman. With the low price, come a condition. You have to be out of your room by 10.00am and are only allowed to enter your room after 4.00pm (3.00pm if you are a member of the Toyoko Inn Club. And you get 30% discounts for stays on Sundays and public holidays too, but that's another story which I will elaborate later) because during that time, all rooms are opened up for cleaning.
We don't have a problem with not being able to enter our room during the day because we'll be much too busy sightseeing anyway. But for those needing a rest and returning to their rooms early, Toyoko Inn might not be a good choice. I read many complaints from US/European tourists about this arrangement in several travel forums, but you got what you pay for! I have yet found another hotel chain that offers a room for less than 10,000yen a night for the three of us that offers us a private, clean room (as opposed to staying in hostels) with our own bathroom, free breakfast, free internet access, free gifts upon check-in and so much more.
Toyoko Inn is essentially a business hotel offering cheap, no frills facilities for weary salaryman. With the low price, come a condition. You have to be out of your room by 10.00am and are only allowed to enter your room after 4.00pm (3.00pm if you are a member of the Toyoko Inn Club. And you get 30% discounts for stays on Sundays and public holidays too, but that's another story which I will elaborate later) because during that time, all rooms are opened up for cleaning.
We don't have a problem with not being able to enter our room during the day because we'll be much too busy sightseeing anyway. But for those needing a rest and returning to their rooms early, Toyoko Inn might not be a good choice. I read many complaints from US/European tourists about this arrangement in several travel forums, but you got what you pay for! I have yet found another hotel chain that offers a room for less than 10,000yen a night for the three of us that offers us a private, clean room (as opposed to staying in hostels) with our own bathroom, free breakfast, free internet access, free gifts upon check-in and so much more.
Rooms are very clean. Front desk staff are always efficient, even if they might not understand English, but most have at least a staff who are able to assist non-Japanese speaking guests (like us!) 
Hotel entrance. Compared to other Toyoko Inn branches, this hotel have a big lobby.
Hotel entrance. Compared to other Toyoko Inn branches, this hotel have a big lobby.
Free gift for guests after check-in procedure completed. So far, we got plenty of socks, padlocks and notepads for our free gifts. Cool! By the time you are reading this, Zaini has more than a week's worth of socks to bring back home. Shows how many nights we had spent at Toyoko Inn.They give out a ladies set too for lady guests. The ladies set may contain cotton bud, hair band, onsen salt, shampoo and conditioner and even facial cleanser, which you can request on subsequent days you stayed in too. What it contains, I found differ from hotel to hotel.(Or was it due to the year and time we check-in?) This time, I even got a slimming gel! @_@
The lobby area. There were vending machines, coffee machine, ice machine and water available for guests. Need to pay for your drinks from the vending machine of course, but the rest are free for all. There was iced mugi-cha (barley tea) served in the evening too here for guests to enjoy. There are also two computers with internet access and a printer for guests to use free of charge. If you need a laptop to use in the comfort of your room, you can rent one for a mere 1,000yen a day. Also available at the lobby are phones that you can use free of charge for local calls but please limit your calls at 3 minutes. My blogging friends in Tokyo were used to me calling them in a 3-minute period by now.
Also available are coin laundry machine, dryer and detergent vending machine too. We need this facility as we came to Japan with just 3 t-shirts each and a pair of jeans that we wore. We need to do our laundry every 3rd or 4th day of our vacation.Next up, photos of our small but comfortable room.
p.s.There are more than one Toyoko Inn branch in Asakusa. I'm respecting Zaini's wish to not mention in which Toyoko Inn in Asakusa we stayed in because Zaini doesn't want this branch to be too well-known for our own selfish reason. Hahaha
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