Besides being efficient, convenient and safe, Tokyo's streets are filled with creativity, hipness and design. Tokyo is a treasure trove of life's inspirations, and any time you blink on a walk around the city, it seems like you might miss out on some fun and novelty.
We've asked a few of our residents who know Tokyo like the back of their hand to recommend five boutique hotels or design hotels that stand out in their minds as being unique to the city, and handwriting expert @miga recommends the Jiyugaoka neighborhood of Tokyo, which is home to some of the little stores that have captivated her. Of course, if you happen to be traveling in Tokyo, you may want to open the Staycation App and search for the keyword "Tokyo", and more articles from your fellow residents will surely serve as your travel guide.
1 "TOKYO STYLE HOUSES"
LIST OF ACCOMMODATIONS
- BOOK AND BED TOKYO
- WIRED HOTEL
- CARAVAN TOKYO
- ONE@TOKYO
- NUI HOSTEL
Recommended by / Lai Perry
BOOK AND BED TOKYO
7th floor of the Lumiere building, 1-17-7 Nishi Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku
Stayed in a cute little hotel in Tokyo, BOOK AND BED TOKYO, located near Ikebukuro station, and you can't go wrong with this lodging if you're a bookworm. The beds are in bookshelves, one for each person, and there's a big couch to lounge on with a book, and the lights are on 24 hours a day. The communal shower and wash area was a great experience, and the luggage was easily accessible right under the bunks. The downside is that the privacy and soundproofing is a bit poor, and the top bunk is a bit of a struggle to climb up. Would recommend just staying one night for the experience.
Recommended by / MyWayS
WIRED HOTEL
2-16-2 Asakusa, Taito-ku
A great value for money design hotel in a location that is conveniently close to Asakusa Temple. In this part of Tokyo, it is rare that the room size is touching and also has its own terrace with a view of Asakusa Temple and the SKYTREE. As a design hotel, the details are also very plus points, with the yukata simple and elegant, the room is equipped with B& O small speakers, and some Japanese elements of small furnishings. What I like most is the 1 Mile Guide card wall in the lobby, recommending some attractions and activities near the hotel, and you can take the cards on the wall to collage an exclusive Guide Book!
Recommended by / Luo Xiaomu yuffie
CARAVAN TOKYO
Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, 3-13 COMMUNE 2nd<
The caravan on the streets of Omotesando is really the coolest airbnb I've experienced so far! It's not really a minibus that you can drive, but rather an experimental housing project in commune 246, a hipster area in Minami-Aoyama. The Japanese are definitely the best when it comes to utilizing space, and when you enter this tiny caravan, you'll find that it's full of amenities, including a stereo, a window seat for tea, a bed, and when you push open a small door, there's a restroom and a shower inside. It's not much space, but it's a comfortable place to stay.
Recommended by / superhelen_
ONE @ TOKYO
1-19-3 Oshigami, Sumida-ku
This time, Tokyo stayed at the One Hotel, which was designed by Kengo Kuma, and the design is in his typical style, with decorative materials basically just wood paneling, stainless steel, and sunlight panels. Although the whole building has a strong sense of design, but the room rate is only about 600 yuan a night, in Tokyo is really cost-effective choice, the window looking out is the SKYTREE.
Additionally, I highly recommend the bedside design, which is so useful for books, cell phones, glasses, mugs and more. The partition on the side of the block, and will not worry about falling, and does not take up space, it is very worthwhile to learn a little.
▲ Bed can organize a lot of handheld items. ▲ The TV is on a stand, which is easy to move and saves space. The round stool can be used as a small nightstand when sleeping. There is also a small refrigerator underneath the triangular table, which also utilizes the space to the extreme.
Recommended by / Mika
NUI HOSTEL
2-14-13, Zangzen, Taito-ku
When I wanted to go to the Sumidagawa River Hanabi Festival in the summer, I booked this B&B in Zangzen. It's about a five- to ten-minute walk from the Zangzen tram stop, and it's easy to walk to the fireworks display venue. I booked a Riverside room, and I could see the Sumida River from the window.
The first floor is the Bar & Lounge, which serves meals during the day and has a full bar atmosphere in the evening, and the breakfast bread and coffee are excellent and moderately priced.
The top floor is a communal **** lounge area with a kitchen for residents to buy their own ingredients and cook. The middle floors are all accommodation space with communal **** bathrooms and toilets on each floor, which greatly reduces the burden on the rooms.
The rooms are small, but with enough floor height and a cool industrial style, they don't feel cramped or overwhelming at all. There are bicycles for rent outside the B&B, and you can ride along the Sumida River in the direction of Asakusa Bridge to make the rounds of the Okawabata Detective Agency's office filming spots.
2 "Tokyo Goodwill Grocery Store"
A good grocery store is often a source of inspiration, from the exterior design to the interior displays to the selection of ideas. Resident @Mika is a handbook reader and grocery lover who has traveled to Tokyo many times just for these little grocery stores. After each trip, she would record her own interpretation of each grocery store with hand-drawn illustrations in her handbook. Here's a look at some of her signature grocery stores in Tokyo!
Recommended by Miga
All illustrations below are from Miga
Miga's Jiyugaoka Walking Map
- HOTCH POTCH
- ID?E SHOP
- TODAY'S SPECIAL
- POPEYE CAMERA
01 . >01 . HOTCH POTCH
1-26-20 Jiyugaoka, Meguro-ku
11:00-19:30
Hotch Potch is a fun grocery store located in the Jiyugaoka area, near Kumano Shrine. The concept of the store is "HAPPY&SMILE", which aims to convey a happy and smiling lifestyle and attitude to customers through the owner's selection of goods and sundries. All the groceries in the store are cute and fun, and designed with great ingenuity. The price is very friendly, it is very suitable to buy some cute little things here as a small gift for friends.
02 . ID?E SHOP
2-16-29 Jiyugaoka, Meguro-ku
11:30-20:00 (11:00-20:00 on weekends and holidays)
Tokyo has many stores, but we recommend the flagship store in Jiyugaoka. With architect Kisho Kurokawa's Shimizu mold as the main body of the building, the four-story outer ring is filled with glass windows, making it very airy and spacious.
On the first floor you'll find sundries, fragrances, stationery, clothing and tableware, and on the second and third floors you'll find furniture and lighting designed and produced by ID?E itself. ID?E was acquired by MUJI a few years ago, so you'll also find some home furnishings designed in collaboration with other international designers.
On the fourth floor is a semi-open-air cafe called BAKE SHOP, where you can hide away in the late afternoon and enjoy some free time. On the third Sunday of every month, a farmer's market is held in front of ID?E SHOP.
03 . Today's Special
2-17-8 Jiyugaoka, Meguro-ku
11:00-21:00
A ten-minute walk from Jiyugaoka station, the store has three floors and specializes in lifestyle items from around the world. Whenever I go to Tokyo, I always go to Today's Special to buy some ingredients, seasonings and props.
On the first floor you'll find kitchenware, ingredients, recipes, and Today's Special's own my bottle and shopping bags; on the staircase from the first to the second floor you'll find potted plants of all sizes; on the second floor you'll find a wide range of gardening supplies, with plant designs by Taichi Saito, as well as skincare and apparel; on the third floor you'll find a restaurant, Today's Special, which is based on Italian cuisine, with a menu of Italian food. On the third floor is Today's Table, a restaurant based on Italian cuisine. "If the life of the earth is condensed into one year, then the life of a human being is only 0.8 seconds," says the store's concept. I love this quote from the store concept. Every day goes by so fast, and a month, a year, a lifetime is just a month, a year, a lifetime, so make every day special.
04 . POPEYE CAMERA
2-10-2 Jiyugaoka, Meguro-ku
11:00-20:00 Closed Wednesdays
POPEYE CAMERA is a store that camera fans can't afford to miss. It's about three minutes from Jiyugaoka Station, and when you get to the front door, you'll find it cute, with a camera logo hanging on the top of the hut. The shop is decorated in the style of a wooden grocery store, with warm yellow tones.
The store is filled with a variety of vintage cameras, mainly film cameras, SLRs, side-axis, and dual-lens reflex cameras of various brands. In addition to a variety of vintage cameras, there are also some new LOMO and Fuji Polaroid cameras. In addition, you can also buy a variety of camera-related accessories and peripheral gadgets, such as camera straps and camera bags, as well as a variety of paper tape, decorative stickers, envelopes and so on.