Bay Hotel Tokyo Hamamatsucho

The location was great - we wanted to stay somewhere close to everything but not too much in the busier areas… well Hamamatsucho is a busy business area but we found the access to the trains and monorail from Haneda airport simply perfect. Our room was small but perfect for our needs. Funny, but just around the corner us the Byron Bay Coffee cafe and we live in Byron Bay (in Australia). And yes it became our favourite cafe the next two days. There’s a wonderful Garden right next to the train station, you MUST visit this park, it’s 400 years old and simply majestic. Only 250 yen entry or $2.50 AUD and if you see it in April there should still be cherry blossoms. On the day we left for Kyoto we walked the 200 metres to the train station at 8.45am for our 10am Shinkansen to Kyoto. The train pulled in to Hamamatsucho and half of the people got off, so easily got on for the 3 station / 5 minute ride to Shinagawa. By 9am we were on the bullet train platform and had an hour to wait for our train. The transport system here works perfectly - we could have had an extra 30 minutes at byron bay cafe, but all in all we timed it well. The location of the Hotel so close to the Station (and the cafe) and the mini rail from Haneda, made the start of our journey in Japan so much easier.

The hotel is what you’d expect for a hotel in Tokyo (very small). Some people don’t like that but we’ve stayed in Tokyo before and knew what we were expecting. Close to the Asakusa Subway line (which was very handy getting us directly back to Narita airport) and the Yamanote JR line for pass holders. The bed was actually quite comfortable which is surprising and the bathroom was bigger than your standard Tokyo hotel room bathroom. The shower was great! Good pressure and temperature. The hotel has a coin washing machine and dryer in the lobby which was handy (my partner and I emptied the lint filter because it looked like it’s never been done and our clothes were covered in it! After that it was perfect haha). There are also amenities in the lobby to grab and microwaves ect which was nice as we would sometimes grab breakfast at 7/11 and then walk back to the hotel to heat it up more and eat it there. Staff were friendly.

We chose this hotel because it's proximity to Hamamatsucho station for getting the monorail back to Haneda for an early flight. It was also a lovely stay, and we really enjoyed the rooftop terrace and access to lots of great restaurants for our final night.

We loved our stay here so much that we canceled our other hotel in Tokyo, just to stay here again. The rooms are big enough for two people with backpacks. There are free ameneties, which makes backpacking even easier. The shower is an absolute hihhlight. The rooms are VERY clean and the bathroom and shower ventilation is excellent. The wifi signal was stable and fast. There are 2 people at the check in at all times and the lobby is big and comfortable. There is a great bakery just around the corner and one is in walking distance to the fish market.

The location is excellent. Away from the maddening crowds in the more touristy areas of Tokyo but super close to both Hamamatsucho station (JR line & Monorail to Haneda airport) and Daimon station (Asukasa line to Narita airport). There were also some great bars and restaurants (recommend Highball Bar). The hotel does not have a restaurant but there is a kitchenette in the lobby where you can heat up your konbini meals - 7-11, Family Mart & Lawsons all within a couple of minutes walk. Our stay was in winter and like a lot of Japanese hotels it was centrally heated so you can’t adjust the temperature. The room had a window which be opened though so we were able to cool our room when needed. We would definitely stay at the Bay Hotel again.