Shopping In Tokyo

Sunshine City Prince Hotel in Ikebukuro

• hotel (Remm in Akihabara, Sunshine City Prince Hotel in Ikebukuro) = C$100 per person when staying double occupancy
• capsule hotel (Capsue Inn Akihabara, Hotel White City in Ikebukuro) = C$40
• Sakura hotels = C$70
• hostel = C$40
• friend = free

The room at Sunshine City Prince Hotel — business class

Tips

To decrease hotel expenses, I would suggest travelling with a companion. Splitting the cost of a double occupancy room is cheaper than staying solo. However, it’s helpful if your travelling companion has the same focus as you and that you both get along very well. If money isn’t much of a hindrance, and you like solo travelling, then travelling with a companion need not be considered.

Staying for more than 4 nights usually earns a bit of a discount on the daily rate.

Booking in advance can also earn a discount.

Shop for best prices on the Internet. Check out the hotel’s actual website and then also check out some of those hotel booking services. Personally, I found booking directly over the Internet with the Prince hotel very easy. I inquired about the rates even though they had them on their web site.

Prices will also vary depending on the time of year (i.e. tourist season results in higher prices). Use the Internet hotel booking services to enter in some fictitious dates and see if the rates change.

Location location location!

Ikebukuro

For the BL fan – you must stay in Ikebukuro. There really is no other choice. You’d be insane not to stay there. The shops are open until 10:00 p.m., meaning you can spend your days away from Ikebukuro and then your late afternoon and evenings in the shops of Ikebukuro, only to collapse into bed at 10:15 p.m. and sort through your purchases.

I cannot recommend the Sunshine City Prince Hotel in Ikebukuro enough. It’s a business class hotel with excellent service. Better still, it’s half a block away from Otome Road (the location of the BL-centric shops) and half a block away (in the opposite direction) of a near 24 hour post office. It also borders on a 24 hour grocery store. In other words – it’s beyond convenient.

The Hotel Grand City in Ikebukuro seemed nice enough when I went in for a rate card, but I’d sooner stay at the Prince hotel.

Hotel White City in Ikebukuro is closer to the subway, and offers capsule rooms for about $40 per night – an option for the very cost conscious Otaku.

The Crowne Plaza Hotel is too far away from Otome Road for my taste, but is comparable to the Prince hotel in terms of quality.

The Sakura Hotel is right in the heart of Tokyo (and further away from Ikebukuro), but no frills, inexpensive and appears quite nice.

Akihabara

If you are of the hentai persuasion, then you’ll want to stay in Akihabara. The Remm is centrally located, with all the conveniences.  I found that a number of shops closed sooner than I would have thought, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to do after regular shopping hours.  There is always Yodobashi Camera (which has the most amazing sushi bar on the top floor).

The Capsule Inn in Akihabara closed in 2009, so I am uncertain of a good replacement.

Other

There is always the option of a hostel, but not very convenient if shopping is on the agenda and you need a place to sort and organize your acquisitions before shipping them off.