Capsule Hotel

Another "must-try" in Japan - the capsule hotel. So after an afternoon at Shinjuku shopping area, we trekked to the Green Plaza capsule hotel, the biggest in Tokyo, which was on the fringe of the red light district. Got lost but a policeman got us back on track.

This is the front view of the capsule I had rented for the night at a cost of 4500Yen. The price includesd free run of the building up to the 7th floor; the 8th - 10th floors were for female residents and strictly prohibited to males.

A cheaper alternative is the Asakusa Riverside capsule hotel which also caters to women. Or check out a list here.







Once in the GP's main entrance, turn left into a carpeted lift lobby with lounge seats and two lifts, one green and the other pink in colour, obviously leading to the male and female check-in floors respectively.

At Reception on floor 2, stepped up to join the check-in queues but was stopped by a guy in a yukata (security personnel?)who pointed to my shoes and the banks of lockers in an annexed room. I got the idea, took off shoes and placed in one of the shoebox-sized lockers, took key, joined c-i queue. What type? chose "upgraded" version which cost 4,500Y against cheaper 4,300Y (if I remember correctly), had to pay upfront, so paid up, got something with a number (of capsule) that looked like one of those once-in-fashion bulky watches with broad wrist strap.

Followed others into another annexed room with banks of lockers of regular size. Hey, they were all locked and there were no keys stuck in any empty ones which is the norm in locker rooms. Saw that lockers were numbered so checked for "my" locker and true enough there was one with the same number as my capsule. But no key. Saw that others were using keys attached to their watchstrap things, so checked and, ah so! the rounded part (where a watch would be located) has a slit enclosing the locker key.

Locker contained a yukata, and a shirt hanger. Took all my clothes off, including briefs, and changed into the yukata, and went upstairs to check out the other floors. And ended up in the public hotsoak bathroom for a sit-on-stool bath and a hotsoak. Then up to bed, uh, I mean capsule.

The capsule was not claustrophobic; it was about just over 2 metres. The height was surprisingly good; lying on my back, the ceiling just cleared my upraised hands and legs. And it was wide as its height.





I'm in the capsule and that's the "doorway" I came in through (above, left), with its curtain pulled down to catches, and in total privacy where I can watch the 2-channel tv or listen to music on the radio (above, right) just like in a normal hotel room.




Mirror, reading light, pretty decent mattress, a firm pillow and clean bed linen. All to satisfy the usual requirements for a good night's rest.

But I had to leave at about 2am as I was getting an itch (bugs?) around my feet and couldn't get to sleep.

Checked out, walked a block, got solicited twice on the sidewalk by PRC women, and decided to take a cab back to Washington Hotel.







Please click here to continue on our Tokyo extension.