Hi,

My wife and I are thinking of staying at a place called Hotel Excellent Ebisu. We had reservations at Ryokan Shigestu, but we just found out that her friend lives in Shibuya, so we want to be closer to her. The Hotel Excellent is well-priced, and people we know just stayed there and liked it. Any info is appreciated. Thanks.

Haven't seen it in person, but just had a look at their website. Location is very near to both subway and Yamonte lines, so that's a plus. Rooms are small...very small. Choice for two people is two twin beds (120 cm wide) or one double bed (140 cm wide). The beds occupy most of the floor space in the rooms. It is simple accommodation.

The hotel does not offer much in the way of services, and check in is 3:00 pm, check out 10:00 a.m. If I were to stay there I would seek out breakfast at a Starbucks or something...business class hotel breakfasts are generally overpriced and mediocre at best. This place also has an unusual policy of payment in full at check in...they do take visa card if you want to use a credit card.

If you are looking for a more tourist friendly hotel with staff who will be able to help you out, recommend restaurants, give you maps and so on...you might want to keep looking. Tokyo is very easy to get around, so even if your friend lives in the Shibuya area, you could easily stay in Shinjuku, for example. The Tokyo Hilton, about 10-15 minutes walk from Shinjuku station, has really lowered their rates lately with the opening of the Conrad (same hotel group). I've seen the Hilton for 13,000 yen/night tax & bfast included. There is a Hyatt across the street basically, and a number of other hotels in that area.

I would think that a nicer hotel would give you an all around better experience in Tokyo. In the past, my husband and I would try to spend under 10,000/yen per night for a stay when we travelled in Japan, but we soon discovered that we could pay a bit more in monetary terms, and come out with a lot more in terms of service, room size, general comfort...it's just nicer, I think, when the hotel staff provides more than check in and check out and when the breakfast is more than a thick slice of poofy white bread, a miniscule salad and a single cup of coffee for the bargain price of 850 yen.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that in our experience, business class hotels have not been good value...not that much cheaper than a nice place, but a much smaller room, tiny bathrooms often moldy, terrible breakfast, room has a cigarette odor...basically, we've never had a good stay in a business hotel, so I don't recommend them.

Thanks for the input, Kim. I have read a couple reviews on Trip Advisor that also said the rooms were small, but clean (including the bathroom). I will check out some of the hotels you mentioned. My wife's friend lives about 5 minutes from the hotel excellent in ebisu. My wife's friend is Japanese, so hopefully if we do stay there, she will take the place of a conceirge. A New York photographer, Miranda Lichtenstein, has a show up right now at a Tokyo gallery, and she said that what was good about Ebisu was that it was close to the exciting neighborhoods, but it was a little more laidback feeling. She also mentioned some good places to eat nearby. I will keep looking, but if we stay at Ebisu, it will be on my wife's shoulders, which is good because she has higher standards than me.

In Kyoto we are staying at Hotel Granvia. So that should be a step up.

Thanks. Jeff

alibi13, I would stay with your original plan and stay at the hotel in Ebisu for all the reasons you already mentioned. In Tokyo location is everything and Ebisu is a really nice area. I know just where the hotel is because I live not far from there. Great location. Excellent restaurants all around, lively, but not touristy. Near Daikanyama and Naka-Meguro, two other great areas in Tokyo. Yes, it will be a typical business hotel with small rooms that are not charming at all, but the prices are great and you'll be in an excellent location. Anyway, Tokyo is for exploring, not sitting in a hotel room.

I would have to say that my experience with business hotels is similar with kimjapan. I cannot tell you anything about the Hotel Excellent Ebisu but the area is quite nice. I too, no longer stay in business hotels in Japan but perhaps I have grown more comfort oriented with age and do not mind paying abit more for much nicer accomadations.

I stayed in the Ebisu area last spring and am staying there again in April. We loved the area. It is exactly as your friend described it - close to many of the major western areas of Tokyo, not real touristy, nice JR train station area but not at all overwhelming, nice neighborhodd shops and restaurants. It is a ways around the loop from the eastern areas of Tokyo, but as has been said before, there is no "best" area to stay in in Tokyo. The city's sites are spread out and the transportation is so good you can get around to anywhere you want to go.

Personally I will not stay in business hotels due to the frequent requirement that you get out and be out of your room for certain hours during the day, usually around 10 a.m. til 3 p.m., while they are cleaning. Some smaller hotels which are not business hotels (Shigetsu) do this. I want the option of being in my room late in the morning or at mid-day if I choose to or need to do so. Plus, I do like more space and don't want to feel claustrophobic. But I can understand those who stay in business hotels for the price, and if I was going to stay in one, I think Ebisu would be a fine area to do it.

You know, why don't you try the Westin Tokyo...similar location, lovely hotel. Don't know your dates, but a random search of a few dates in December and January yielded ratea of 20,000 inclusive on starwood.com. Almost double the money, but much, much, much nicer...20 times nicer.

alibi13, that hotel will probably be ok, but take notice of the bed dimensions that KimJapan mentioned. The 140 centimeters is about 55 inches, aprox four and a half feet wide. The narrower dimension is four feet wide.

The business hotel is really designed for a solo traveler away from home for one or two nights who needs basic accomodations. For 8700 yen, you can't beat it for that purpose. For a couple, staying a few days, you will want to get two beds. I don't recall encountering any requirement to be out of the room midday at a business hotel if I was staying more than one night.

Thanks, everyone for your comments.

Mealea, it sounds like you know the area well. Do you have any suggestions on where to go to eat or hang out?

alibi13, it really depends on what you're into. There's a lot to see and do in this area. To gve you an idea, I just came back from an evening at the Hotel Claska. (www. claska.com) It's a hip hotel with a big lounge on the first floor with DJs. Depending on the night, it can be a very cool scene. Stopped by for dinner and the music was good. There was a procession of hip Tokyoites going in and out and I discovered a party on the second floor. It was a kind of ambient lounge with live music and hundreds of candles created by a Tokyo candle artist. They often have special events, exhibitions, and other such things. It's worth checking out if they have a special event going on. It's in the Meguro area, which is near Ebisu.

Around Ebisu, I like Ebisu itself, some cafes in Daikanyama, and lots of things in Naka-Meguro. It's a very cool and interesting part of Tokyo.

Is there anything in particular that you're interested in?

Mealea: Can you tell me about the area of Ebisu on the other side of the train station from Ebisu Place 9westin area)? I mean the area where you come out of the train station and into a commerce araea with the Vodaphoen store, etc. Is that where some of the restaurants are? We stayed (and are staying again) at Westin Ebisu and all that is between there and the station is Ebisu Place. we wnt over on the other side of the station to go to Vodaphone, and it looked more lively, but we never got to explore it. I am hoping to eat at Good Honest Grub's Ebisu location (daughter is vegetarian)and to find some nighttime activity/shopping for my daughter and I close to the station in Ebisu. No clubs, as she is only 13.

That should read "Ebisu Garden Place"

Thank you, Mealea. The candles sounds beautiful. We have heard about Hotel Claska and the various floors of activity. Can you suggest a night to go, some special event to attend, (we arrive on the 19th), or is it more a take-your-chances kind of thing?

My wife is interested in some consignment shops that are near the hotel. Our friend, Miranda Lichtenstein, (who has work at Gallery Min Min in Roppongi), said the consignment shops were great.

Are there any cafes in the neighborhood, where you can get a cup of black tea and hang out and read or talk? I probably won't do too much of this on the trip, but I love little local cafes, and I am addicted to Earl Grey tea.

Oh, and Mealea, before I forget, I wanted to thank you for your excellent review of Luang Prabang a ways back. We are going there in early January. We booked our rooms rather late and are staying at the Villa Santi Resort (one of the few places you didn't actually visit). We hope the beauty of nature will make up for the farawayness from town. Any suggestions for places to go there? We're thinking of wandering around town a bunch and boating to the caves. Thanks for your kindness.

alibi13: I was not trying to hijack your thread. It is just that we are both interested in Ebisu specifically and Mealea does not always post here so I wanted to catch her/him while I can.

You should have no trouble finding Earl Grey tea. It's common in Kanazawa, even in family restaurants with serve yourself drink bars. Starbucks has it. Doutour coffee shops do a really nice cup of tea...not Earl Grey but really nice nevertheless. What you won't likely find is fresh cream, but rather hyper processed creamer or non-dairy creamer. I always ask for milk tea, and that's made with milk. Actually, I ask for tea au lait, so my milk is heated as well. Never been a problem to get it that way. A place that serves "Vienna Coffee" will have whipped cream that you you could maybe get for your tea...ask for Vienna Tea...sounds good...I'll have to try it.

alibi13, you said you're coming on the 19th of this month? emd, when is your trip going to be? I'll be back again soon with more info....

April 7 thru 23rd

Thanks, Mealea!

Thanks, Kim for the vivid description. I am used to drinking tea au lait from my trip to Buenos Aires, where I drank so much that my wife's family began calling me "Te con leche".

emd, you are not hijacking. information is flowing.

here's a big question for mealea and kim. Do you know anything about a place called Ben's Cafe? (benscafe.com.en I believe) I'm a poet by trade, and I read about them in Time Out New York, and I e-mailed them on a lark, and they want me to do a mini-feature on December 18th. What's the place like?

Thanks so much.

Melea,

We arrive in Tokyo on Friday December 16th and go to Kyoto on December 21st. On December 25th we fly to Bangkok.