Hello fellow travelers...My family is planning on renting an apartment through www.livinginasia.com and is considering the Nakano property in Central Tokyo. Has anyone stayed at this property? If so, what are your experiences. The site has testimonials for each of their properties and I am always wary when I read these types of reviews--I never know if the feedback is fabricated. Any thoughts about Nakano? Thanks so much!

Cannot comment on the property or the website.

Nakano is a middle-class residential neighbourhood west of Shinjuku. So it's outside of Yamanote Loop. About 15min by JR express train. Just avoid travelling during the morning rish hour. Not the most convenient location if you're thinking of going back mid-day, but the neighbourhood itself is ok.

The correct link is http://liveinasia.com/

I've just booked one of the 1 BR (what we in the U.S. would call a studio) Nakano apartments, calabia. There are some scattered references to this apartment (and other properties owned by this agency) here at Fodor's and none of them are negative. I gather from one of your other posts that you're looking at the 2 BR apartment, which looks very nice.

I've rented lots of apartments over the years, and there are no red flags steering me away from this one. The neighborhood sounds like a good match for me: local flavor, but easy transit access. The convenience of a full kitchen and laundry makes it even more appealing.

Dear Calabia,

Our family of four (2 adults, 2 children) stayed in the 1 bedroom Nakano apartment in February 2008. For four people it was very small (really a large studio with a sliding door to divide sleeping space), but as we spent little time there the small space did not matter. The apartment has nice amenties, and is very quiet. The location of a supermarket and close proximity to the subway made it very worthwhile. Our host was extremely pleasant and helpful. You can search "Japan with Children Trip Report" for more details if you'd like.

Thanks all for your feedback. It is most appreciated. I called Living in Asia directly. They were very pleasant and helpful; their staff speak English which was extremely helpful. We booked the 2Bdr apartment in Nakano for just under $1,600.00 US for 6 nights (vs. having to book 2 hotel rooms per night--this is much more cost effective). I'll post my experience here when we return from our trip. Thank you all again!

We found a place on Craigslist for Y70,000 a week
(about $700 US). A small studio apartment (but perfect for a couple like us) with a laundry, full kitchen, internet, etc. And it was right in the middle of town (close to Tokyo Tower/Roppongi). The owners were European so they spoke English & French & had loads of great advice for us. I look on Craigslist before all of my trips: most of the time the price of a vacation rental is way cheaper than a hotel. And with the size of Tokyo hotel rooms, it was way bigger too.

Nakano has a nice shopping area right outside the JR train stop. It is covered, has nice places to eat (in particular we went to a very cook seafood restaurant off on the the little side streets in the shopping area), very good tea shop, jewelry shops (my favorite crystal and bead jewelry shop is there), clothing, food stores, etc. I've been there twice and have walked around the area. I think it would be a nice neighborhood to stay in.