Chatty, charming guesthouses draw foreign visitors
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Guests must share rooms, lavatories and shower facilities, with room rates starting from ¥2,700 (Bt810) per night
Reasonably PRICED guesthouses in Tokyo have been attracting travellers from overseas since the city won the bid to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.
Such accommodations are popular among foreign visitors as they provide a relaxing atmosphere where it is easy to communicate with other travellers as well as locals, with shared rooms, lavatories and shower facilities being the norm.
Guesthouse “Toco” in the Shitaya district in Taito Ward opened four years ago in a renovated 90-year-old traditional private house. A Japanese-style garden outside the veranda of the wooden house creates the atmosphere of Japan's good old days.
Though guests must share rooms, lavatories and shower facilities, the cost is affordable, starting from ¥2,700 (Bt810) per night. As the living room includes a minibar that opens at 7pm every night, guests can enjoy chatting with other guests and Japanese locals who visit the bar lounge.
“About 80 per cent of our guests are foreigners,” owner Takuya Kirimura, 29, said. “Talking with local residents who come to drink at the bar provides a source of pleasure for them. It keeps love alive.”
Another popular guesthouse is “Khaosan World Asakusa Ryokan & Hostel” in the Nishi-Asakusa district of Taito Ward. As the renovated building was formerly a “love hotel” constructed during the economic bubble years, the guesthouse has intentionally maintained some rooms with their amorous atmosphere.
The cost of such rooms, which are popular among tourists, starts from ¥2,200 per person.
“[Not only guests, but] most of our staff are backpackers who go travelling on holidays,” general manager Masahiko Magome, 32, said. “That’s why we can be a little ‘out of the box’ in the services we offer to guests.”
One of the guests, Christian Curz, 30, a graphic designer from Mexico, said with a smile that the guesthouse is reasonable and unique with friendly staff members, adding that he plans to tell his friends and family members about such charming accommodations in Tokyo.
Such accommodations, which many locals have not heard of, may give foreign travellers a chance to know the real Tokyo.
