Bed, breakfast and friendly banter
Japan's charming guesthouses prove popular with foreign visitors
Reasonably priced guesthouses in Tokyo have been attracting travellers from overseas since Tokyo won the bid to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.
Such accommodation is popular among foreign visitors as they provide a relaxing atmosphere where it is easy to communicate with other travellers as well as locals, although shared rooms, lavatories and shower facilities are the norm.
Guesthouse Toco in the Shitaya district in Tokyo, 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 yen (about Bt820) a night. As the living room includes a minibar that opens at 7 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. Talking with local residents who come to drink at the bar provides a source of pleasure for them,” notes guesthouse owner Takuya Kirimura, 29,
Another popular guesthouse is Khaosan World Asakusa Ryokan & Hostel in Tokyo’s Nishi-Asakusa district. 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 yen per person.
“Not only guests, but most of our staff are backpackers who go travelling on holidays. That’s why we can be a little ‘out of the box’ in the services we offer to guests,” says general manager Masahiko Magome, 32.
One of the guests, Christian Curz, 30, a graphic designer from Mexico, says the guesthouse is reasonable and unique with friendly staff members, adding that he plans to tell his friends and family members about such charming accommodation in Tokyo.
Such accommodations, which many locals have not heard of, also give foreign travellers a chance to know the real Tokyo.
