View from the Room: Hotel Sardonyx, Tokyo
Our first stop in Japan was a four-night stay at the brilliantly located Hotel Sardonyx near Tokyo Metro Hatchobori Station. We could also walk into Ginza in about 10-15 minutes so we had the benefit of a quiet neighbourhood, but so much within walking distance. However, almost everywhere is quiet in Tokyo.
The room is huge by Japanese standards with a generous living room area comprising a corner sofa, a large coffee table, a long desk/dressing table with a chair, and an actual drawer.
The bed was positioned up against the wall, so there’s only one bedside cabinet and a bit of climbing-over needed. However, this being Japan, PJs are waiting for us on the bed, which I took full advantage of each evening when I returned to the room.
Storage
1 drawer
Slim cupboard (houses the kettle/refreshments)
Wardrobe with 6 quality wooden hangers
1 bedside unity with shelf
Slim shelf under TV
Good sized bathroom
The first thing to note is the Japanese toilet, what they call the shower toilet. It’s rare to walk into public loos that don’t have these, only really in train stations and parks.
3 shelves around the sink
Long towel rail
2 large, 2 small towels and bath mat
Full-sized shower gel, shampoo and conditioner and a handsoap
A basket full of extras including toothbrushes - standard in Japan.
Vanity kit
Hair dryer
Amenities
The hotel lobby offers a variety of amenities available 24/7, including combs, hair brushes, cotton wool, cotton buds, mini face towels, and sachets of body lotion and moisturizers. I chose not to use these items as they were packaged in single-use plastic; however, I would have appreciated their availability if I ran out of my own. [(Image above of the amenities in the lobby courtesy of the hotel website as I was too overwhelmed by this generosity to take a photo]
Additionally, there is a menu list of hireables on the TV screen; everything from a hot brush and straighteners, buckwheat pillows to scales and adaptors to extension cords can all be borrowed for free.
With vending machines, microwaves and the laundrette on various floors.
You can turn up in this hotel with the clothes on your back and still be fresh and clean every day.
Plus:
Slippers to go with the aforementioned pyjamas
Fridge
Safe
Luggage rack
TV on wall opposite bed
Oh, and there is an oh-so-rare coat hook.
I don’t recall any issues, so I think all the lighting and power sockets were in all the places we needed them.
Refreshments
2 bottles of water in the room (this may be because of our status on whichever hotel booking platform we used)
Kettle and usual coffees and several teas with more that could picked up in reception and we quickly became obsessed with the honey tea.
We took advantage of the buffet breakfast on the last morning as we were checking out and catching a train to Kyoto. It was average although inexpensive.
All the hotel rooms in Japan were also kept very warm but luckily we could open windows for some immediate fresh, cool air while we adjusted the temperature.
We chose hotels with laundry facilities so we could have half the amount of clothes we needed to take - standard for us on 10-day trips, We waited for Kyoto to do the laundry but the machines were there if we needed them.
Every hotel on this trip had a torch, dehumidifier machine and fabric refresher - —items I don’t recall ever seeing in hotels before.
Also, on this trip, we travelled with the beloved’s older brother and each hotel placed them conveniently in the room next door to us without us specifically requesting this.
Hotel Sardonyx January 2025.
