Sotetsu Fresa Inn Ochanomizu Jimbocho

Room was very large for Tokyo standards. The check-in and check-out process were incredibly smooth, and the staff was helpful and friendly. Location is convenient!

Breakfast at the downstairs Mermaid Cafe was a disappointment. The cafe actually sells some nice-looking pastries but the hotel guests are served some very sad bread / coffee instead. Definitely save your money and go have your breakfast somewhere else!

Wow, where to start? If you reserve in advance (I did it a year before!) the value for money can be incredible. The staff is, as should be in Japan, simply perfect. The room was cleaned regularly and it was spotless. Washing machine is very gentle on your clothes, which is not always a given when you travel. Very good location in a neighborhood filled with bookstores, and, to my personal delight, musical instrument stores. Walking distance to Akihabara and the Imperial Palace Gardens.

...The location, at the same time, is not so close to Shibuya or Shinjuku, so if you plan on going out at night there, be ready to stay until 6 am or spend a bunch on a taxi.

Great location, has an easy access on the train station. A lot of restaurants and convenient stores! Wifi is fast as well, small is room as expected in a japanese hotels but comfortable and clean. Staff are very friendly and they really try their best to accomodate your requests. Thank you!!

The breakfast. I had been to Osaka with the same chain hotel and they had a lovely buffet breakfast that’s why I booked the same chain for Tokyo, however got saddened as it’s not the same. It’s only a 2 pcs of pastry and a coffee or tea. Although you can have toast as much as you want I guess and has a mini salad. Yet still, not really equal to the price if beeakfast.

The staff was really helpful, the location was excellent - close to several subway stations and sights (Imperial Palace, Akihabara, etc.). There was a washing and drying option, which was really helpful. The breakfast was also excellent, it was provided by the neighboring bakery (pieces of their homemade products and a package of broccoli salad).

The size of the room was quite troublesome - though we are not big people it was quite hard to move around each other in the room and even place our luggage (1pc) and clothes (only some hangers were available).

Impressed with everything actually. Well done team.

I think there needs to be a policy to offer customers the option to pay for an extra … bread roll… or whatever they would like. I speak pretty good Japanese and asked the lady behind the counter about this. The expression on her face was somewhat enraged and I’ll never forget it! She said I can have as much toast as I want (食べ放題) but may NOT have another roll. Oh geez how petty to do this to a 50 year old in front of other customers. I had stayed there for multiple nights and this was my final morning when I asked. It’s not like I was asking every day!!

Great breakfast selections. I loved the quality of the bread and the variety of options. The salad that came with the bread was great too. I also loved the selection of complimentary amenities - they included not only the standard bathroom items (toothbrush, razor, hairdryer, etc.) but also some more luxurious items like sheet masks, other skincare, and hair masks. The location was also great - near many stations but also a lively area with lots of interesting bookstores.

Everything else was great too. The room was fine, not huge but that is to be expected for the price and type of hotel. I wish the breakfast extended a little later (maybe until 10am) but 9:30 am is not unreasonable, especially since the breakfast is at the bakery next door and I'm sure the bakery has other tasks it needs to get to by mid morning.

This was a great neighborhood, quiet, with bookshops and small restaurants and close to Jimbocho station, making getting around Tokyo easy. The hotel is on a small street. At night I heard no noise, the bed was comfortable, and the blackout curtains were effective so it was easy to have a good night's sleep. The staff were helpful and kind. It was a good introduction to Tokyo, making this vast city feel manageable.

As you expect in a modest Japanese hotel, the room was small, but beautifully organized. It is important to request a non-smoking room on a non-smoking floor.

A good value for money. After spending 3 weeks in Japan, I surely would recommend staying at a ryokan instead of a western style hotel due to room size and overall price for the experience. However, this particular hotel had a slightly larger room than the other Sotetsu Fresa Inn we stayed at in Shinjuku. No vegan options for breakfast though, which is sad. Overall good experience but we only stayed one night. The room size would still have been small if we stayed longer than 2 nights.

It was a very basic hotel, they never allow check in before the time even if the room is not occupied, you can leave your luggage and come back but often that does disrupt your daily plans anyways.

Good value for money and provided services. Close to central station (20min walk), next to metro station. Nice local shops and restaurants.

Bathroom shampoo and lotion odour was awful. big bottles staying there for years and additionally filled in countless times. Inside bottle content I can only imagine what the hellish composition created there during all those years. It is better, if there will be small packages of shampoo, lotion and conditioner for each bathroom or leave it in the lobby as other amenities you provide.

Firstly, good location. The bookshop district around Jimbocho has some lovely little shops for eating and presents. Shout out to 'Little Mermaid' bakery (next-door) which does some great pastries, and Bumpodo (a few doors down) which has some lovely arts and crafts for sale. There's lots of small restaurants nearby, but a warning if you are vegetarian. My partner who is veggie really struggled to find anything to eat round here, even when she decided to eat fish, so I would advise eating out in another area. You are spoilt for choice with 24hr conveniences which is handy. Jimbocho station is a few mins walk away which is great for getting to Shibuya and Shinjuku City. There's also a number of other stations easily within 15 mins walk including Shin-Ochanomizu (Chiyoda Line [green]), Awajicho (Marnouchi Line [red]), and Kanda (Ginza Line [orange]). The room itself is typically Japanese, and therefore quite small. We had three cases so it was quite cramped, so something to bear in mind if you have large cases/babies etc. The bed was a little hard for me, but I was so tired from exploring Tokyo everyday I didn't really care! Typical bathroom with fun toilet and small bath/shower. I found the body wash the hotel provides quite harsh, and left my skin very dry, so you may wish to avoid that. There's a Daiso across the road where you can get shower gel etc if you want to. Staff were friendly and helpful. They were lacking in English and our Japanese was not great, but they had a voice translator gadget which was handy! After checkout they let us keep out bags there till later on in a secure storage area behind the counter. There were also a good selection of free amenities in the lobby, such as coffee, tea, toothbrushes, face masks etc. Overall its a fairly standard Japanese hotel room. Fresca seem to be one of the better chains for low-cost accommodation across Japan. Great value for the money.

Bed was a little hard but that is standard in Japan, along with the small rooms. Other than that no complaints :)