Toggle Hotel is a newly built hotel in Suidobashi. It’s excellent value if you’re a small group of friends and don’t mind sharing space. The highly instagrammable rooms come in configurations for 2–4 people, and while the immediate vicinity isn’t a tourist hotspot, it’s still central with good public transport access.
What’s the hotel like?
In contrast to the somewhat concrete and gray surrounds, the hotel is colorful and tastefully designed. It’s a basically a no-frills but stylish budget hotel. Check-out is at a reasonable 11am, with a nice touch of being able to check out quickly online and just leave your key cards in the room.
What facilities does the hotel have?
There’s a nice cafe on the top floor, serving drinks cakes and a small selection of sandwiches. Being on the 9th floor the cafe is a nice bright spot in which to relax and take a break from the city.
There are no other facilities or shared spaces.
What are the rooms like?
The three-person loft rooms make great use of space — the height of the room is split with a lounge area and steps up to a twin bed sleeping area. Having a lounge area makes it feel like you have an extra room, with space to sit and store luggage or shopping. There are also connecting rooms, and four different bedroom configurations available.
The color schemes are well balanced and give the rooms a lot of personality. The lighting and furnishings are well designed plus the roomware and beds are good quality, so it’s hard to critize the room design at this price point. Room amenities are fairly simple, with a nod to low waste — you only receive a complimentary low-plastic toothbrush, and other items available on request. The complimentary Japanese “Senna” herbal tea was a nice alternative to the basic coffee or tea usually found in budget hotels.
The TVs are equipped for the digital age, with streaming services you can log into (using your own account) and chrome cast compatibility. The wifi works well, and there’s just enough space for working on a laptop — using the room table.
The aircon is quiet, but one problem with the split loft room configuration is that the sleeping area will be at a different temperature in the colder and hotter months — in the winter the heat will rise to heat the bed area more, and in the summer the cooling air will fall to cool the lounge more. The windows can be opened, so it’s possible to quickly let some air in if you need to cool things down a bit.
How big are the rooms?
The rooms range from 20m2 to 40m2, and with the loft configuration makes Toggle Hotel feel rather spacious for a budget hotel.
Are the rooms comfortable?
The loft rooms are very comfortable, and quite good for lounging around in. One potential draw back with a loft — if you’re taller than 170cm, mind your head in the lounge. The only other small issue is that if you need to use the air conditioner a lot, the bed area and lounge end up at slightly different temperatures.
What’s the view like?
There’s an expressway near the hotel, so depending on which floor you’re on, the view varies substantially. As usual higher floors have the best views.
What’s the location like?
The immediate surroundings feel rather gray and concreted, but the hotel is a short walk from Tokyo Dome Amusement park and the beautiful Koishikawa Korakuen Japanese gardens. Slightly further away there’s Kitanomaru Park on the North side of the Imperial Palace area.
Suidobashi is more of a working man’s town than a tourist hotspot, but this means plenty of cheap and tasty Japanese eateries.
How do I get there from the airports?
JR Suidobashi station is 3-minute walk from the hotel, so from Narita the smallest number of transit changes would involve taking the Narita Express, and changing to the JR Sōbu line at Tokyo Station. Alternatively, as it’s a short taxi ride from both Ueno and Tokyo station, both the Keisei Skyliner and Narita Express from Narita get you most of the way if you’d prefer minimal walking.
From Haneda airport the smoothest transfer is to take the Keikyu Line, and change to the Mita Line at Mita Station. Although to keep it as simple as possible when you arrive, thankfully Haneda taxi options aren’t too pricey.
How is the access to trains and subway?
JR Suidōbashi Station is only 3 mins walk from the hotel, plus there are connections to almost all central subway lines within a walk of 7–8 minutes. While Toggle Hotel Suidobashi isn’t in a tourist hot spot itself, the Suidōbashi area is very central and roughly equidistant from most areas you’d want to see in central Tokyo.
Should I order the breakfast?
There’s not much choice for the sandwich based breakfast, so if you want variety, best to go elsewhere. Also unless you’ve decided to get the breakfast, you can’t order anything in the cafe until 10am. However, you are allowed to sit in the cafe and use the wifi.
Who should stay here?
This is a hotel for younger travelers, especially if you’re a group of 3–4 friends. It’s a great value alternative to other budget options.
How eco friendly is Toggle Hotel?
As with many newer hotels in Tokyo, Toggle Hotel has joined the trend of minimal amenities and less frequent room cleaning. While we don’t have a building energy efficiency rating, we noted that the rooms appeared very well insulated and stayed warm all night without air coniditioning, despite sub-zero temperatures outside.
