We book a night in a bookshelf at Book and Bed in Shinjuku

Bookstore hotel is heaven for bookworms in Tokyo.

Our Japanese-language reporter Mariko Ohanabatake is a self-confessed book nerd. Whenever she goes to a bookstore or library, she’s usually the last to leave, as she gets lost in the stories she finds and loses all sense of time and place.

So when she heard that a branch of “accommodation bookshop” Book and Bed was located near work in Shinjuku, she decided to indulge her passion for reading by spending a whole night there on her own, whiling away the hours surrounded by books.

▼ The Shinjuku branch of Book and Bed is located on the 8th floor of this building, about a one-minute walk from Seibu Shinjuku Station, and a stone’s throw from Kabukicho.

According to what she’d read online, Book and Bed Shinjuku is filled with bookshelves that contain up to 4,000 books, and that’s not all they contain — they’re also designed to accommodate people within them.

▼ Yep, these shelves contains books and beds, hence the name “Book and Bed“

The unusual hotel has a variety of plans to choose from, covering options like: day use of the lounge area between the hours of 1-8 p.m., for 700 yen (US$6.17) per hour plus a drink order, or a daytime nap in a bed for 960 yen per hour, or overnight stays, from 3,000 yen per night, which come with or without extra perks like breakfast.

Mariko chose to go with the “Comfort Single Room Breakfast Plan” for 4,200 yen, which includes a morning meal and a stay in a semi-double sized “room”. Check-in would be from 4 p.m. and check-out by 11 a.m., which Mariko figured would be ample time to relax and read as many books as her heart desired.

When she arrived for her night of bookish indulgence, she was pleased to find that the interior was extremely stylish. There was a big bookshelf set up in the centre of the room, and she could see a large number of books from overseas, along with photo books, magazines, and comics, all lined up waiting for her.

▼ Comfortable seating and tables in different corners allow guests to match the ambience to their mood.

The books appeared to be roughly organised by theme, sorted into sections like “travel,” “food,” “music,” and “movies.”

▼ This particular location has a book corner with a special “Shinjuku” theme, which is a nice nod to the area.

Mariko was particularly excited about the magazine corner, where she found some old copies of hip magazines Popeye and Brutus that she’d never seen before.

Mariko was like a kid in a candy store, picking out all sorts of books that tickled her fancy, piling them into her arms before climbing the ladder into her “room’ in the bookshelf to enjoy them.

▼ Her “room” was a capsule that was clean and cosy, and it reminded her of a secret hideout, making her feel like a child in a treehouse fort.

The bookshelf bunks are equipped with a power outlet, hangers, and a small safe for valuables. And though the toilets and shower rooms are shared, they’re gender-separated and beautifully clean.

Mariko had rented a set of pyjamas for 550 yen at check-in, so when the sun dipped and the lights of Shinjuku began to glow, she popped them on and enjoyed a spot of light reading by the window.

The heating was on at just the right temperature, and before she knew it, Mariko had flicked through about a dozen books and read two from front to back, and the time was…3 a.m.! She knew she should go to bed at this point, but after flicking through a few more books she couldn’t resist, she glanced at her watch and saw it was now…6 a.m.!

After an all-nighter feeding her craving for books, the morning light signalled it was time to stop for a moment and feed her cravings for breakfast, which was served at the hotel’s attached cafe. The breakfast was just as chic as the surroundings it was served in, with everything on her table, from the fruit sandwich to the latte and napkin and cutlery, all fitting into a monotone black theme.

Although check-out is usually 11 a.m., there is the option to extend it until 1 p.m. at an additional cost of 550 yen per hour. According to staff, a lot of guests use this option to nap after breakfast after staying up all night reading, and though Mariko was tempted to do the same after her all-nighter, she decided to head home instead.

Mariko had a great night at Book and Bed in Shinjuku, and now she knows how close it is to work, she’ll definitely be returning every now and then when she wants a mini getaway in the heart of Tokyo. And she might even venture further out in future, to try their Kyoto location too.

Hotel information
Book and Bed Tokyo
Address: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Kabukicho 1-27-5 Kabukicho APM Building 8F
東京都新宿区歌舞伎町1-27-5 歌舞伎町APMビル8F
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