Capsule hotel offers amazing deal, cheaper than an apartment in Tokyo

With incredible perks like food, alcohol, onsen and Wi-Fi included, you can live here long-term without having to spend money on anything else! 

There are a lot of capsule hotels vying for the attention of visitors around Japan, but one chain that’s definitely worth checking in to is Anshin Oyado Premier. With one hotel in Nagoya, one in Kyoto, and five in Tokyo, located at Shimbashi Shiodome, Shimbashi Station, Suginami, Akihabara and Shinjuku, Anshin Oyado’s locations are conveniently situated close to train stations and are particularly popular with students and business travellers, due to their great value-for-money deals.

▼ Their Shinjuku location is just a 90-second walk from Shinjuku Station.

Now, though, the chain has gone viral on social media and even appeared on television news bulletins for its latest jaw-dropping value-for-money deal. People have been blinking their eyes in astonishment at the prices for a stay at Anshin Oyado’s Akihabara, Shinjuku and Shimbashi Station locations, which have dropped from 79,200 yen (US$715.09) for a 15-day stay to just 25,000 yen (US$225.72). And their monthly stay is even more of a bargain, priced at just 40,000 yen (US$361.16) instead of 158,400 yen (US$1,430.21).

▼ A monthly stay works out to be about 1,333 yen or 12 bucks a day

▼ Capsules are clean and well-appointed, with a T.V. and a screen for you to plug your devices into.

While these prices are astonishingly low, especially for downtown Tokyo, that’s not the end of the surprises, as 360 bucks a month doesn’t just get you a place to rest your head — it comes with a whole heap of extras, including free Wi-Fi, food, drink, and unlimited use of the onsen.

There are private booths set up on the premises for teleworking, and the hotel even provides guests with free use of printers and cables during their stay.

The all-you-can-eat food and drink on offer is incredibly impressive too, as it includes rice, miso soup, raw eggs and furikake seasonings — everything you need for a filling meal like TKG — as well as soft drinks, tea, coffee, and a wide range of alcohol covering wine and spirits so you can mix up a cocktail before heading off to bed for the night.

▼ There’s also styling gels, shampoo and conditioner, and laundry detergent on hand for guests to use. Oh, and there’s towels, massage chairs and comics and magazines as well.

Anshin Oyado is more like a home away from home than a capsule hotel. In fact, it’s an even better deal than renting an apartment in Tokyo, which would cost you far more in rent alone. Add in the perks, like not having to pay for water, electricity, Internet, food, drinks, and a lot of everyday essentials, and a lot of renters are now wondering if they’d be better off moving into Anshin Oyado, whose name translates to “Peace of Mind Lodging”.

▼ The entrance to the Shinjuku location makes you feel as if you’re being whisked away to a peaceful world.

The only downside to the deal is the fact that it’s not available at the chain’s Kyoto, Suginami or Shimbashi Shiodome locations, and the capsule hotels in Tokyo are only set up for male guests. Their Nagoya location, however, does have separate areas for men and women, and the prices are slightly different to their Tokyo locations, with women paying 20,000 yen for 15 days and 40,000 yen for 30 days, and men paying 25,000 yen for 15 days and 50,000 yen for 30 days.

There’s also the option for rooms at all participating locations to be shared between friends or employees from the same company, with “share rates” for Tokyo listed as 35,000 yen for 15 days and 60,000 yen for 30 days, and Nagoya set at 25,000 yen for 15 days and 60,000 yen for 30 days for women, and 35,000 yen for 15 days and 70,000 yen for 30 days for men.

The plans, dubbed “Settlement Plans”, are aimed at encouraging long-term stays at a time when guest numbers have dropped sharply during the pandemic. It’s a new addition to the chain’s pandemic strategy, which includes hiring out capsules that have been converted into workspaces for an hourly rate, a plan that’s still available.

While other countries are dealing with lockdowns and severe travel restrictions, the large majority of Japanese people have been mostly commuting to work as normal and still travelling around the country, albeit with masks and a sense of caution, so it’s only a matter of time before these cheap stay deals are snapped up by locals.

Here’s hoping the chain survives the pandemic so that international visitors will be able to enjoy their services once the country opens up to overseas tourists again. Because sadly, a number of longstanding Japanese businesses have already become COVID-19 casualties.

Related: Anshin Oyado
Source, images: Value Press
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