Hotel Review : Cheap Tokyo Accommodation @ K's House

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Hotel Review : Cheap Tokyo Accommodation @ K's House

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JOTARO'S HOTEL REVIEW

CHEAP ACCOMMODATION @ K'S HOUSE TOKYO

K's House Front External View

Looking for cheap accommodation in Tokyo? Look no further, K's House Tokyo, Backpackers Hostel offers one of the cheapest around, and it is conveniently located at Asakusa, Tokyo. Just around the corner is the Kuramae Station that can connect to major Japanese train lines.

Accomodation starts from as low as 2,900Y for a 8-bed dorm to 4,500Y for a single bedder; rates are per pax per night. There is also the family ensuite (with attached bathroom) with rates starting from 9,900Y for a two-bedder. Rates includes the 5% sales tax. (... see full schedule of room rates).
K's House achieves it's low rate by a unique concept of keeping it's staffing costs low by getting the guests to participate in the basic daily upkeep of the place. But don't get the wrong idea, this gets guests to interact with each other, letting them mingle with each other and through that possibly give each other tips on travelling in Japan.

We were on a trip to Japan to cycle in several places, starting with Tokyo (...see Cycling Japan 2013 blogs). Knowing the high costs for accommodations in Tokyo; our cycling buddy, Siew Yung searched the Web and managed to find K's House.
Flying in from Kuala Lumpur, we arrived rather late, just past midnight and the staff had left by then (they end work by 10:00pm daily).

But then no worries, in e-mail correspondence they have messsaged that the keys to our rooms will be left in a safe box at the entrance and gave us the combination to open the lock.
Such is the way that K's House operates, it relies on the honesty and discipline of it;s guests; but we will talk again about this later.

This is the main entrance to the hostel. It has two doors, a strong glazed aluminium swing door which is kept open during staff hours (8:30am to 10:00pm). Patrons entering and exiting are expected to keep the inner sliding wooden door close. Like most Asian countries, wearing of shoes are not allowed inside; patrons take their shoes off and keep them at the little foyer or in shoe cabinets there.

Most of the ground floor is a common area, where guests can relax and mingle around - get to know others, trade travel stories and tips. The bedrooms are at the upper three levels.

The living room area with nice sofas and armchairs for relaxing. Book and magazines are available for reading. To one side are a couple of p.c.'s, usage charge is at 100Y for thirty minutes.

The Dining Area & Kitchen.
Available - Two fridges for storing guests perishables; a microwave is available for re-heating of food, eg. those pre-packed meals from 24-hours outlets like 7-Eleven or Lawsons. Every morning the staff ensures that hot pots of coffee & tea are there.

Notice at each of the fridge door.

As mentioned earlier, honesty and discipline is what makes K's House concept interesting and workable. Every once a week, the staff clears out items without names. Guests are expected to wipe the dining table after use too.

The Free Box.
Guest checking out from the hostel can leave items that they do not wish take along with them ath the "Free Box". Other guests are free to use items in the free box. We left half a bottle of good tax-free whiskey behind as we could not take it back home without being taxed.

The Kitchen, with counter seating for dining. Crockery, cutlery, a toaster and a rice cooker are available for use - guests to wash and dry after using.

T.V. Lounge area - to chill, relax and get to know guests from all over the world.

Towards the rear of the ground floor is a small lift for guests to take up their heavy luggage (or in our case, our bicycles) to the bedrooms on the upper floors.

Opposite the lift is a bulletin board with posters of interesting events, etc. It's here that we saw the notice advertising a cycling ride at the Imperial Palace (... see Cycling Tokyo 2013 Day 4 - The Imperial Palace blog).

A signage indicating closing days of the Tsukiji Fish Market.

As one exit, next to the front door; notices giving weather for the day, and rental items from the reception.

At the side of one of the fridges, free postcards and travel brochures.

Conveniently nearby, diagonally opposite, is a 7-11 store. In Japan, these stores sell many pre-pack meals for the budget traveller. One can heat this at the store's micro-wave ovens or take it back back to the hostel for later heating up.

Other facilities provided by K's House:
- WiFi at every floor
- Left Baggage Store at the ground floor. The charge is 100Y per piece per day.
- Laundry room at the 3rd floor with washing machine and dryer. Charge is 300Y per load for each washing and drying.
- Two levels of roof terrace garden.
- Nice Japanese designed purses sold at reception for 300Y each.

K's House Backpackers Hostel calling card with address and contact details.
URL : http://kshouse.jp/tokyo-e/index.html
email : tokyo@kshouse.jp

GPS : 35.705147, 139.792399