APA Hotel Ueno Ekimae
Tokyo
レビュー
Good Value Hotel in a Great Location APA Hotel Ueno Ekimae offers excellent value for money and is in a very convenient location. It's within walking distance of Ameyoko Street and Ueno Station, yet far enough from the busy area that it's quiet at night, making it easy to get a good night's sleep. The hotel also provides complete amenities, which made the stay comfortable. My only concern was the cleanliness of the bedding. The bedsheets had a noticeable smell of sweat, which made it seem like they hadn't been washed properly. I ended up buying alcohol spray to sanitise the bed before sleeping, which was disappointing. Another downside is the housekeeping policy. The room is only cleaned on the third night, which may not be ideal for guests staying multiple nights. Overall, it's a great hotel in terms of value and location, but I hope they improve the cleanliness of the bedding and review their housekeeping standards.
The staff was friendly. The location is great - a 5 minute walk from Ueno Station, Ameyoko, and around 10 minutes to reach the Zoo and the museums. Kappabashi is close, and Sensoji is a 30 minute walk. There are 24-hour konbinis close by so if you need snacks or drinks for example, it's a short walk: less than 5 minutes to the nearest Family Mart. Elevators are really crowded during breakfast time and checkout times, so be ready to wait some time to be able to use them. The rooms are too cramped. We booked two double bed rooms. The beds themselves were OK, but, one of the sides was up against the wall, making it difficult when two people share a bed, and even more difficult if the one against the wall needs to use the toilet during the night. The head of the bed was up against the window. Moving around the room while packing up was difficult. We prefer using natural ventilation when available, but, there was a strong smell of food, and we assumed it was coming from vents of the izakaya in 1F that serves the breakfast menu. This situation made it nearly impossible to leave the window open without having the room smelling of food. Adding to that, like others mentioned, the air conditioning controls do nothing but turn on the ventilation or turn it off. The temperature adjust buttons do nothing. There was an empty refrigerator that we turned on to keep some drinks - this was OK. Lighting controls were another issue - they were all in a single panel next to the bed, which was... on the opposite side of the room when at the door. We didn't remove one of the key cards from the slot at the entrance in fear of turning off the refrigerator during the day. The bathroom was OK - small, but still a reasonable amount of space. The basin faucet was a bit strange to operate, to keep it running requires wasting too much water. The amenity items like toothbrush, paste, shaving razor, hair comb were of good quality. There were also some paper cups, Towels were also very good and clean. Japanese TV channels NHK G and NHK E were available, among others. There was also a TV channel in English, I think it was BBC. The food in the breakfast menu was really nice, although a bit expensive (at the time of writing it was, I think, 1700 JPY / person if booked ahead with the rooms).
It’s not my first staying at their hotels. APA is always my preferred choice when I’m travelling alone. It’s compact but comes with all the facilities and staff are always very helpful. Location is great too, just walking distance to Ueno train station which makes travelling to different venues and airport real easy. There’s also Family Mart & 7-Eleven nearby which was great for a fast snack.
APA Hotel Ueno Ekimae is quite a strange hotel overall. The lobby is filled with mirrors, which gives off a sense of luxury, but the first impression doesn’t really match that. It’s small and often crowded with suitcases, so it feels more like a busy marketplace than a hotel lobby. I arrived at 12 PM but wasn’t allowed to check in until 3 PM. When it was finally time to enter the room, there was an issue with the machine, so I had to wait an additional 30 minutes. The rooms are very small and cramped, which is somewhat typical for Japan. However, considering the limited space, the large desk takes up too much room, and the oversized TV mounted on the wall feels overwhelming. The bathroom is built like a compact capsule inside the room. It’s extremely tight and can be uncomfortable for anyone over 180 cm, with barely enough space to move. That said, it does serve its purpose. Cleanliness is where the hotel meets expectations. Towels are replaced daily—usually left in a bag outside your door along with basic hotel amenities. The staff are polite and helpful. As for the location, it’s often described as convenient, but that’s not entirely accurate. Most major attractions (except the zoo) require using the metro, with around 40 minutes of travel. Overall, the hotel feels overpriced for what it offers. I would likely avoid the APA hotel chain in the future, as you don’t get good value for the money paid.
