The B Akasaka

Hotel description

If money is no object, then Tokyo is a hotel guest’s paradise — the top five luxury hotels here are easily in the world’s top ten. But it’s when you’re on a more limited budget that the limitations of the Tokyo hotel market begin to show. If you’re after something between a grim little tourist trap and the Peninsula you’ll have your work cut out for you. And it’s this gap in the market that the B Akasaka seeks to address.

Call it an efficiency boutique. The clean-lined modern style of the contemporary boutique hotel is very much in evidence, and the frankly tiny spaces are maximized with some clever layouts. Flat-screen televisions save space, and the wireless internet access is mercifully free.

There’s no restaurant, no room service at all, and nothing you could reasonably describe as luxury, at least in the room — there is, oddly enough, a pocket-sized spa downstairs, and guests can do their own wash in the B’s little laundromat, for a fraction of the price of a typical hotel laundry. Ultimately that’s the point of the B Akasaka. No-frills humane comfort, a bit of style, and a shockingly low price. You might be able to spend less, but you won’t have half the experience elsewhere.