You can not describe Tokyo – it seems to have emerged on a different planet.
What differentiates this city is its
population – imagine 13 million folks residing on 811 square miles.
You have never experienced such density
of humanity – in the streets, in the subways and in
the skyscrapers – it is cordially crowded. With its level of energy
Tokyo can make even NY seem like a laid-back, drowsy town.
Space is expensive in Tokyo hotels,
so prepare for small, but neat rooms.
Land here is more precious than gold.
Buildings are practically on top of each other.
Therefore the first impressions by
Tokyo are: that it is a metropolis, moreover it could be
the ugliest metropolis in the world.
This is before the visitors need time to discover,
that Tokyo has this air of intimacy,
which will sweep you off your feet,
the spirit that connects people in the neighborhoods,
where everybody knows your name.
You can escape Tokyo’s urban jungle by strolling
in one of its soulful gardens –
especially in spring time when irises bloom and lovers whisper to each other.
Accommodation is offered by 5-star-skyscraper hotels,
famous hotel chains, cozy boutique hotels,
and traditional Japanese inns called ryokans.
Tokyo hotels
Tokyo hotels
Every ryokan has its personality and traditions.
Some of them offer free tea in the lobby.
Some of them have a private garden with a pond, baths,
tatami rooms. Your meals will be served
to you in your room in the true ryokan tradition.
Most of the owners speak excellent English.
Besides ryokans, Tokyo has an alternative form
of refuge, a popular solution among enamored couples
that is called “love hotels.” Contrary to
what their name might imply, they do not provide sexual services,
but they do shelter lovers for an hour.
Some of them have vibrating beds to aid the sexual escapade.
If you are not claustrophobic – the cheapest solution
offered by Tokyo hotels is the so-called
capsule hotels: that is, you get to sleep in a capsule the size of a coffin,
where you are provided with a TV, alarm clock and radio.
Sexual discrimination is everywhere – most capsule hotels do not accept women.
You get a cotton kimono, and a locker,
public baths, sauna, and vending machines,
which sell beer, instant meals, toothbrushes etc.
The Japanese are Tokyo’s hotels greatest asset:
They are diligent, frank and helpful, legendary with their supreme
service and cleanliness: they proudly look after their city.
They treat foreigners with kindness,
attentive to embarrassment. They are not only industrious,
but almost rabidly cheerful. The cleaners
bow to you – pressing their palms together and lowering
from the waist. Then they say something
which sounds like: “We, the people of this hotel worship you as a God.”
One thing striking about Tokyo hotels is that a lot
of childish cuteness reigns there. People of any age love
stuffed animals and comic books.
While the Western people would like to be 17 again,
it feels like Japanese people
want to be about seven. It seems that to them,
adulthood is for the cold-hearted and the innocence and purity
of childhood should be eternal. However
blowing your nose in public is considered extremely rude:
what is acceptable instead is to sniffle the entire time.
