Hotel Universe Kayabasho

[TDLFAN]

Many people ask me where TDLFAN prefers to stay when visiting Tokyo Disney Resort...
Well I go to this hotel: Hotel Universe in Kayabacho.

site:HOTEL UNIVERSE NIHOMBASHI-KAYABACHO

This business hotel is convenient if you are traveling solo, or with another person. The rooms are small and sometimes they may not garranty a room to be "non smoking", but in regards to TDR, from this hotel, you can walk 10 minutes to JR's Hatchobori station, and from there, it's a 12 mins ride to TDR's Maihama station. Quite easy to get to/from the parks. Only a couple of minutes to Tokyo station by JR Train or cab.
Best part.. it's very accessible from the Narita Airport. You come out of Customs, get on the Keisei Limited express or Skyliner train to UENO station, quick change to the Hibiya line metro, and 6 stops later, you are there at the hotel's front door. Total trip time may take about 85 mins to/from NRT to hotel. Very easy to do, even with bags in tow.

The hotel rates are usually around USD$100, and they also offer discount plans for couples and single travelers through the internet. Check it out and consider next time you go to TDR!

[denice25]

cool..great review!! thanks..

[migy21]

It doesn't show a lot of pictures of the hotel amenities and rooms.

Do you happen to have pictures taken with you? Care to share?

Thanks for the share though.

[naveed1234]

It is a very best hotel that I ever seen and I am found it very good.

[Fukai]

I've been staying there since 1985 and you have to be prepared for the place if you're a westerner. The rooms are tiny: when you open the front door, there's a short narrow hallway just wide enough to let you get past the bathroom. This opens onto a small room that is only as long as the bed and slightly wider. Beside the bed there is a small place to walk and a desk. That's it.

The bathroom is also tiny, and feels like something inside the Space Station. It's all molded plastic and there is a French drain in the floor so the maids just take the shower sprayer and hose the whole thing down.

It is clean and there is free Internet service.

Even if your room is non-smoking, you may well smell smoke from a nearby room.

The staff is friendly.

The "twin" rooms have two tiny separate beds.

How small are the rooms? If you travel with a large suitcase (like I do, to carry back as much as I can from the Tokyo Disney resort), the only place to open it is on the bed. Otherwise you have to keep it closed and standing upright.

Why do I stay there?
1. It's convenient and my friend has a shop around the corner.
2. It's clean and has free Internet service.
3. It's about $88 a night! Damn cheap--particularly in Tokyo.

Many airlines have their flight attendants stay there and the place is always booked. If you're looking for good location, cheap, and don't need "fancy" (this place makes the All Star Resorts and Pop Century in Orlando look luxurious), then it's a good choice.

Oh--bring your own pillow. The ones they have here are filled with beans--it's like sleeping with your head on a bag of rocks.

[lonegungirl]

Are there elevators or anything in the train stations that would help a not-terribly-strong person schlep a wheeled bag from the airport to here? It sounds like the train stop is right near the hotel, so at least it's not like you have to roll your bags over hill and dale.

Also, is it baggage-accessible to go from there to the TDR hotels? I can probably get an ok rate at the Sheraton during the week, but the weekend rates are exorbitant. Does it sound like too much of a pain to stay here 1 night, then Sheraton 5 nights, then here 2-3 nights after?

Thanks for any/all insight!

[TDLFAN]

Many airlines have their flight attendants stay there and the place is always booked.

That is false information. This hotel does NOT have any airline contracts and it is not used as a crew hotel. Most airlines book chain hotels like Marriott, Sheraton, Novotels, Nikko, etc etc when placing their crew members overnight in major cities.
I will agree that the rooms here are small and there could be some problems with smoke smell from one room to the next but, of all the times I have stayed there, my rooms have always been cleaned and the small quarters adecuate since we only use this hotel when visiting TDR, simply because its so well situated in regards to the trains needed to travel to/from Narita Airport and TDR, and the rest of Tokyo.

Sorry I did not share pictures of the hotel in my initial post, simply because I have never taken pictures of the rooms I have stayed. I am however booked to stay there again at the end of October and will try to snap some pics. But I will re-emphasize again..
This hotel is for those who are traveling solo or with a companion, and good enough if you plan to spend most of your day outdoors... This is not a luxurious spa/resort. And honestly? The All Stars Hotel at WDW may offer better accomodations and surroundings, but the room I had there once was not as cleaned as the ones I have stayed when staying at Hotel Universe.

[lonegungirl]

Do you think the smoke smell is really bad in the smoking rooms? The non-smoking rooms are all sold out for the weekends I'm looking at. I can accept some lingering smoke odor, and I'll bring a can of Oust, but if it's like sleeping in a chimney, it might be a problem.

[TDLFAN]

I have never been in a smoking room there, so I can't really help you. While I have experienced some lingering smoke smell... it is not to the point of being a problem for me.. but that's just me. I do not know what your level of tolerance may be. About the bottle of Oust.. make sure it goes in your checked luggage, because they will confiscate it if you try to pass it thru the normal security checkpoints at the airport.

[TDLFAN]

Im typing this from Hotel universe. we were given a "no smoking room" on the 6th floor. There is NO smoking smell here whatsoever. we are pleased with the room condition, albeit a small room and space for bags is very very minimal.. But the short 5 minute walk to the train station and 14 minutes on the train to TDR makes that small inconvenience all worth it. And we are only paying 9,500 yen per night on a special "couple rate".

[lonegungirl]

Having stayed (almost) 2 nights now in Hotel Universe, I can say that pretty much everything anybody said about it was true: It's well-located, the rooms are small but clean, and there are beans in the pillows. The internet is great, unlike the air conditioning, which is apparently just a fan in the fall/winter. This wouldn't be terrible, except that every light in this room acts as a heating element, so I have to sit here with the window open and all the lights off except the nightlight to try to cool it down.

I was given a smoking room, and although it does come with a spray bottle of what I presume to be "smoke-be-gone," I was glad of my can of Oust anyway--the bathroom, although visibly fine, has a faint smell of urine that is hard to avoid, given the size of the room.

The amount of amenities given are very good--combs, toothbrush, slippers, nightgown, etc., and the closet is the smallest closet ever. I would have to press my jacket in the pants press outside in the hall to slip it in.

On the whole, I thought it was an adequate room, and good for the price (~$55/night.) I would stay here again, particularly if I could get a non-smoking room. The urine smell bothers me slightly, but I'm willing to consider that an anomaly to this room.

Here's a picture of the room:

[Fukai]

I've stayed at the Hotel Universe about 40 times since 1985. You'd be amazed at how little it has changed.

I've never smelled urine in the bathroom, though. That's pretty surprising.

[TDLFAN]

Just an update on Hotel Universe...

As of this month, this hotel's name has changed to SMILE HOTEL TOKYO NIHOMBASHI.
However, the english booking website can still be accessed if googling the name Hotel Universe Kayabasho.

[Fukai]

I'm staying at the hotel Villa Fontaine around the corner next month and I'll write a little report--it looks nicer than the Smile (nee Universe).

[wishyouwell]

I am having trouble finding the website, I finally found this:
Universe Nihombashi kayabacho Hotel Tokyo Japan - BEST DISCOUNT RATES Hotel Deals
But they have nothing available no matter what date I enter. why is that??