Urban Hills 池袋 Beautiful Japanese Interior

The host was very responsive to questions. The host answered quickly and very helpfully, at times going above and beyond expectations. The kitchen facilities were outstanding, with plenty of crockery and cutlery. There were sufficient pots and pans to cook with, and the gas stove was easy to operate. The washer-dryer was easy to use, and did a great job of washing AND drying (although like all condenser dryers, it took a fair bit of time). The property was tastefully decorated in Japanese style, which was lovely to experience. The location was good. The accommodation was located half way between two metro stations, but it took a bit of exploration to find the lifts for coming and going with luggage. There was a bus stop about 100 m away, where regular and frequent buses to Ikebukuro station stopped. Ikebukuro is a major rail hub, so from there we could go anywhere in Tokyo. There were plenty of eating places within easy reach.

Unfortunately, there are two large glass panes in the bedroom wall, which allowed light from the emergency exit sign and the street light outside to shine into the bedroom unimpeded. This made sleeping difficult. We hung some towels up to stop some of the light, and used eye masks. When we raised this as an issue with the host, they offered to hang some cloth to stop the light. However, we declined as we’d already hung the towels. We have recommended that blinds or drapes be installed to create a permanent solution to this problem, so that future guests don’t experience the sleep problems that we did. Hopefully, this will happen!