Sakura Fleur Aoyama

the location was great considering main venue of the event that our team had to attend for a biz trip.

picture was better than the reality.

This was my second stay at this hotel during my trip so I knew what to expect but was still disappointed. The location was good and the staff were as helpful as possible but that was about all. I only stayed here a second time as there was nothing else available at the time of booking.

There appeared to be a light fixture in the center of the room on the ceiling but it did not work. The thermostat which was half hanging off the wall was set to heat centrally even though the temperature outside was around 70F during the day but opening the window allowed the smell of cigarette smoke from the street to enter the room (4th floor). I also smelled cigarette smoke in the hallway right outside of my room on several occasions. The bathroom was not nearly clean enough from day one (toilet odor) and I could always hear either the guests above me or the cleaning staff in the hallway in the mornings. The most annoying thing at the end of my trip was that the hotel did not have a luggage scale. They had a digital body scale which the girl at the front desk used by standing on it while holding one of my suitcases at a time then subtracting her weight which was not totally accurate. Unfortunately two days before I was going to leave the country I was informed that the digital scale had been broken by other guests and only thing left was an analog scale which was even worse. Fortunately my guesswork was correct and my luggage was not over the limit when I checked in at the airport.

The hotel is very close to the center of Shibuya but far enough from the noise, trash, and rats to be acceptable. The staff is polite and helpful but that is the norm in Japan. The staff spoke some English but it was beneficial for me to use Japanese at times.

As Google Maps seems to seriously lack accuracy in Japan this hotel was a little hard to find. It didn’t help that the building lettering was small and not illuminated. Another issue is the fact that the building does not have a ramp leading up to the entrance, there are only stairs. This could be a major issue for anyone with disabilities. For me it was an annoyance as I crossed the street from the station using the pedestrian bridge with two suitcases then had to deal with even more stairs. This is the only hotel out of seven that I have stayed at in Japan that only had stairs leading to its entrance. The other major issue is the fact that this is the only hotel that I have stayed at which still uses physical keys rather than electronic key cards. The keys are not allowed to leave the hotel so you must turn them over to the staff as you leave. The only upside to this is that they will often offer you a cold bottle of water when you return although if you leave for a short period of time it is a little irritating. Lastly the bathroom although furnished with Toto equipment as all of the other hotels I have stayed at in Japan was clearly the oldest. The faucet and shower shared a hose which was connected to a diverter valve that had to be manually turned to switch outputs. This hotel needs to upgrade just about everything in order to be decent.