Airbnb in Tokyo
One of the things Mr A and I really enjoy about travelling is trying to experience a country from a local’s point of view. In Japan this meant staying in lots of ryokans (Japanese inns), eating at izakayas (pubs where you can select lots of little courses) and getting to grips with the onsens (public baths) without totally embarrassing ourselves.
So for our first few nights in Tokyo we decided to stay in an Airbnb apartment. We’d read a lot about life in the city and we really wanted to experience living like a local. We looked at a lot of different options (Airbnb is a good place to start if you are looking for reasonably priced accommodation in Tokyo) before eventually deciding on one in the neighbourhood of Azabujuban, near Roppongi.
After our disastrous arrival in Tokyo without our luggage, we finally managed to leave the airport at 11.30pm. Not a great start to our first venture into the city, but fortunately our Airbnb host Tamami had given us the most detailed instructions ever to get to her apartment. As well as a step-by-step guide of the route from the airport, it also contained photos of every step of the way. It was amazingly easy to find and after a stressful start to the trip it was such a relief that everything was straightforward.
We let ourselves into the apartment using the key safe and had the best welcome surprise ever. Knowing it was our honeymoon, Tamami had gone out of her way to leave lots of special touches in the apartment. It instantly made us feel so at home and was such an insight into the kind, caring people we were going to meet during our trip.
Azabujuban may not be an area many visitors to Tokyo have heard of, but it was the perfect base for our stay. It was so easy to get to all of the main tourist attractions using the subway and we loved staying in a local neighbourhood. One of my favourite things about it was that it gave us the chance to hang out in local restaurants, where we had our first experience of how much people love their pets. (Mr A was very confused that dogs got invited to dinner.)
All in all it was the perfect start to our trip and we couldn’t have asked for a better Airbnb host.
Aww! Your host is the sweetest! What a kind treat
She was so lovely and kind. Such a great start to our trip 🙂
My luggage didn’t arrive either when I arrived in Tokyo last year… this was so annoying, 48hrs without my stuff! Did you get a compensation? After a lot of discussions, JAL gave me 10,000Y to cover basic clothe expenses (I was advised to do so because of course they don’t advertise about it).
I’d love to see the link to your AirBnB host. Next time I’m in Japan, I’m definitely going to do a mix of homestays, CS and AirBnB to have this local feeling I love so much as well (the point for me is also to improve my Japanese)! I’m looking forward to reading more of your Japanese adventures! 🙂
Oh no! Sorry it happened to you too. Yes, we also got a small amount of compensation, but only because we asked for it. AirBnB would be a great way to improve your Japanese, let me know if you want me to send you the link 🙂
Konnichiwa!
We met on your travels in the Gassho Minshuku Nakaya.
I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts about your honeymoon in Japan, the lengths Tamami went to ensuring you got a great welcome to the country is just the sweetest thing. Glad you had such a great time regardless of your bad start.
Wishing you many more happy years together for the both of you 🙂
Hi! Great to hear from you 🙂 I hope you enjoyed the rest of your visit to Japan. Yes, our host was absolutely lovely, as were all of the other people we stayed with along the way. I still have so many posts to write up from our trip!