I was recently in Tokyo in September to attend Ultra Japan music festival. Usually I don’t focus too much attention on getting a hotel because it is just somewhere to sleep and use the bathroom. All I care about is that it is wheelchair accessible and that it has a bathroom with a roll in shower. Like all my trips, I did my research and the APA Hotel Higashi Shinjuku Ekimae showed that it is wheelchair accessible and do offer rooms with a roll in shower. It was also in a great busy area and isn’t too expensive. I booked the hotel and even emailed and called to make sure there is a roll in shower. I was told that there is only 1 suite with that and I will find out when I get there if I got that room. I am not even sure if they understood me because of the language barrier. I guess I will just find out what room I got when I arrive in Tokyo.
typical small room in Japan
When we arrived I automatically asked about our accessible room with a roll in shower. I got my buddy to run upstairs to look at our room. The hotel’s version of a roll in shower was that there was a drain on the floor to collect water. I am not too picky so was ok with that. There is a small step to get into the bathroom and the bathroom door had to be removed for the duration of our stay so that my commode can be brought into the bathroom. My commode just stayed over the toilet as there is no room in the bathroom to park it elsewhere. Lucky there was a removable shower head so that it would reach out to where I was sitting. Also, glad I brought a strong buddy to help me on to the commode which could not be removed from the bathroom for transfers.
small step into bathroom. Door had to be removed and not really a roll-in shower.
The room itself was quite small as it was the typical size of regular priced rooms. The 1 double bed was a tad small for both of us to share but it was adequate since we slept on opposite ends of each other. My regular size manual wheelchair had to park in the hallway as there wasn’t really any room beside the bed. Every time we left the hotel it was tricky for both of us to move around in the tiny room. Good thing we are both easy going.
another pic of the room
We did not visit the restaurant in the basement but there is also a room with vending machines and ice. There is also a spacious wheelchair accessible bathroom beside the restaurant. The hotel itself is nice and clean and of course offers free wifi. The staff is friendly but language can be a problem. The hotel is located in a very busy area. It is near a Mc Donalds, 2 subway train stations and close to alot of stores and restaurants.
nice big accessible bathroom next to restaurant floor
Over all, our 9 night stay was not that bad as we got used to the bathroom the way it is. Yes the room is small but that is typical in Japan unless you really want to spend alot of money. Me and my buddy are both easy going and so chill that I would use this hotel again if cost was a factor.
