HARAJUKU X CDMX: Japan’s best-amenity budget hotel chain gets extra-affordable with “Global Cabin” rooms

lunes, 24 de julio de 2023

Japan’s best-amenity budget hotel chain gets extra-affordable with “Global Cabin” rooms

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Spending a night in Dormy Inn’s quasi-capsule hotel rooms still gets you access to all the great stuff the facility offers.

Despite the name, Japan’s Dormy Inn hotel chain is neither a shared-room dormitory nor a rustic traditional-style inn. It is, in fact, what Japan calls a “business hotel,” a type of hotel characterized by a convenient in-the-city location, basic but sufficient amenities, and low prices.

Business hotels are called that because their original target market was business travelers who don’t have a sky-high expense account, but in recent years they’ve also become popular with tourists and leisure travelers who need a clean, comfortable place to sleep, but who still want to put most their vacation budget towards going out and doing things in Japan. Dormy Inn has earned a reputation as one of the best business hotels by having some of the nicest amenities within the category while still being easy on your wallet. And on our recent stay at their location in downtown Tokyo’s Korakuen neighborhood, we spent the night in one of their extra-affordable Global Cabin rooms.

▼ Dormy Inn Korakuen

The Global Cabin rooms are sort of like Dormy Inn’s take on a capsule hotel. But whereas in a capsule hotel you essentially get just a shelf-like body-sized sleeping compartment, Global Cabin gives you your own private room.

After checking in at the front desk, you can grab a tooth brush, hair brush, shaving razor, and cotton swabs before making your way to the Global Cabin area. There are separate areas for men and women, with 28 men’s rooms and 14 women’s.

Stepping into the men’s area, we found ourselves in a clean carpeted hallway with pulled partitions instead of conventional doors for the rooms.

The partitions don’t lock, so when we got to our cabin, 235, we let ourselves in.

The room’s layout is simple but tidy. There’s a desk with enough room to set up a laptop, a wall-mounted rack with hangers to hang up your clothes, a lockbox to store your valuables in, and a short ladder that leads up to the sleeping space.

There’s no shower or toilet, but that’s really not a problem. Inside the Global Cabin area is a restroom area and a row of sinks for grooming…

…and all guests of the hotel, including those staying in the Global Cabin rooms, have access to the facility’s awesome Japanese-style communal baths.

▼ Entrance to the men’s bath

Some other great Dormy Inn amenities, which, again, are offered to Global Cabin guests too, include free popsicles after you get out of the bath…

…free half-size late-night ramen snacks served between 9:30 and 11 p.m. …

…and a pretty nice laundry setup.

Bathed and fed, we decided it was time for bed and climbed up into our sleeping space.

Sure, the view may not be much, but we’d have our eyes closed soon anyway, and there’s even an extra shade you can pull down to shut out ambient light.

After sleeping soundly, we got up early and hit the bath again, where this time there were complimentary yogurt-y beverages.

At 6,300 yen (US$46), our Global Cabin wasn’t the absolute cheapest place to spend a night in Tokyo. But considering the location (Dormy Inn Korakuen is close to Tokyo Dome and within walking distance of stations that give you access to five different train and subway lines, the Chuo-Sobu, Mita, Marunouchi, Namboku, and Oedo lines) and its amenities, it felt like a great deal to us. Oh, and as an added perk, while it’s not free, staying at the hotel gives you access to its amazing breakfast buffet…