Tama Ryokan

This was a very interesting place to stay in Tokyo. First off, it was somebody's house who they turned into an inn. I believe they live in the downstairs portion. On their website they said there were 4 rooms total. When I stayed there with my group of friends we occupied 3 of those rooms. I'm pretty sure they had even more rooms then that though since I saw at least 6 other people staying there (at least two other groups)while I was there too. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem but they only have 2 toilets and one shower stall. So depending on what time you shower,  you could have a long wait. I do have to admit though that their shower stall was very spacious. Another odd fact is that they don't have locks on their doors! No lock on the front door and no locks for each of the individual rooms. The innkeeper kept insisting that "Tokyo is very safe" though and I have to admit while we were staying there there were no problems but it just feels weird not to have locked doors! Also, they have two cats that they let roam around. Several times, one of the cats would open our sliding doors itself and come into our room in the middle of the night and lay on our bed! My bf hates cats so that really bothered him. We also found what we believe to be cat poop (we were sure it was poop but it seemed a bit too big to be a cat's) in the hallway!!!! Probably the only redeeming factor of this place is that it is very conveniently located. It is very close to subway stations and only a few stops from Shibuya, Harajuku, and Shinjuku. Overall, I would not stay here again.

Pros: The location is excellent, it's right near shopping, restaurants, etc. The fact that you can get a private froom in that spot for such a low price is pretty amazing. Reservations are simple and they speak English. The rooms are lovely; it was really hot when I stayed there but the air conditioner kept my room very cool. The bedding, bathrooms, etc were clean and my room was very quiet. It's a great place to stay if you want the feel of a Japanese tatami room without the annoyance of communal bathing or the expense of meals you might not want.

Cons: It's true about the doors not locking. It does seem pretty safe but I wouldn't stay there if you need to leave a laptop or something valuable in the room. The owners are a little too casual sometimes, I arrived at the time I said I would, but my room wasn't ready at all. The cats are well-behaved and didn't enter my room, but if you are allergic or hate cats then this really isn't the place for you. It's an older building maintained by a family, it is not a crisp neat hotel where everything is 100% perfect.

Overall: I would definitely stay there again. I'd recommend it for laid back people who want to save some money. It fills a comfortable niche between a hostel and a full-service hotel. I wish there were more accomodations like this in Japan.

It's hard to believe that Girl Robot stayed at the same ryokan as I did. Tama Ryokan is a very cheap accommodation option by Tokyo standards, especially when considering its location, its traditionnal Japanese rooms, and the hosts' good knowledge of English. So obviously expecting private showers is out of the question.

During my stay I found the ryokan to be clean, cute, and very easy to get to. The hosts were very friendly and made every guest feel at home. I would stay there again anytime. And yes there was a cat walking around when I was there, but it was clean and didn't venture in the guests' rooms.