My partner and I stayed here for 6 nights in October. We arrived at the Asakusa View Hotel after 16 hours travelling and were delighted to find it even better than described in the other reviews here. As you come in through the door – helped by uniformed porters and doormen – the Mimosa café is directly in front of you. Our room wasn’t ready when we arrived (around 12:00) so we enjoyed a relaxing coffee there before going up to the room on the 20th floor. There are 6 good-sized quick lifts and we never needed to wait long for one to arrive. To the left of the café (which is fronted by a French-themed patisserie counter – you have to try the green cake for a real fusion of French and Japanese tastes!) is the small hotel shop and a couple of internet terminals. Immediately to the right of the café don’t miss the portable shrine. Further to the right of the lobby are the Reception and Information desks. Throughout our 6-day stay we enjoyed friendly and courteous service from all the hotel staff.

We weren’t on the recommended west side of the hotel but still enjoyed good views eastwards across to Shinjuku through the floor-to-ceiling bay window. Look out for the giant ‘Maneki Neko’ (waving cat) sculpture on one of the nearby buildings. The room was a smoking room (the hotel isn’t 100% non-smoking by any means) and good size by any standards, with a queen size bed. Wardrobe space was a little tight but there’s a chest of drawers too and plenty of floor space for cases. In addition there’s a narrow console table, a desk, and a small table with 2 armchairs in the window bay. The bathroom was fine, not palatial but no smaller than in most London hotels. The slippers are in the wardrobe and traditional yukata robes in the chest of drawers. If you’re a fan of baths rather than showers you may find the bath small. As other have mentioned the TV may have plenty of channels but unless you speak Japanese you’ll be restricted in your viewing to CNN and one of the Japanese stations that shows a daily English-language film.

However, you’d need to be crazy to want to sit around watching TV with Asakusa on your doorstep. This is a fascinating low-rise part of Tokyo, criss-crossed by streets packed with small specialist shops and restaurants. You can get to the Senso-ji temple in 5 minutes; all around the temple you’ll find specialists dealing in fabrics, kimonos, fans, umbrellas – you name it, there’s probably a shop specialising in it. Further south near the Tawaramachi subway station [Ginza line] you’ll find shops selling religious goods (e.g. Buddhist and Shinto household shrines) and you’re near the Kappabashi “Kitchen City” as well. The Post Office (where the ATMs accept foreign bank cards) is right beside Tawaramachi subway station

If you walk 5 minutes further west from Senso-ji you’ll find the Asakusa station [Tobu line] for trains to the opulent historic shrines at Nikko (c. 2 hours). Further south along the riverbank is the Asakusa waterbus terminal for river ferries – we went to the first stop at the lovely Hama Rikyu gardens but you can continue all the way to the harbour. And the river bus terminal is very near the Asakusa subway station [Asakusa line] where Asakusa-Dori meets the river Sumida. (BTW the multiplicity of stations called ‘Asakusa’ is confusing – sadly the one nearest the hotel is the least useful, being almost the end of the Tsukuba suburban rail line; the Asakusa subway station [Ginza line] is not too far from the Kaminari-mon or Thunder Gate of the temple).

Back to the hotel: there are 5 restaurants– French and Chinese on the top floors, two Japanese on the 6th floor, and the Café de Kapiten on the ground floor. We tried the sushi restaurant on the 6th and the de Kapiten on our first and last nights, respectively. Both were fine – the de Kapiten is less atmospheric and cheaper. I would say however that you will eat as well or better for less outside the hotel. You’re spoilt for choice – we enjoyed the Korean (barbecue) ‘Hon Jin’ across the road and the sushi restaurant only yards away on the same side of the road (just go out, turn right and it’s less than a minute away). Minibar prices are expensive but the hotel shop is not, or for a wider selection of non-alcoholic drinks there’s a streetside vending machine near the sushi place I mentioned above.

My partner is disabled and walks with the help of a stick or 3-wheeler walking aid. The Asakusa View presented no problems whatsoever – probably the easiest hotel we’ve ever stayed in. And the surrounding area was also a blessing, with many interesting sights only moments from the hotel for those days when we didn’t feel like being energetic.

As a final tip, if arriving with Narita with heavy bags, go to the luggage delivery service counters on the ground floor and for a reasonable price they will take your bags and deliver them to your hotel. We dropped 2 cases off at 11:00 for re-delivery between 16:00 and 20:00 at a cost of c. £15 ($30). This made the trip by Keizei train to Ueno station very easy indeed (trains accessible from ground floor of airport); the taxi from Ueno to the hotel cost maybe £8 ($16) or you can get the subway 2 stops to Tawaramachi [Ginza line] and walk up Nishiasakusa to the hotel. Returning to the airport you need to send your bags the day before if using the luggage delivery service; the hotel can arrange this.

Whilst I would agree that the staff are friendly, I would stress that, in our experience, they are no more so than in rest of Japan. I would therefore consider the reviews below to be misleading.

I would consider the hotel to be a little tired/dated - the room we had was a bit '80s. The worst thing about it was the nicotine stained ceiling. It was supposed to be a non-smoking hotel.

If you desperately want to stay in Asakusa, this is an ok option. However I wouldn't go out of my way to stay there.

I agree with the past few reviews about this hotel .The staff were very polite and helpful especially the concierge lady who couldn't do enough for us .The room was clean and comfortable (if a little 1970's in decor) .We only ate breakfast in the hotel which was a buffet with a range of Western and japanese breakfasts .
We felt very safe walking around the area and commuted in to the centre of Tokyo by subway.A good supermarket next door where we stocked up on wine for our room ! There is a bar at the top of the hotel which i think is supposed to be for members but the concierge just gave us tickets for it although the drinks were a little on the pricey side .

Stayed 4 nights at the Asakusa View Hotel at the beginning of May on my first trip to Tokyo. Having booked through Expedia and benefiting from an excellent price I was expecting a standard 3 star hotel.

But as my taxi pulled up I was pleasantly surprised, as I was met by a smart hotel porter and ushered into a gleaming and spotless reception hall. First impressions do count and the welcome and courtesy showed by the porter and reception staff were gratefully welcomed after a long flight from London.

Throughout my stay I can not fault any staff member how were so polite and professional throughout, especially the reception manager who was especially helpful. All the staff speak English which was a relief as my Japanese consists of 4 words.

Room on the 11th floor, spotless if a little tired but great view out onto the Senso Ji Temple and beyond. Bed very comfortable, bathroom small but manageable with a heated toilet seat and double action bidet. Only gripe was the only English language channel TV in room was the dreadful CNN.

Ate once in the hotel at the Cafe de Kapiten which was pleasant, good service but meal nothing special. Lots of good restaurants and bars around on the other side of the road in front of the hotel. Very safe and colourful area. Hotel has a supermarket next door and a few minutes down the street a 7-11, and a Rox department store with basement foodhall. Ideal for stocking up with goodies and could purchase a breakfast consisting of a drink, cake and sandwich all for less of the price of a fruit juice on the hotel menu.

Nice cake shop in the hotel lobby, little cafe behind expensive (£5 for a cup of coffee) other shops in the hotels shopping centre naff. Most guests here at the hotel seem to be Japanese or from mainland Asia, I think I was the only European which was refreshing.

Caught the Keisei Skyliner from Narita Airport to Ueno Station on arrival and then a taxi to the hotel (about £10) Going back if your not weighed down with luggage then I would recommend the 10 minute walk down to Tawaramachi Station and take the subway to Ueno Station ( about 70p)