Hotel Review: Sotetsu Fresa Inn Yokohama Totsuka

Hotel Review: Sotetsu Fresa Inn Yokohama Totsuka

Recently on my trip to Japan, I decided to stay here because I needed a central location for all my Tokyo excursions. I had a hotel for staying in Tokyo, but felt it'd be too much of a stretch to explore the other cities in the region from my Tokyo hotel, while all the other cities I wanted to see didn't really merit me staying there more than a night. I booked Sotetsu Fresa Inn Yokohama Totsuka to stay in as a base for me to visit:
-Yokohama
-Kamakura
-Hakone Circuit

The hotel is too far from Tokyo to be used as a base for exploring Tokyo, but its in a perfect location to explore the above mentioned cities. So initially, my reason for booking this location was influenced by location as well as price. The price was around $90 per night, but the quality I perceived was that of a property costing around $160 per night.

The check-in staff at the front desk was very helpful. They provided me with maps and made recommendations after taking the time to find out what exactly I was interested in seeing. They even gave my wife and I umbrellas to use when we went to Yokohama. I thought that was a nice personal touch. They had a little trouble finding my reservation when checking in, but considering I booked in an unusual way using points, that is to be expected. Room service was prompt and did a thorough job cleaning the room each day. Didn't bother with the breakfast, but it looked like a high quality western-style breakfast.

The location was really convenient, but better to be regarded as a base to explore the region, rather than a hotel to explore the surrounding area. The hotel was located just outside the Totsuka train station, which is a major station with lines going everywhere. In and around the train station were plenty of department stores and a full grocery store. The grocery store had plenty of hot packaged meals, which was really convenient when you wanted something quick, decent, and cheap! There's not much of major significance in the immediate area surrounding the hotel. The area surrounding the hotel was totally safe and well populated. You needed a key card to access the different floors, which added to security. I had a pretty good view of the city from my hotel room.

The room felt very clean, but it felt modern and clean. It wasn't a large hotel room by American standards, but it was a very smart use of space. The furniture was in good condition and the bed was VERY comfortable! I liked having all the controls for everything in the room right next to the bed. Didn't watch any television, but it worked fine. The room had a small refrigerator as well, but no microwave. The room had a nice view of the city. The hotel corridors were quiet and the window prevented any outside noise from coming in. One cool feature was heated mirrors, which prevents the mirror from fogging up during a shower. The wi-fi was only accessible in the lobby, but the room had ethernet LAN ports. This was not a huge deal for me since I travel with a travel router (TP-LINK TL-WR702N) which basically makes your own Wi-Fi network from a LAN cable. You'll need this as wifi in Japan hotels isn't very common, but LAN is for some reason.

This hotel is more of a business hotel, but given that I used it as a base for all my excursions, I was exhausted by the time I'd get back to the hotel anyways. Overall, I was very pleased with my stay at this hotel and felt that it was a pretty good value for the money.

For more reviews & hotel photos:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g298173-d1869646-Reviews-Sotetsu_Fresa_Inn_Yokohama_Totsuka-Yokohama_Kanagawa_Prefecture_Kanto.html