Ark Hotel Tokyo

This is a wonderful hotel, catering to the business executive trade. Although very close to a major freeway and road, it is very quiet. The RCI-provided directions are awful. The last sentence reads "Go out the East entrance of Ikebukuro Station and walk 6 minutes". There are 3 major roads converging on that spot, as well as 4 smaller roads. What you want to do is follow the crowd through Sunshine 60 Kai (Sunshine 60 Way), which is a pedestrian mall on Sundays. Go to the end of the Sunshine 60 Kai, and cross under the freeway. Turn left at the Libro Bookstore, and go past the East Ikebukuro Hospital. Ark Hotel Tokyo is nextdoor. If you aren't willing to brave the crowd, There is a taxi stand to your right. Your taxi driver may need to call the hotel for directions, so have the phone number handy.

There is lots to do in this area. Sunshine 60 Kai is wall-to-wall with shops, resturants, Depatos, and Pachinko halls. The base of the Sunshine 60 building is a shopping mall and convention center. Beware of the tiles surrounding the Sunshine 60 building, as I slipped on them when they were dry, and saw several people fall on them when wet: Beautiful archetecturally, but lethal in practice.

Access is either Ikebukuro Station (Yamanote Line JR; Marunouchi, Yurakucho subway lines) or Higashi-Ikebukuro (Yurakucho subway line). The main station is very crowded, and you'll have to fight the crowd to get there and back, but Higashi-Ikebukuro isn't as crowded, and is the same distance from the hotel. When you arrive at the hotel, ask for a copy of the Ikebukuro Town Guide. It is entirely in Japanese, but the map itself is very valuable.

I loved my stay at the Ark Hotel Tokyo and would gladly go there again. Everything was first class.