Review: Tokyu Stay Hotel in East Shinjuku

Another review on hotels in Japan. I stayed at the same hotel that I stayed at the first time I was in Tokyo. But this time I stayed at the new branch that opened in east Shinjuku instead. I really like the Shinjuku area because of all the department stores and shopping malls nearby, especially on the east side of Shinjuku. There's Lumine 1 & 2, Lumine EST, My Lord, Bic Camera, Uniqlo, Yodobashi Camera, Don Quiote, Marui City, Isetan and more. Also, I like how at the Shinjuku JR station, there are many trains and train lines that run through the station so it makes it even more convenient to get around to places in Tokyo and outside of Tokyo. Although sometimes it could feel quite overwhelming trying to figure out which exit to take because the station is so big and feels like you're in a huge maze. 

  
The new branch is located in the central of east Shinjuku. It opened in 2015 so it's still fairly new and it even has a bar/restaurant right next to the hotel. 

I stayed at a two beds room this time and layout of the room is pretty much like their other branch in west Shinjuku. I really like the small mirror table with the chair which makes doing your makeup and hair in the morning so convenient. And you have everything you need with a microwave, kettle, washer/dryer and even hangers to hang your clothes.

New York Trip: Holiday Inn Express Hotel

It feels like it's been sooooo long since I last blogged...2.5 weeks?! That's probably the longest time that I have not blogged for since I started this blog. I sincerely apologize for the lack of blogging and updates. I've been busy since my work contract ended trying to find a new job. I applied to like 20+ jobs in the past 2 weeks and so far no luck in getting any replies back yet. Then I left for my New York trip from August 15-18th and I actually just got back home yesterday morning at 8:30am. So I was super tired as I didn't sleep the entire night before since I had to leave my hotel to go to the airport at 2am in the morning and got there around 3:30am and waited half an hour to get checked in and go through security and it was just brutal! The first thing I did after I got home was eat some food and SLEEP FOR THE ENTIRE DAY!!! Sleeping on my own bed has never felt so good before. 

Anyway, for my first New York trip post I just wanted to talk about the hotel I stayed at which was a pretty awesome hotel by the way. Great location in downtown of Manhattan at Madison Square Garden where I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel located on 232 W 29th Street. It was really close to Times Square...just about 2 subway stations away!

And since I failed to take any pictures of the actual hotel while I was there, I had to search for these pictures from google. But I can assure the hotel looked exactly like what it was in these pictures. I really hate it when hotels post really unrealistic fancy photos of the to make it look somewhat attractive and it's like the complete opposite when you go there. But these pictures are actually what the hotel look like when you see in person. 

A day and night view of the front of the hotel. I like how there's a patio where you can sit outside. 

Our hotel room and the bath room. We got a 2 queen size bed room with 3 people and we each took turns to sleep on a bed entirely alone for the 3 nights that we stayed there.

The cafeteria where we had our breakfast buffet. It was included in our hotel fee so breakfast was free. One of the best hotel breakfast I ever had where they actually served you real breakfast food! Everything from pancakes, muffins, bagels, bread, omelettes, bacon, hot dogs, yogurt, fruits. There was actually quite a wide selection of food to eat. Also coffee and tea was served all day! We actually stole some snack food like yogurt, bananas, apples and muffins to take out with us in case we get hungry throughout day and we wanted something to munch on, lol. Hey it's free so why not make use of it, right? XD 

There was also a free gym facility and computers with printers. We didn't use much of these facilities because we almost never got back to the hotel every night until past 11pm, lol. 

Overall it was a pretty good experience at the hotel and I'd definitely go back to stay there again. I'd rate this hotel a 4 star! A really clean and nice hotel at a great location too right in the downtown area. I'd also highly recommend it to anyone who plans to visit New York City. =)