Tokyo is not really a city so much as a network of them, joined by the best public transport system in the world. Choosing a neighbourhood is therefore less about proximity — everywhere is close — and more about which version of Tokyo you want to walk out into at eight in the morning and eleven at night.
Shinjuku: the default, for good reason
Every line stops here, the airport buses terminate here, and the area runs twenty-four hours. It is loud, dense and slightly overwhelming, which is either the appeal or the problem. Stay on the west side near the government buildings for quieter nights and the same station access.
Shibuya: young, late and central
Best if this is your first Tokyo and you want the crossing, the record shops, the department-store food halls and a short walk home at two in the morning. Rooms are smaller and cost more per square metre than almost anywhere else.
Ginza and Marunouchi: quiet, adult, well connected
Ginza empties at night, which some people love. You are ten minutes from Tokyo Station, close to the Imperial Palace gardens for morning runs, and surrounded by the city’s best department stores. This is where to stay if you are combining Tokyo with day trips by shinkansen.
In Tokyo, the ten minutes you save on the train matter far less than the street you step onto when you leave the hotel.
Asakusa and Yanaka: the older city
Low buildings, temple grounds, small shops, and a river. Asakusa is touristed by day and genuinely quiet by night. Yanaka, twenty minutes north, is one of the few areas that survived both the earthquake and the war, and it feels it. Both are further from the nightlife and closer to a version of Tokyo that is disappearing.
Shimokitazawa and Nakameguro: the local option
Second-hand shops, small live venues, canal-side coffee and almost no chain restaurants. You are a short train from the centre and living in a residential neighbourhood, which after a few days starts to feel considerably better than living in a destination.
Practical notes on Tokyo hotels
- Rooms are small. A “double” is frequently 14 square metres. Check the stated size, not the star rating.
- Business hotels are excellent value and immaculately run. Do not dismiss them.
- Ask which station exit the hotel is nearest. Shinjuku has more than two hundred, and this is not a joke.
- A ryokan night is worth building into a Tokyo trip even if the rest is modern hotels.
Whichever you choose, you will spend less time in the room than you expect and more time on the train than you planned. Pick the neighbourhood you want to eat breakfast in, and the rest sorts itself out.