This summer, visitors to Tokyo find themselves struggling with an oppressive heatwave. But one hotel is trying to provide a respite for its guests by offering free beer while they enjoy the “quirky Japanese experience” of the capsule hotel.
Tokyo (dpa) – The Tokyo phenomenon of tiny windowless hotel bedrooms, prompted by the city’s high prices, have long been a budget means of accommodation for tourists.
But the city’s newest “luxury capsule hotel,” which opened in March in one of the most trendiest areas of the capital, is hoping to attract budget travellers with free beer before they retire to tiny, futuristically designed bedrooms roughly the width of a mattress.
The free drink offered by the Millennials hotel in Shibuya district also goes a long way for a budget traveller staying near Tokyo’s vibrant Koen-Dori avenue, an area lined with cafes, restaurants, boutique shops and department stores, where a beer costs roughly 6 or 7 dollars.
Jack Fenby, a recent visitor from Australia, said he had booked a room just before his arrival in Japan, but he did not know the hotel offers free beer to guests one hour a day. “Lovely!” Fenby said. “We Australians always like to drink beer.”
Tokyo-based developer Global Agents opened the Millennials Shibuya, hoping that the hotel brings “everyone’s favourite ‘quirky Japanese experience’ to a whole new level,” it said.
In July 2017, Global Agents opened the Kyoto Millennials, the first of its kind, in the ancient capital of Kyoto, the most popular destination among overseas tourists.
Both Kyoto and Shibuya hotels offer free beer for their guests throughout the year.
About 70 per cent of those who stay at the Millennials Shibuya are non-Japanese, while the ratio is around 80 per cent at the Millennials Kyoto, company spokeswoman Yukie Yoshida said.
Takehiko Kambayashi 