You get more than you pay for with Daisuke’s wonderful apartment, which I think says a lot. It is one of the more expensive apartments listed in Tokyo but from the moment my boyfriend and I arrived to when we left, to say we were satisfied would be an understatement. I’d like to start off with the great hospitality we received while staying at Flower Hill Meguro. There are staff members that work for Daisuke in the building so if we ever needed anything all we had to do was send them a message via the Airbnb app. Also, the day we were checking out a typhoon was set to hit Tokyo so there was quite heavy rainfall in the area. We had over 7 bags and were planning to just bear with it to the station (since it’s just a 4-minute walk away) but Daisuke and his staff immediately greeted us at the entrance and said they could call a taxi for us. On top of that, Daisuke made sure that the taxi driver gave us the best deal we could so that all our bags could fit inside (something my boyfriend and I had trouble speaking up about because we didn’t want to burden the driver). I believe we received the utmost level of Japanese hospitality while at Daisuke’s place which is why we definitely plan to return regardless of the price.
Now to say a little about the apartment. It had wonderful furnishings from MUJI which I honestly wanted to buy for myself once I returned home, especially the down blankets that were so fluffy and warm. The apartment was also sparkling clean and one of the great things about it was that we were allowed to throw away our trash freely every day. If you have ever lived or visited Tokyo you might know that certain trash (burnable garbage, recyclables, etc.) have very strict rules about when they should be thrown out. This building has a special rule/room where you can take your garbage every day and not have to worry about those small details, which was very nice and relaxing. The shower and air conditioning system worked really well but if you don’t understand Japanese, they might be a little tricky to work at first (that staff does explain things the first night you arrive though). The balcony is also very wide and spacious with a place to smoke if you need it. Location wise it is one of the best places you could stay on the Yamanote line. It’s in a suburb area of Tokyo so it’s close to the popular tourist sites you can visit (Harajuku and Shibuya are less than an 8-minute train ride away) but if you just want to hang around the area there are really interesting things as well (Amazon’s Japan office branch is just a minute walk away from the building and also next to the nearest convenience store if you need any necessities or a late-night snack).
For dog lovers, this place is wonderful. I had my small Shih Tzu with me, and she really enjoyed the apartment and the local neighborhood. Daisuke does ask you that if you are going out for the day to not leave your pet in the apartment unattended though, so it would be good to look up babysitting places in the area (there is one I used that’s just a 10-minute walk from the apartment and was around 3000 yen or $30 USD for 6 hours). Another great thing was that Daisuke didn’t have any other strict rules for pets besides that. Other apartments I had looked around at on Airbnb didn’t allow dogs to enter certain rooms or even sleep on the bed, which was a big problem for me. There was an extra pet fee I had to pay separately the first night I arrived (around $40 USD) so if you bring your pet be prepared for that as well.
I could go on for ages about how much I enjoyed the place, especially all the new renovations that Daisuke and his staff have made, but I truly think if you are looking for a relaxing, lush yet local experience in Tokyo, Daisuke’s place is definitely for you!