This was definitely a home away from home for us in Tokyo. Excellent facilities, great location and great hostess. As we comprises of 2 young families totaling to 4 adults and 4 kids under 6 years old, we had to be very careful in choosing a place to stay, as some places are very particular about noise levels and activities done by the tenant as such. As it is, this place accepted that and what an experience we had. Let me give a blow by blow account to our Minowa home for 9 days in early March. 1. Location This apartment is literally 20 steps away from the Minowa Subway Station. Minowa is kinda on the quiet side of Tokyo, more like a place to go home to after a hard day's work in the city. We see many workers commuting to work from Minowa every day, taking the subway. From this stop, it is straight to the popular spots of Ueno, Akihabara, Tsukiji and Roppongi through the same Hibiya subway line. Going to other places is also quite easy, as this line is interlinked to other lines too. Our apartment is at the middle level of a 3 level building - the first floor is a Chinese Restaurant, and the top floor is where the hostess lives with her family. We can hardly hear the restaurant operating throughout the day (or it could be us making too much noise that we don't hear others anymore huhu). The entrance to the apartment is thru a side door, so we don't come across the restaurant anyways. Just across the building is a decent size supermarket which sells fresh produce and all kinds of foods - which is perfect since we cook meals everyday to feed 8 hungry people. Other than that there are several izakiyas (japanese pub) along the street, but still a very quiet neighbourhood, I would say. 2. Facilities This place, even though small, has all you will ever need for a very independent stay in Tokyo. We have TV, fridge, stove with complete cooking facilities, washer/dryer, wifi, microwave oven, convection oven, hairdryer, automatic bidet, water kettle, vacuum cleaner, you name it. 6 futons were provided, enough for everyone. Even though there is only 1 bedroom, the owner has boxed up the apartment so as to provide more space, literally creating another room for hanging out, and a convenient nook for 3 big luggage that also operates as our closet. In terms of peripherals, let me list down the items prepared by our hostess throughout the stay, at least the ones that I remember - towels, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, facewash, fruit juice, small japanese tidbits, maps to everywhere in Tokyo. 3. Great Hostess I didn't have the opportunity to be directly acquainted with the hostess, as my brother who speaks Japanese handled this end. She was a very welcoming hostess, in fact we are quite embarrassed that us with the 4 kids may have caused her so much...