May’s place is a lovely warm home to have as a base for visiting Tokyo.
From the outset, communication has been great, with very rapid responses to our queries. Their hospitality was received with gratitude when May told us that she would meet us at the Shinjuku station and transfer us by taxi to the home about 5 minutes away. I was a bit anxious as to whether this would happen, because we were traveling as a family of 8, with one big piece of luggage and a daypack each! Anyway, she gave us clear instructions regarding the exit we should head to when disembarking the train, and despite delays due to the cancellation of our Narita Express and subsequent use of the Keisei Skyliner, there she was at the station exit, waiting patiently for us in the cold....We were very grateful to see her, after a long flight and rail trip.
It was a bitterly cold Tokyo night and when we arrived at the house, it was already warm and heated up very quickly with the heaters being turned on. After some minor instructions, May was off, and we settled into the lovely place.
Within a couple of minutes’ walk are a number of convenience stores, and more importantly, a 24-hour Ramen joint called Matsuyas just a block away. We went there at 10pm, hungry and tired from the journey.
The house has enough room for all 8 in the living and dining areas.
Not mentioned in the listing description was the much welcomed coffee percolator. We had brought some coffee and bagged ground coffee is readily available at the nearby convenience stores.
Also a helpful thing for our young adults was that a number of beds had USB ports at the headboard.
The washing machine also dries, so with May’s instructions, it was just pushing a couple of buttons and all the laundry set at night was ready the next morning.
There are two showers right next to each other off the laundry room, water pressure is good even with both running.
The hot water control panel for the house is in the kitchen beside the humongous sink. Took us a cold shriek to figure that one out.
That loud shriek was the only noise we heard the whole time as it is very quiet despite its proximity to the main Shinjuku area.
The location of May’s place is great because once you have sorted a subway ticket for multiple rides, all of Tokyo is yours. The nearest subway is just over a block away. I would recommend downloading the Tokyo Metro app to plan routes with.
Within walking distance is the Tokyo Metropolitan Building from which you can start your Tokyo visit with a view of the breadth of this city.
So, this house and May’s hospitality made it really easy for us. The use of a portable WiFi unit when out and about was a great help.
We would certainly use May’s place again and highly recommend it.