Ochanomizu Hotel Shoryukan

Tokyo can be wonderfully relentless, which makes the Ochanomizu Hotel Shoryukan a useful place to come back to. You get a choice between Japanese-style rooms with tatami flooring and futon mats or rooms arranged around Western beds, along with air conditioning, a private bathroom and a flat-screen TV. It is a three-star city hotel, not a resort pretending to be one; its appeal lies in giving you a proper base in central Tokyo and a few good ways to slow the evening down.

The public bath, sauna and massage facilities matter more here than a long list of decorative extras. You can wash off the city, sit down for a while and let your legs recover before heading out again. Later, the jazz bar adds music and drinks without requiring another expedition through the streets. That is a sensible rhythm for a diving trip: practical room, Japanese breakfast, easy transport and somewhere to decompress.

You are in central Tokyo, in Ochanomizu, with Ochanomizu Station around 600 metres away. Jinbocho Subway Station is 500 metres from the hotel, while Ogawamachi Metro Station is roughly 400 metres away and Shin-Ochanomizu is about 700 metres away. Tokyo Station and Akihabara are reachable directly from Ochanomizu Station in around five minutes, while the subway gives you direct links towards Shibuya and Shinjuku.

The Imperial Palace is about 1 km away, and the nearby streets give you plenty of reasons to leave the hotel hungry: Yabusen, a Japanese restaurant, is around 200 metres away; a Chinese restaurant is about 250 metres away; and an Italian restaurant is roughly 250 metres away. You also have cafés and bars within about 250 metres. Odaiba Beach is 4.2 miles away, so this is firmly a city base rather than a seaside address.

For something quieter between outings, Kinka Park is around 450 metres away, while the Meiji University Museum and several small historic sites are within about 500 metres. Shinobazu Pond is roughly 1.5 miles away. Tokyo does not do empty space particularly well, but this location gives you a good spread of trains, food, museums and short walks.

The room choice is really a choice of travelling style. If you want the Japanese side of the trip rather than another anonymous city bedroom, the Japanese-style rooms bring tatami flooring and futon mats; the standard Japanese-style room sleeps up to three, while the larger deluxe version sleeps up to five and adds an open-air bath. That is the one to look at when you want the room itself to be part of the Tokyo experience, or when several people need more room to spread out.

Couples can choose between Western beds and futons, with twin rooms giving you separate single beds and double rooms keeping things more compact. Solo divers have single-room options, including an economy Japanese-style room. The smaller double rooms are genuinely compact, so they suit a pair travelling light rather better than two people arriving with half a dive locker each.

All rooms are air-conditioned and have a private bathroom with a Western-style toilet, shower or bath, towels, slippers, toiletries, a hairdryer and bidet. A refrigerator is useful for keeping water cold, while the seating area and desk give you somewhere to sit or sort out the next day's plans. Wi-Fi is available throughout the property, with wired internet in some rooms, and daily housekeeping keeps the practical side of the stay under control.

Breakfast is Japanese-style and served from 07:30 to 09:30. That is a workable start for a morning when you want something more substantial than coffee before setting off, and the fixed window gives the day a clear beginning rather than leaving you to negotiate Tokyo on an empty stomach. The hotel's restaurant is focused on breakfast rather than presenting itself as an all-day dining operation.

There is one bar: a jazz bar serving drinks in the evening. It gives you somewhere to sit with music after dinner, without turning the hotel into a nightlife venue. A coffee house is also on site, and a drinks vending machine covers the less romantic but occasionally more useful requirement of finding something cold without going back out.

For other meals, you are not boxed in by the hotel. Japanese, Chinese and Italian restaurants are all within roughly 200 to 250 metres, with cafés and bars nearby as well. You can therefore take breakfast in-house, then choose between the hotel bar and the surrounding neighbourhood when the evening appetite arrives.

The public bath is the main reason to stay in rather than simply sleep here. It is open daily from 15:00 until 09:00 the following morning, giving you a broad window for a soak whether you return early or wander back late. The on-site sauna adds another way to warm up and unwind, although the sensible approach is to judge that according to how much energy you have left in the tank.

Massage options include full-body, back, neck, hand and foot massage, with a massage chair also available. After a long day moving around Tokyo, the chair is the low-ceremony option: sit down, press the button and let the machinery make its case. A shared lounge and TV area offer somewhere beyond your room to pause, while board games and puzzles give travelling companions something simple to do without organising another outing.

The surrounding area supplies the rest of the programme. You can walk to nearby parks, museums, monuments and historic sites, or take the nearby railway and metro lines across the city. The hotel works particularly well when your idea of an activity is a bath, a meal and an early night—an entirely respectable itinerary.

Check-in runs from 15:00 and check-out is by 10:00. You need to tell the hotel your expected arrival time in advance, which is worth arranging before you start navigating Tokyo with luggage and a phone battery that has seen better days. The front desk is open around the clock, and luggage storage is available.

Tokyo Haneda Airport is about 14 miles away, while Narita International Airport is roughly 34 miles away. The hotel is around 600 metres from Ochanomizu Station and close to several metro stations, so rail access is a central part of the practical case for choosing this address. Public parking is available nearby, and a lift serves the upper floors.

Children of any age are welcome, but cots and extra beds are not available, so the selected room needs to work with the beds already in it. Pets are not allowed. Payment is by cash. The public bathing areas may not be available to guests with tattoos, and that restriction can also apply to other public facilities where tattoos are visible.