It Can Be Done: Recreating The Japanese Budget Hotel Experience In The US

October 19, 2012 at 9:41 AM | by ASchechter | Comments (0)

We've had our fair share of Japanese hotel adventures, though we never quite tire of hearing about the country's unique taste in budget accommodations. Starting at around $38/night, these places are ideal if you have little cash to spare but need more than just a washing machine-sized capsule.

RocketNews has put together a handy list of the best amenities offered at Japanese budget hotels, explaining in 26 concise bullet points all the useful little extras that get thrown in, like free internet, free toiletries, free water, hand-written notes from housekeepers, pillow menus, origami souvenirs, and air purifiers. Oh yeah, and high-tech toilets.

Which got us thinking...where in the US can we find similar types of amenities?

· Free water is one of the first items listed, and while it's true that you can always just stick a glass under the faucet and drink up, Starwood offers an assortment of free water bottles (Fiji, Nestle, Smart Water) to its SPG members. Meanwhile, hydration snobs should also check out the Shore Hotel in Santa Monica, CA, which has a nifty water bottle fountain; and the Club Lounge at Grand Hyatt New York has a special purified water dispenser with not one, not two, but three spigots.

And let's not forget about the fancy pants "Ritz water" we've been spotting recently.

· As far as hand-written notes from housekeepers? Eh, that's a tough one. Though we certainly enjoyed the personalized stationary that was waiting for us when we checked into the Mandarin Oriental San Francisco last year. We also loved this story of Kimpton welcoming a guest with free candy and a humorous hand-written note gently denying the guest's request for a bathtub full of candy.

· Happen to be in need of an air purifier? Well, you'd best book a stay at Boston's XV Beacon, where all rooms are hypo-allergenic and come fitted out with ViraTech UV-400 advanced air purification systems. Meanwhile, Hyatt is a good, reliable brand when it comes to clean-air rooms, as they launched their airborne-bacteria-eliminating Respire Rooms back in 2010.

· High-tech toilet lovers should check out the following hotels: The J House in Greenwich, CT; and LA's Hotel Bel-Air and the Peninsula Beverly Hills.

· And finally....free internet? Well, you'd probably do best just taking a browse through our most recent annual WiFi report. We trust you'll find everything you're looking for right in there.

[Photos: HotelChatter]

HotelChatter

Select a Destination:

Hotel Amenities / Japan Hotels / Hotel Toilets / Hotel Stationery / Hotel Water / Starwood Hotels / Boston Hotels / Los Angeles Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Hyatt Hotels / Pure Hotels / Hotel Bathrooms / Hotel WiFi / → All Tags