APA Hotel Iidabashi Ekimae

On our Tokyo autumn-foliage list, APA Hotel Iidabashi Ekimae is the pick that stands on location alone — it sits a short walk from Koishikawa Korakuen, one of the oldest Japanese gardens in Tokyo, and it's a smart-value pick for a trip built around keeping costs down and seeing the maples first thing each morning.

Rooms and decor

This is an APA-chain business hotel, so the rooms are compact in the usual APA style — clean, with everything you actually need and not much you don't. You get a soft bed, a large TV, a strong hot shower, and a kettle with free green tea. Don't come expecting space to spread out; the room category here scores 7.4, the lowest of any in this list, and that tracks with what you get.

Food and amenities

The on-site list is short and practical — free Wi-Fi, an en-suite bathroom, luggage storage, a service counter and vending machines, with non-smoking rooms available. The real bonus sits nearby at Tokyo Dome City, about 900 metres off: an amusement park, a shopping mall, the Spa LaQua onsen, and the Tokyo Dome itself, which runs concerts and baseball games through the year. When the foliage wraps up early in the evening, we usually stop at Spa LaQua to soak in a city-centre onsen and warm up before heading back — soaking in an open-air stone bath with skyscrapers overhead is an oddly good way to end the day.

Location and getting there

Koishikawa Korakuen is an early-Edo garden laid out by the Tokugawa family. Its autumn highlight is the deep-red maples set against the small wooden Tsutenkyo bridge, a central pond, and Horai-jima, an artificial hill modelled on a mountain from Chinese myth — the classic Japanese-garden scene you see in travel magazines comes from here. From the hotel it's about an 8-minute walk, so you can wander over, come back to rest at midday, and head out again in the late afternoon without paying any train fare. Iidabashi Station is a 4-minute, 300-metre walk and an interchange for five lines — JR Chuo-Sobu, Yurakucho, Nanboku, Tozai and Oedo — so Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo Station and the shinkansen are all easy from here.

Things to know before booking

Be honest with yourself about why you're choosing it. The overall guest score is 7.8 and the room category just 7.4 — both lower than the rest of this list. Rooms are compact in the usual APA style. The main strengths are the location and the price, not the room itself, so this is a base, not a comfort splurge.

Our take

APA Hotel Iidabashi Ekimae suits budget travellers here mainly to see the maples at Koishikawa Korakuen. We recommend it plainly — pick it for the location and the rate starting around $57 a night, trust the basic APA standard, and put the money you save toward sushi or a good meal over in the Dome district right next door.