Dormy Inn Premium Kanda 

I spent most of my 20s living in Japan and, back when I was single, would go back two to three times a year to visit friends and relax. I discovered the Dormy chain about a decade ago, then discovered Dormy Inn Kanda shortly thereafter and have stayed here exclusively when I'm back in Tokyo and traveling solo. This hotel is absolutely perfect for all of my solo needs. For the sake of accuracy, you must distinguish between Dormy and Dormy Premium hotels. The standard Dormy (like the one in Akihabara) is still great, but the Dormy Premium hotels are a step up in terms of amenities, facilities and a lot of very small details (like keys vs key cards). Dormy Inn Kanda is a Premium hotel and, as such, is nicer than the Akiba location. Also, Kanda is my preferred area to stay in when traveling solo as it has two of my favorite bars in Japan, also has a phenomenal old soba shop down the street and Kanda is only one stop from Tokyo Station--I can walk out the door of Dormy Kanda and be at the Tokyo Shinkansen Gates in a matter of minutes, so when traveling solo it really doesn't get any easier for me. First, Dormy Kanda has four types of rooms: Single, Double, Queen and Twin. The Single and Double are absolutely NOT meant for any more than one person. If the rates are higher due to season/timing then I'm absolutely fine staying in the Double room alone, but it's the bare minimum for me. I spread out my suitcase on the small sofa, set up my laptop at the tiny desk and the bed is exactly as I prefer with a very firm mattress and pillow. There's a Dormy theme song that plays on the tv screen, and anytime I hear it, I'm immediately transported to Tokyo. After all these years, I simply can't get it out of my head. You'll see what I mean. If it's available, my preference is the Twin Room. By Japanese standards it's quite large and I'd stayed here with my wife (Japanese) when we were first dating. Don't be fooled by the "twin" title, as it's actually two larger double beds and my wife and I had no problem sleeping together in one of them. When solo, it's absolutely perfect for me as I use one bed to lay out my suitcase and clothing and sleep in the other. And the Twin Room really isn't very expensive, even during peak seasons like Spring, so if the rooms are available this is generally what I stay in. Second, the staff have always been fantastic to me over the years and are part of the reason I enjoy staying here. Japanese hotel staff are almost always great, but Dormy Kanda's staff have always exceeded my expectations. Granted, I'm not at all demanding but I have never, ever had any issues with them and while I can speak Japanese, they never have any issues communicating in English. Over the years they've also begun hiring a number of international staff members and they tend to have a very solid command of English (and are always fun to talk to, as well). This past trip I noticed that there's an automated machine for check-out, so if you don't need to discuss anything with staff the check out process literally takes a few seconds now and that's fine by me. Third, the breakfast buffet at Dormy Kanda has consistently been one of the best I've had at any hotel at any price range. The food selection isn't fancy or gourmet and is very simple, but simply done extremely well. The line-up hasn't changed much over the years--small dishes, soups, rice, pastries and a tempura station. These days when traveling with the family we generally stay at hotels that cost two to three times more than Dormy Kanda, but my wife still comments that Dormy Kanda's breakfast buffet is still her favorite. In the evenings, unless things have changed, guests are offered free hot noodles (I believe they call it "Yonaki Soba") at a certain later hour; I've only bothered trying it once or twice but it was very decent quality noodles. And lastly, the top floor onsen and rotenbury. This alone is why I began staying at Dormy Kanda, as I've always preferred a public bath vs the tiny Japanese bathrooms. Also, I absolutely love a rotenburo, and Dormy's baths are my favorite in Tokyo. Even better, Dormy Kanda (and all Dormy hotels) has an absolutely fantastic coin laundry room, with six or so of the standard W/D stack units (versus the all-in-one types that take forever to dry your clothes), and even in the evenings it's never very crowded. I absolutely need a coin laundry when I travel is a pack very light and also go jogging in the mornings so I need to be able to watch my clothes. Another great feature of this hotel is you can check how many laundry units are available on your tv screen so you don't waste time going upstairs only to find them all taken. My average day when traveling solo in Tokyo and staying at Dormy Kanda rarely changes. I wake up around 5am, by 5:30am I'm out the door on a 5-mile (sometimes 7-mile) jog that generally takes me around the Imperial Palace gardens. I get back to the hotel around 7am, go upstairs and soak in the rotenburo for a bit, then come downstairs to grab breakfast about 8am. I then spend my day visiting my favorite stores and shopping, and at least once I'll stop by one of the fantastic mega spas to get a massage and body scrub and a few drinks with lunch. No matter where I am, I'll start heading back to Kanda at about 4pm and will grab a soba before hitting one of my two favorite bars near the station for happy hour. I'll spend a couple hours getting comfortably numb on great craft beers and wines with fries and onion rings and other junk food, and stick around until the after-work crowd starts showing up around 6pm and the bars get packed and noisy. I head back to Dormy, usually grab a nightcap from the 7-11 on the first floor (another great feature of this hotel), then head back to my room. I change into my hotel gown, check the tv home screen for laundry availability, grab my bathing supplies and dirty laundry and head to the 12th floor. Toss my laundry the machine, go take a leisurely bath, soak in the rotenburo and by the time I'm done the laundry is finished. Toss clothes in the dryer, head back to my room or the hotel lounge to have a couple nightcap drinks and do some work on my laptop, go back up to grab my clothes and then it's lights out by 9pm. I'm old, boring and that's my routine. If this fits your traveling style then Dormy Kanda will be a fantastic hotel for you.