Travel & Hotel

Claska hotel in Tokyo Meguro and around Gakugei-Daigaku.

Claska hotel

Claska hotel in Tokyo Meguro and Gakugei-Daigaku.

I have always wanted to go to Tokyo, and it was wonderful to have finally gone last week.

We got to explore many of the districts of Tokyo, each bursting with their own personality. I will be writing about them soon in further posts.

We stayed at CLASKA, one of Tokyo’s design hotels, on Meguro Dori. It’s a quiet district in between Meguro and Gakugei-Daigaku.

The area reminded me a little bit of Shoreditch in London, only less busy, but definitely with an emerging hip vibe.

If you love mid century modern furniture, then this is the place to be, as peppered around the area, were beautifully curated second hand furniture stores.

Check out the external design of the CLASKA. Its architecture and style is very 1970s. To me, it looks iconic for that era, almost like the Trellick tower is to London.CLASKA has 20 rooms, categorised into 4 design themes, designed by Japanese architects and designers.

We stayed in 2 rooms on the 6th floor. Our first room was the Tatami room, designed by Kaname Okajima. It has been described as a room of East meet West.

There were the traditional tatami mats, but rather than sleeping directly on the floor, we got comfortable low beds.
Doesn’t this space feel so Zen? There were wooden window screens, paper lantern lights, and low pebble shaped cushions.Our second room was the newly designed Un-Colored room, and it was covered in cedar wood, which felt and smelt divine.

There was also a coloured version of this bedroom on the same floor, painted in pastel hues, and unsurprisingly called the Colored room.

I loved the minimal and  pared down simplicity of this space. It felt very serene.Here’s our bathroom, designed with a similar aesthetic to the bedroom.Even the toiletries looked minimal and stylish, all made of natural ingredients.
You can really tell that CLASKA has a passion for design, just look at all those cool magazines they subscribe to, found in the lobby.

Kioku, the hotel’s restaurant, also seen in the photo above, served both Contemporary European and Japanese food.

In the morning, you could have a tasty English breakfast with all the trimmings, or a traditional Japanese one, with grilled fish, white rice, miso soup, soft boiled egg, tofu and pickles.One of the highlights of my stay at CLASKA, was exploring their design store DO. I have taken a few photos to give you a feel of the shop.Everything was so beautifully curated.I could have shopped there all day.

There was also a gallery space nearby, showcasing artwork by emerging talents.If you fancy wandering out of the hotel to eat or drink, I highly recommend Factory and Labo, 2 doors down, for their on site freshly roasted artisan coffee.If you fancy something sweet, I recommend their custard cream puff pastry.Gakugei-Daigaku is a cute little district, about 15 minutes walk from CLASKA. There was an underground train station there too.

There were numerous independent food stores and restaurants there, buzzing with locals, away from the packed streets of central Tokyo.

I have tried and tested a few of the eateries at Gakugei-Daigaku. Here are a few of my recommendations:

1.The Tonkatsu ramen was delicious at Ichiryu.

2.The best Thai food I have tasted at Thai Cafe Piimai. ( You really have to try the food here, totally authentic Thai, and we ate everything we ordered).

3.Breakfast at Bakery Cafe Antendo. The freshly baked savoury goods were so light, fluffy and delicious.

Last, but not least, you have to sample the cute donuts from Floresta. All donuts have been handmade using natural ingredients.

Hope you have enjoyed my review of CLASKA, with their beautifully designed rooms. I will be back soon with more posts on Japan. If you fancy seeing more, then do keep an eye on my Instagram account and insta-stories.

Have a lovely day all.

( All photography are by me, Geraldine Tan, editor of Little Big Bell. I stayed at the Claska hotel as press. My opinions and views here are my own).

14 Comments

  1. Oh my! This is totally what I’d love! I adore everything, the aesthetics of the hotel, it feels so zen. This place is going in my Tokyo wanderlust list. Thanks for sharing xx

  2. I’d love to visit Tokyo and this hotel looks amazing. Those rooms look very serene and calm

  3. Oh my, that donut!! Love the wood in the rooms too

  4. Wow it looks amazing! Can’t take my eye off that cute cat donut. Definitely a place firmly on my bucket list x

  5. Tokyo is definitely on my ‘must-visit’ list so thank you for your review! I love just how beautifully simply the designs are and that cedar room must have smelled incredible! xx

    • littlebigbell

      Oh Kimberly, it’s wonderful here. I have fallen in love with Japan. I’ll be writing more soon. Can’t wait to show you x

  6. I’ve never been to Japan but it’s next on my visit, it looks like such an inspiring place! I love the uncoloured room of course 😉

  7. What beautiful rooms! The warmth of the wood, and I imagine the smell of a wood like cedar, is so inviting. It looks like the designers really took the time to make each room unique and welcoming. And in such a good location too, you can’t go wrong! Thank for sharing your experience!

    • littlebigbell

      It’s a pleasure Mary. The cedar was really wonderful. I’ll be writing more on Japan soon. Hope you will follow along x

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