. A reminder to mail those postcards perhaps? Banderas says he initially worried that the hotel's bright colors and radical redesign would get the cold shoulder from tourists and Japantown residents. But Hotel Tomo has been filled to near capacity, renting more than 10,000 room-nights in its first three months to people of all ages, he says. "Seventy-year-old people love it just as much as 25-year-olds," Banderas says.
The guest rooms are iPod-ready, with docking stations on every nightstand. The use of natural wood was inspired by the minimalist ideals of Muji, Japan's version of Ikea. The wood theme was extended into the carpet by Charles De Lisle, an interior designer with De Lisle, Philpotts and Staub Interiors, who worked on the Hotel Tomo renovation. "In Japan there are these little veneers of wood that they write menus on for the menu for the day," De Lisle says. "We scanned that in our office and had that turned into a wood-grain carpet."
Photo by Stephen Neff
No Hotel Tomo room is complete without a 26-inch, flat-screen LCD television. And what's behind the curtain? A nook for extra seating, catnapping or watching passers-by on the Japantown streets below. Room rates start at $109, with deluxe gaming suites available for $150 for two hours or $500 for a full day.
Photo by Stephen Neff
"Yuugi" means "play" in Japanese, making "Yuugi Suite" the perfect name for one of Hotel Tomo's two gaming rooms. Each suite is equipped with PS3 and Wii consoles; the hotel will provide any games that the players request. The pricey suites work for everything from birthday parties to a guys' night out, according to the hotel's general manager, but they have sat vacant most of the time since the hotel's July reopening.
Photo by Stephen Neff
Next to the girls painted on the wall in one of the gaming suites, there's a Fat Boy in the corner. It's a giant beanbag that -- depending how it's squished and contoured -- becomes a gaming chair, pillow or bed.
Photo by Stephen Neff
Kitazawa's murals decorate the hotel's restaurant. Mum's House of Shabu Shabu is a popular place for -- you guessed it -- shabu-shabu, Japan's version of fondue.
Photo by Stephen Neff
What do you do with a concrete backyard and a tight budget? Buy two geo-domes and get the party started. During the day, the hotel's geo-domes can be rented out for lunches or business meetings. But when the sun goes down, the geo-domes' fabric takes on a life of its own. Sometimes a geo-dome's surface becomes a movie screen for anime films that guests can watch from their rooms. Other times, colorful bulbs create a dance club for those inside the dome and a light show for those outside.
Photo by Stephen Neff
Banderas, Hotel Tomo's general manager, is looking at the building's fifth-floor roof for stage two of the renovations. The goal: to build a patio overlooking Japantown and make it a happy-hour hot spot.
Photo by Stephen Neff
