Getting there: It's a very short walk from Ikebukuro Station, which is on the Yamanote Line - easy to get to from pretty much everywhere. The hostel is on the seventh floor of the Lumiere building - keep an eye out for the sign.
In this unique hostel, beds are slotted in among bookshelves. There are loads of books to flick through.
Check-in experience: I arrived early to drop off my bag. Staff were helpful, in a cool, laid-back sort of way. I was shown a video on a tablet to explain how everything worked.
Room: I went for a bookshelf bed, because I had to. The shelves run down the length of the building with ladders and cubbyholes to crawl into. Mine was close to the bathroom; the communal lounge area was down the other end of the room.
What's so good about this place? It's all about the novelty - I'd read about this place and had to stay there for at least one night. Though most of the books are in Japanese, there's a decent selection of English titles.
And the bad? The beds aren't very comfortable and there is music playing until around midnight.
What's in the neighbourhood? It's not the most exciting neighbourhood of Tokyo, but there's a big arcade with lots of claw machines - it's quite entertaining to watch people attempting to win toys. I also ate at a great restaurant that specialised in giant-sized gyoza dumplings.
Toiletries: For 540 yen (about $8) you can purchase a mini tote bag which contains shampoo, conditioner, body soap, a toothbrush and a rental towel. The products smelled like geranium.
Food and drink: There's a bar service offering a variety of interesting Japanese and international beers.
The bed: A very thin mattress and pillow on a wooden base - as you can imagine, it's not very comfortable and you have to make it up yourself. But that's more incentive to stay up reading all night. I was up until 2am reading Haruki Murakami's first novel - cliche, I know.
Bathroom: Shared bathroom, with shower cubicles. The usual high-tech Japanese toilets you come to expect.
Free Wi-Fi? Yes, quite reliable.
Noise: Being near the bathroom I was kept awake by people using the toilets during the night. There was also a bit of snoring, but I expect I probably contributed to that myself once I drifted off.
