During a trip to Tokyo, we stayed at Hotel Niwa twice - each for 2 nights. Both times the hotel was an excellent place to say, with a friendly welcome, spotless presentation and comfortable rooms.

The staff on reception all spoke at least basic English, and were very polite and friendly throughout. Sadly arriving early an early check-in wasn't possible, but our bags were tagged and looked after until the room was ready, when they were taken to the room.
The room itself was, as to be expected in Tokyo, relatively small. However, based on some of the other reviews, I had expected a tiny box. This being Japan, everything fitted in what space there was - there was room to get both sides of the bed; a small fridge and shelves; a desk and chair. Admittedly a large suitcase might have had trouble laying out on the floor, but there was an area big enough to lay out a medium size case.

The room itself was spotlessly clean, and kept that way throughout the stay. The view from the window was of an office block, but decent blinds were provided to both keep daylight out, and a sliding paper screen kept the view inside attractive.

We didn't try the lounge or any of the facilities outside the room and common areas, so can't comment on those.

As others have noted, the restaurant was quite expensive - even the room service bento box was approx £25 ($38-40). To be fair, I don't think the prices were out of range of a good restaurant in Tokyo, but there is a convenience story next door for snacks. Also, one block away (on the road leading from the train station) a range of restaurants offered choices from fast-food Japanese style, to Western style cakes/toast/sandwiches.

Niwa's location was about 500m (5 mins or less) to the JR rail station. For tourists with a JR Rail pass, this was ideal as you could get around most of Tokyo on the JR network, and indeed get to/from Narita or Haneda (via Monorail) using your pass. It is about a 10minute ride to Tokyo mainline station, and from the Niwa you can walk to the war memorial/museum in one direction, or a slightly longer walk to the Imperial Gardens.
From the rail station to Niwa, the obvious route is over the pedestrian bridge - but with luggage it is easier to walk down the road (past the restaurants), turning left at the first set of traffic lights.

The only minor irritation was that the wifi was slow. Could get connection to the service, but the actual speed when connected was very very slow - so don't expect to be doing large downloads!

If I ever return to Tokyo, I would certainly stay at Hotel Niwa again. It was a lovely clean, modern and comfortable hotel in central Tokyo.

Hotel Niwa is a beautiful boutique hotel in Suidobashi. This is not a great location because you need to change trains and with luggage it's difficult. Furthermore, this is a self-service hotel so you need to bring your luggage to/from your room. We were given a smoking room when we have a young child. Furthermore, the restaurant is really overpriced. We ordered some late night fettuccine. We were given spaghetti (not fettuccine) and the bill was steep. We were tired and had a guest with us so we didn't complain at the time.

Got lucky on this one, I must say. In a recent trip to Japan I needed a place to overnight in Tokyo after arriving from US, but was late booking a place and all reasonable hotels near train lines from Narita were booked up. Then I found a half-price deal for this hotel on Expedia.

This hotel is extremely centrally located, just a short walk from the JR/Metro Suidobashi station and not far from Tokyo Dome. I'd characterize this hotel's approach as the review's title says - it doesn't provide too many "bells and whistles" but delivers quality in what a traveler really needs. Both the public area and the room are nicely designed in a Japanese-modern style. The single room (inevitably small, as this is Tokyo) had a comfortable US twin-size bed and ample desk space for working. The room did lack, however, any drawer space; fine for overnighting but, at least for me, it would have become an issue for a multi-night stay.

One minor problem I had was that I couldn't connect to their wi-fi network. I contacted the front and they troubleshot for me, but in the meantime I could get on to the Internet using a wired connection in the room.

As mentioned, the Expedia deal (just shy of 10,000 yen including tax) made this an outstanding value. Not sure if I would so consider it at full price; hence four rather than five stars in the "Value" rating.