Notice that I mentioned that they get bad outside of touristic areas. I mean the ones where someone from the UK wouldn't normally stay, like a business area or a local transportation hub.
Meaning the ones used by drunks, drug addicts, and prostitutes.
I've stayed in a bunch of them across the country but maybe I haven't been to any particularly rough areas. They all have a practically identical layout (both building and rooms) as far as I can tell. Any examples?
I am not talking about layout. I am talking about unclean bathrooms and beds, mold, cigarrette smells in the corridors, people falling over in the corridors, weird noises at night, aircons that don't work.
APA does not provide top notch maintenance for its hotels in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa, Nishi Kasai, Meidaimae, or any non important area.
If you stay in the hotel close to the central station of a small town - that's touristic. Japanese tourists are staying there.
What I mean is that APA is really bad off the beaten path, and since the article recommends branching off, using APA is a very bad idea.
Meaning the ones used by drunks, drug addicts, and prostitutes.