It doesn't seem to be abnormal. I visited Tokyo last year and booked a few days' stay on one of these converted apartment-building hotels. I assumed it would b

It doesn't seem to be abnormal. I visited Tokyo last year and booked a few days' stay on one of these converted apartment-building hotels. I assumed it would be staffed all the time like a hotel in the US, and was pretty surprised when I showed up Saturday evening to find that there was nobody behind the front desk. What I found instead was a little envelope with my name on it, containing a room key and a polite note asking me to check in first thing Monday morning. It was a little surreal.