The hotel is not only very close to the station but also the shopping area. The hotel staffs are very helpful and speak English. They are willing to answer even your ridiculous questions. The twin room we stayed was alright. We were surprised to find a very reasonably priced hotel in Tokyo, and the rooms were large, quiet & pleasant, the bathroom though, was just a small cubicle. A convenience store located at street level below the lobby was very handy! Plenty of fresh food options were available in the station market hall, however for restaurants Ikebukuro East was a bit light on (a few sushi bars) and we had to walk about 8 minutes to Ikebukuro West for selection of restaurants. We had some train noise in our room, but nothing that really inconvenienced me. It was safe; we were walking around late at night and did not come across anything seedy. The red light district was much tamer than Shinjuku.