Check in, maybe grab a drink at the bar, go to sleep, wake up, leave for the next day’s activities, go to sleep, and repeat until checkout. Hotel stays are often a flat, continuous cycle of simply needing a bed to sleep on. You think you don’t need anything further, so the accommodation doesn’t offer anything further. After all, the location is the prize, right? Enter: Trunk (Hotel) Cat Street. This boutique hotel resting finely in Shibuya of Tokyo, Japan is reimagining hotel stays in all the small ways that make a difference.

In a modern-day technological landscape that makes it so easy to tuck away from the world and live in your own little bubble, away from all matters of the world, and, seemingly, of yourself, Trunk (Hotel) Cat Street was created in 2017 on the foundation of socialization and the dire need for community—spaces where each individual is welcome as they are. This idea that relationships to each other are just as important as the relationship you have with the world and communities around you. That said, the hotel focuses everything they implement on five core elements: environment, local first, diversity, health, and culture. A stay here poses ample moments of reflection: What is value? What is wealth? What is connection? What is perspective?

The word “hotel” is hardly sufficient—it’s a lounge, a kitchen, a store, a bar, a venue, and whatever else you want it to be, alongside its 15 unique guestrooms for stay. A master of third spaces, they’ve crafted comforting spots welcoming of conversation, socialization, or a quiet hang. A friend of both solitude and company. Japan is synonymous with serenity and modernity—a country that balances both the fluidity and fragility of human nature with a relentless mind of innovation—and Trunk (Hotel) Cat Street reflects that in every corner.

Through a minimalist approach, they’ve left no detail untouched: hangers made out of recycled iron in the suites, coasters made of remnant leather, environmentally-crafted mugs and tableware for dining, ambient music selected by experts in the local Shibuya music scene, expressive local art decorating public spaces.

Trunk (Hotel) Cat Street has cultivated a society within a society—a glimpse at a life out of hiding. Because secretly, we need each other—and we want a hotel that offers much more than a bed to sleep on.