Hotels in Japan 2011

[Cynicor]

Hi there,

Just back from a 3 week holiday in Japan and wanted to share my opinions on the hotels. If you have any questions feel free to reply or PM me. Was going to post as 1 but thought i should split them up.

15th-22nd Jan - Hilton Niseko Village. Mt Yotei Deluxe King Room, with dinner

This hotel became a Hilton in 2008 and underwent a renovation, reopening for the Ski season. Stayed 7 nights then and it was a great hotel with decent service. Food was a bit expensive however and there were no readily accesible restaurants.

In 2010 it is still a Hilton but ownership has changed, for the better it seems.
Service is still excellent, and up to the usual polite Japanese standards. Hotel is clean, welcoming and efficient. The food and drink offerings in all the restuarants have been expanded to include more affordable food and set dinner menus are availabel from around 3500JPY pp. We stayed on a breakfast and dinner package and this was excellent value, well worth doing as you get a few little extras on top of the set menus.

Lunch is the best value, which is why so many people come from nearby hirafu. There's a 1500JPY junch buffet and a 2500JPY sushi buffet. The lunch is pretty nice with a large selection and plenty of vareity. The sushi is all you can eat but is made on demand. You can sit, facing the ched and just ask for 1 of the 15(i think) different Nigiris that they make. You may be able to get just straight sashimi but i didn't think to ask.

The rooms seem to have been renovated again and are a good size for Japan with a lage LCD TV and normal shower/bath. They are only metres form the lifts and gondola so is true ski-in ski-out and also have a ski valet service so you can get in and out quickly.

Overall had an excellent stay here and will probably be back next year.

 

[Cynicor]

22nd-24th ANA Crowne Hiroshima. King Bed Premier

This hotel was the bigggest surprise. It seemed to be one of the highest rated hotels in Hiroshima but was still fairly cheap. Didn't hold high expectations but was pleasantly surprised. As expected the rooms were nice and clean and everyone was polite an friendly but the staff were amazingly helpful, going out of their was to please.

Didn't use the room or hotel facilities much but it was nicely furnished, enough lighting and had a large tv that went unused. Bathroom was rather spacious too.The hotel's location was good, although Hiroshima is tiny and easy to walk around no matter where you are it seems. The Crowne is about a block away from the Peace Park and Abomb Dome.

COncierge was great, suggesting another way to get to Miyajima island and even called ahead to see if they had room for us on the next ferry. They also helped get my skis couriered to Tokyo for me, though they were bigger than the couriers normal limits and should have necesitated a walk to the couriers offices. Instead they remembered my request and rang my room, though I'd never left my name or room number with them, and sorted it all out for me.

Will definitely be back to this hotel, and Hiroshima in general. Really liked the feel of the city and its surrounds.

 

[Cynicor]

24th-5th Feb Westin Tokyo - Executive King Room (Club)

Most expensive of the hotels, and that didn't stop once you were in the doors.

Was very nicely decorated with poilte staff and large rooms. Also had an excellent view from level 20. Found the hotel a bit expensive, however, as even in the club rooms internet was 900 yen and they did not waive the cover charge for the band on the one night we wanted to visite the Compass Rose bar on the top floor.

They have a 1 Michelin Star Chinese restaurant and a few other bars and restaurants around the place. Didn't eat at any of them though, as they all seemed rather expensive. We did have some nice dinners however, at Les Creations De Narisawa, Le Chateau De Joel Robuchon, and lunch at Sushi Saito. Never eaten anywhere with a single star before, so two 3 stars and a 2 star really blew me (and the bank balance) away.

Breakfast was nice with a huge selection in the lobby restaurant. Would have been pricey if it wasn't included in the rate though, as it was 3800JPY pp from memory. Never had the club breakfast, and the nibbles at night time would not have been a sufficient replacement for dinner like they can be at some hotels. The drinks are self pour with the standard selection of house spirits and some reds/whites i never really looked at. Internet is free and wireless in the club at least. I think that if you got a room on 16-18 you could probably sit on the wireless anytime for free too.

Service at the club was ok, but never asked them to do anything very taxing. The concierge was great, booking us restaurants and having the local map with subway directions written on sent to our rooms while we were out each day. Could not fault the staff, especially the concierge.

The location is excellent. Yebisu Garden Place doesn't have the whole 'big city' feel to it that other areas may have, so you don't step out onto a roaring road surrounded by skyscrapers. The nearest and most convenient station is Ebisu and you can get there entirely undercover if needed, with moving walkway about half the distance. There's plenty of nearby restaurants for all budgets and tastes from convenience stores to 3 Michelin Star kitchens. Ebisu station is in the Yamanote line, the main circle around Tokyo, and also the Hibiya subway line which cuts southwest to north eastish.

2 other stations are a close walk if you wank to join another line and the surrrounding area is rather pleasant to walk through too. All in all, absolutely loved the location and the service but would probably not go for a club room again as I couldn't justify the extra money for the benefits.

 

[Alanslegal]

Thanks for the quick hotel reviews.

I've recently stayed at the Westin Tokyo and had executive lounge access as a SPG PLT. As you didn't visit the lounge for breakfast, all I can say is that spread has quite a good selection of hot and cold options, much more than many club lounges that I have been in to. As PLT we also had breakfast in the lobby restaurant and healthy japanese restaurant on the 2nd? floor complimentary. Overall a very good hotel but I guess this is reflected in the high rates.

 

[drron]

Thanks for those reviews.Sure can be expensive though eating in the hotels.We also love the Westin Tokyo and fortunately as SPG plat get the benefits that alanslegal describes plus free internet.Also in June it was cheaper than the Sheraton Miyako so once again will be staying there.

 

[yeldarb8]

Have stayed in all hotels mentioned in this thread but it's been a few years since last time thanks for the update. I have no plans to stay in any of them again any time soon because after years of travel to Japan I have now got quite comfortable with the inexpensive business hotels that normally do not pitch to foreigners. If you are paying more than 8000 yen a night for a good clean functional room in Tokyo then you are paying too much. My current sweet spot is 5000-7500 yen a night. On a recent 12 night stay I spent A$700... total...on accommodations and missed nothing. I have also stayed at the Conrad, Hilton Tokyo, Mandarin, Four Seasons, and so forth... only if the client is paying now days. On the big aggregator travel sites look for the hotels in the 5000-7500 yen per night bracket with no, or very few, English language reviews and you will be on the right track.

 

[burrco]

Thanks for those reviews.Sure can be expensive though eating in the hotels.We also love the Westin Tokyo and fortunately as SPG plat get the benefits that alanslegal describes plus free internet.Also in June it was cheaper than the Sheraton Miyako so once again will be staying there.

The SPG properties in Tokyo can be strange like that - the Westin has a far higher base rate but seams to be more agressive in price cutting during non-peak than the Sheraton.

I'm staying there next week - booked using the recent 50% off Asia Pacific sale for a rate similar to the best sheraton rate.

 

[Richie Teh]

Hi all,

I'm taking my family (myself, wife and 2 kids - 4 and 9) to Tokyo for a 2 weeks holiday in Sep\Oct 2012 and wanted to stay in Shinjuku (lots of departmental stores and easy access to trains etc).

We are planning to spend 8 days in Shinjuku (before staying 5 days at Hilton Tokyo bay to visit Disney Land and Disney Sea).

Do you have any suggestions re a good hotel in Shinjuku close to the train station as well as shops?

FYI - I've been looking at the Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo - anyone stayed there before?

Thanks all.

Regards
Richie

 

[Alanslegal]

There are quite a few members here who are fans of the Hilton Tokyo, so you might want to try that out. There might be a promotion or two and you could save a bit.

For specific hotel reviews, probably Tripadvisor might be a good site to get an idea how the hotel is.

 

[tuapekastar]

Hi all,

I'm taking my family (myself, wife and 2 kids - 4 and 9) to Tokyo for a 2 weeks holiday in Sep\Oct 2012 and wanted to stay in Shinjuku (lots of departmental stores and easy access to trains etc).

We are planning to spend 8 days in Shinjuku (before staying 5 days at Hilton Tokyo bay to visit Disney Land and Disney Sea).

Do you have any suggestions re a good hotel in Shinjuku close to the train station as well as shops?

FYI - I've been looking at the Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo - anyone stayed there before?

Thanks all.

Regards
Richie

I stayed at Best Western Astina last year. It is in Shinjuku, and indeed bang smack in the middle of the Kabuki-cho red light district. But the hotel is just fine, and the area was not 'rough, though as a single bloke I was approached by numerous Nigerian/Ghanaian touts. The hotel room was small (I'm assuming - cannot recall- I booked a 'single' room, as I was travelling solo) but had everything one would need.

The breakfast was fine, typical buffet with Japanese/Western items, I think I paid for it to be inclusive. Free internet IIRC, though it may have been wired not wireless. Aircon worked well and little if any noise from the street (I was on 5th floor). I just checked the first few reviews on TA and TBH they just say the same I am saying here.

Only two issues: watch out for the prices when you book, headline price is quite different from the one I ended up paying (at leasdyt throughb the site I booked it on). I was aware of this but still seemed to pay more than I thought I would be - I think you can research too much sometimes and become a little overwhelmed with numbers, and make mistakes when you finally book . And secondly (no matter where you ens up staying), don't do what dumbo here did and forget to pack the location map you carefully printed out. Took me 2 hours and a lot of help from a kind Japanese woman to get what should have been a 5 or 6 minute walk from Shinjuku station!

In summary, if the price was right I'd happily stay there again (the touts can be avoided by going along the 'back' street behind the hotel). But there are many choices in the area.

A few pix below:

From the room (a Japan World cup Soccer match was being televised)

The Room

Back towards the door

I slurped some noodles here on 2 occasions

A local Kabuki-cho street

 

[reductionist]

There are quite a few members here who are fans of the Hilton Tokyo

Yep. I'm a big fan. Do recommend.