Property: Conrad Tokyo
Nights: 3
Status: Diamond
Room booked: King City View
Room received: King City View
Rate: Amex FHR with complimentary 3rd night (avg $380pn after all taxes & charges)
Comments: Hotel had plenty of availability in higher categories until the day prior when it all dried up.. so unfortunately no upgrade. Turns out the All Blacks were in town and staying at the property.
Welcome gift consisted of 7 blueberries, a single slice of
youkan, and a box containing 4 small chocolates. No welcome card.
Tried breakfast at both the EL and Cerise restaurant. The EL had views of the bay & Hamarikyu Gardens, but Cerise won in most other areas with a wider selection of made to order eggs options, barista coffee, and about double the buffet selection.
View from EL
Cerise made-to-order options
Fricassee lobster omelette (Cerise only)
Scrambled eggs with uni (EL only)
Eggs benedict (available at both)
We were also advised a continental room service breakfast was also available, but I'm not sure whether this was a Diamond benefit or also extended to FHR guests.
At check-in I was advised the US$125 FHR credit converted to 18054 JPY which was quite a reasonable rate. We used this towards lunch at Kazahana restaurant. The view was great (same aspect as the EL but 10 floors down) and the food was tasty, but the experience felt very overpriced. Think $18-20 soft drinks & juices. The favourable USDJPY rate would enable two people to dine within the $125 credit if they went for the cheapest lunch set options and drinks.
The FHR rate included a 4pm guaranteed late checkout. After confirming there were still bookable rooms on the day of checkout, I called the Conrad Service line to ask if I could have this extended to 5pm or 6pm as a Diamond member - they would only extend for a fee, but otherwise no. I argued that I had already paid for the 4pm checkout and am just asking for an additional 1-2 hours, but was still given a firm no. My partner (a native Japanese speaker) asked again in person at reception and was also told no. The same room category was readily available for purchase, and they were willing to sell me the extension, so clearly not an availability issue. I thought this was a little mediocre considering the lack of other Diamond recognition.
Would I stay here again? Not at the prices they are charging at the moment, and certainly not using the FHR rate unless it beats the hilton.com price, there wasn't any additional benefit from FHR over included Diamond benefits except the property credit which is usually factored into the rate. I'm staying at Hilton Tokyo in April and look forward to comparing the two.