IMH

IC Tokyo Bay May 2013

What is your Priority Club status?
Royal Ambassador.

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Not really. We stayed here for three nights on a leisure trip and chose the hotel because the price (using a BOGO) was significantly better than the alternatives we considered. We had fairly low expectations based on reports in various FT threads, but the hotel still managed to disappoint.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked a King Club Superior with Bay View and got exactly that. I enquired about an upgrade, mentioning their larger "Club Deluxe" rooms, but was simply told that "all our suites are being renovated".

How are the rooms?
As shown in raynyan66's photos and videos. Perfectly acceptable but in no way luxurious. A 32" television is a little on the small side these days, perhaps.

How is the lounge?
Extremely disappointing. The space is pleasant enough, if on the small side, but the food and drink offerings are poor. We first sampled "afternoon tea", as our room wasn't ready (at 16:15) when we went to check in at the lounge. Good coffee but that was it. There was a very limited choice of pleasant but small dessert items.

The next morning we went for breakfast. You'll probably be okay if you like eggs/omelettes, but if you prefer bread, fruit or muesli forget it and go elsewhere. There were three mini croissants and a few sad looking white rolls, with plastic-wrapped jam/marmalade portions, and a couple of small serving bowls containing minuscule amounts of cereal and muesli -- even if I'd taken the whole bowl and poured milk over the contents it wouldn't have constituted a grown up portion. Some fruit was on offer, but had been sliced in such a way that guests had to complete the preparation process by removing orange peel, pineapple skin etc. A typical Hilton Garden Inn does a better job of breakfast.

We also paid a visit to the lounge one evening, thinking that things might be better then (the lounge is promoted as serving "Club Dinner"). They weren't. Paper serviettes. A limited range of food. Two Asahi beers, a cheap looking sparkling wine and two even cheaper still wines: "Cuvee Givette" in red and white, a vin de France that only appears to be marketed in Japan and seems to retail for 900 - 1,100 JPY a bottle.

Overall, the lounge staff (with one exception) seemed more interested in things than guests: reasonably efficient at clearing tables and replenishing food/drinks, but not making eye contact or trying to ascertain what guests might want or need. No table service was offered at any time. After ten days of Japanese hospitality, including lounges with great service (and linen serviettes) at the Conrad Tokyo and Hilton Osaka, being here felt like being in a different country.

I cannot for the life of me imagine what market segment the IC Tokyo Bay lounge is trying to target.

What was your welcome gift?
A bottle of French red and four small pieces of chocolate were delivered to our room a few hours after we checked in.

Did you receive fruit in the room?
Yes: four slices of fruit prepared as in the lounge (i.e. they required further surgery prior to eating).

What was good and what was bad?

Good
Clean room. Nice view.

Bad
No upgrade.
No wine in the minibar (which was generally poorly stocked).

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
It would have been reasonable value if we'd received a Deluxe room (or better). We won't return unless we read that the Club has improved dramatically and upgrades are being given.