jphripjah

If you want to use award points, I'd recommend that you each sign up for the the Chase Hyatt credit card, which I think will give you each two free nights at any Hyatt plus platinum status at Hyatt, and then you can use those for four nights at the exceptional Park Hyatt Tokyo (featured in the Bill Murray film).

jphripjah

It looks like the Chase Hyatt sign up bonus is changing on June 29. I'd recommend getting the card before then if you want to use it for two free nights at the Park Hyatt Tokyo.

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...medium=Twitter

mkjr

It's actually the fact that my body wants to get up early despite the fact that I try to stay up late that I find leaving the next day is easier. So catching a train and having a wee nap on the way to Kyoto or on my last trip to Kanazawa helped with jet lag. Also, given most japanese hotels have all needed toiletries, making sure you have your new clothes ready to go causes very little inconvenience to pack up and leave the next morning.

jtm1631

Great info. Thank you to everyone for responding. I can actually use Marriott points at the Sakura Prince hotel so I think I will get that booked for the first night.

Here is a rough itinerary so far:

Night 1: Tokyo - Near Shinagawa station
Night 2 - 5: Kyoto
Night 6: Hiroshima
Night 7 & 8: Open
Night 9 - 13: Tokyo

I have enough points with Hyatt for two nights at the Park Hyatt if we want to do that. We will than look at Marriott options.

Not sure where to spend nights 7 & 8 so I'll have to look into that further. It's possible that night 8 will be in Tokyo since that will be the last day of our 7 day rail pass if we activate the morning we head to Kyoto.

I would welcome any feedback on the itinerary.

abmj-jr

You would almost have to do it this way. I'd suggest actually doing the Rail Pass "activation" process either at NRT or Shinagawa on the day you arrive. Just specify the date you want it to start when you turn in the exchange order for the Pass. You can then make seat reservations immediately, rather than wait for the day of travel. My usual procedure is to make my onward seat reservations as soon as I arrive at a new location as waiting until the day of travel can occasionally result in disappointment with trains being sold out. There is no penalty if something comes up and you have to abandon your reservations and take a different train.

Just as a hint, if you arrive early in Kyoto (or anywhere else,) your hotel probably won't let you actually check in early but they will let you drop off your baggage for them to hold until actual check in time. That way you can do some site-seeing without having to haul your bags along.

evergrn

Sakura Towers is really nice. That's perfect. It's not 5-stars, but it's just a classy hotel and I love its setting on the Japanese garden complex. It's also only a couple minutes away from the nearest convenience store in case you wake up with munchies at 3am your first night in Tokyo.

yeah stay night 8 in Tokyo to use up your JRailPass. In that case, you could stay nights 2-6 at the same hotel in Kyoto, then night 7 in Hiroshima.

jtm1631

Just to update this original thread it looks like we have everything booked for our hotels:

Night 1: Prince Sakura Tower - Across from Shinagawa Station. We land at 3:30 so plan is to activate JR Pass at airport to start next day and book Shinkansen from Shinagawa to Kyoto for next morning.
Night 2 - 5: Hyatt Regency. We will explore Kyoto and Osaka areas and hopefully a day trip to Hiroshima
Night 6: Shizuoka AirBnB. Thought here was to just stop some where to catch our breath, do some laundry and just relax with no points to see or places to be.
Night 7: Isaribi Onsen in Okawa. An onsen on the eastern coast of Japan seemed like a good place to relax before heading to Tokyo.
Night 8 - 13: Tokyo Ritz Carlton

All nights except 6 and 7 are using points. We have contacted the concierge at the Ritz Carlton regarding a few restaurant reservations that they will help us secure. We have also arranged to get baseball tickets for a game at the Tokyo Dome for one of the nights we are in Tokyo.

We are very much looking forward to spending a lot of time walking around different neighborhoods and experiencing Japan.

Thanks to everyone for all the information, suggestions and help.

ksandness

I find that the first is true. Don't sleep more than an hour or two on the westbound flight (I hate the way they darken the cabins now--it was much easier to stay awake when the flight felt like an incredibly long afternoon), and when you arrive, stay awake till at least 10PM Tokyo time. Then sleep for eight hours, and soon it's 6:00AM. Get up and stroll around the neighborhood, exposing yourself to daylight before breakfast. You may find yourself incredibly sleepy all of a sudden the following evening, so stick close to your hotel that night.

However, no matter what I do, I'm always a bit jet-lagged after coming home to Minneapolis, and the effects last for almost a week.

kaka

I've picked a mate off one of the trains you want to take in Kyoto. Dont do it.
If you want to go to the Kansai area, take one of the NRT-ITM flight; or stay at Shinagawa (or tokyo, if you want to stay at one of the 5+* hotels) for the night and leave in the morning.