Gorgeous Modern Classic

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Park Suite King
January 17, 2020 by

 Map | 6 Reviews | 83% Recommended
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Park Hyatt Tokyo
 Map | 6 Reviews | 83% Recommended

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Park Suite King

Liked:
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Service
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Room
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Park Suite King

Leading up to my four-night stay here, I was prepared to be disappointed, but I couldn’t help loving this hotel. The design was classic and beautiful, and the service was spot on. That being said, if you're not a Globalist or prefer a more laid back style of service, the Andaz is likely the better choice.

Check In

We arrived via limousine booked through Groundlink. We were met in the driveway by some bellmen and a young lady who whisked us to the front desk area (where we didn’t stop), and were handed off to a front desk agent who escorted us to the suite for in-room check-in. Check in was very quick compared to the 15-minute long in-room check-in that we experienced at the RC Kyoto over the summer. We got the suite that we had booked - a Park Suite King, which I booked using points and a TSU.

Room

I had upgraded to a Park Suite using a TSU as I was with my wife and two kids. We had a crib and roll-away bed free of charge. The crib was in the bedroom, and the bed was halfway in bedroom and halfway in living room, in a window alcove. The space was more than sufficient for the four of us. It’s worth noting that there’s no door between the living and bedroom areas.

The room was beautiful and impeccably maintained. Not a spot of mildew in the bathroom, not a speck of dust anywhere, including the bathroom exhaust vent, all the caulking looked new, and there was no wear on any of the furniture, carpet, or wallpaper. The lighting is not LED seemingly anywhere in the hotel - it makes for great warm light, but their energy bills must be quite high, especially in conjunction with the incredible water pressure that all the bathroom fixtures provide.

The one knock I could point out is that the desk is in the bedroom with no nearby window or light and was oddly bare. You could request a desk light, which my wife assumed would probably be a Noguchi tabletop lamp and that they stopped putting them out on every desk because they probably had too many walk off with guests.

Service

Service was fairly formal and all around wonderful. The room was already set up with various kid-related items that we had requested through the e-concierge: step stool; diaper pail; crib; kid-sized bath robes, pajamas, and slippers, etc. We never waited to sit for a meal, housekeeping was never in the way, delivery of requested items to the room were incredibly prompt, and the concierge nicely reminded me the day prior to our departure that I’d booked a car to the airport for the next day. The van to HND cost 16,000 yen, which I thought was worthwhile for the seamlessness of it. Even though it was a taxi, the hotel had provided the driver with oshibori and bottles of water for us. We didn’t utilize the concierge for anything other than recommending kid-friendly restaurants, but they had some terrific recommendations.

Location

The location is good and bad. The good is that it’s directly across the street from Shinjuku chuo park, and specifically closest to the extensive playground equipment. My kids - especially my 4 year old - loved it, and it was our first stop nearly each day. Aside from that, the location is somewhat boring, and it’s annoying to get to transit. It feels sort of like the Upper East Side in NYC. I’ve read and heard people comparing the location to that of the Andaz. I much preferred Andaz’s location. The walk to Toranomon station from Andaz is much shorter than the walk to any station from Park Hyatt. So my take on location is this: Park Hyatt is great for when you have little kids. Otherwise I think Andaz is better (and maybe even Andaz has a playground nearby. I just didn’t look for one then).

As an aside, a super convenient laundry service nearby the hotel is called Wash & Fold Yoyogi. It’s a pleasant 7 minute walk from the hotel, and you can drop off laundry and have it washed and impeccably (of course) folded within a few hours. They’re open from 9am-11pm, and the prices are very reasonable. I think it was 1650 yen for a smallish (maybe 5kg) bag of laundry. They also do pick up and delivery, which takes two days. I needed same day service, so didn’t utilize that.

Dining

Breakfast at Girandole is a very nice affair - quite a bit more formal than the Andaz with impeccable service to match. As a Globalist you can order truly anything. Want the Japanese breakfast plus waffles? Go for it. Want to add a smoothie and fresh juice? All yours. Want it all delivered with room service? Done (despite the room service menu saying that Globalists can only get either the American, Continental, or Healthy Start breakfasts). The world is your oyster. If you aren’t a Globalist and breakfast is not comped, then prices are steep - 4200 yen for Japanese or American breakfast. Aside from the Japanese set breakfast, the menu and buffet lean pretty heavily western, which is not my preference, so I actually preferred Andaz breakfast, which is heavily weighted towards Japanese cuisine. Regardless, the way the free Globalist breakfast perk is handled is top notch.

We also ordered room service dinner a couple times. The best thing I found was the Nabeyaki Udon. A burger tasted more like meatloaf, the Caesar dressing was not quite what I was used to, and the congee was very large with not a lot of toppings. The presentation in the room was superb.

We ordered a couple things at New York Bar one night. One was toast with wagyu beef and uni. It was just ok. I wouldn’t order again. I forget what the other was, so it clearly was unmemorable.

Twilight Hour at the Peak Lounge is a really nice perk for Globalists and also worth the cost for everyone else assuming one likes to drink. The service was wonderful, with the hostess recognizing us by the second night and the servers offering up complimentary kid’s plates for my kids to eat (side note: the kid’s plate is pretty unhealthy as it consists of a chicken finger, french fries, a little chicken sandwich square, and three little cakes). As soon as you open a menu or get to the last sip of a drink, a server is at your side wondering what else he/she can get you.


The drinks are excellent and plentiful and were much needed after a day out trying to explore with tired 1 and 4 year olds. The complimentary canapés were pretty good, too, but didn’t change up from night to night, so they got a little boring. We ended up ordering a couple things off of the snacks menu to supplement the canapés, though also found that menu to be a bit boring as well with standard western bar foods - pizzas, fish and chips, chicken tenders, etc.

I didn’t find the minibar prices to be offensive. Non-alcoholic drinks for 600 yen, vodka and gin for 1400 yen, whisky, and whiskey (no Japanese) for 2400 yen. I thought the sake and wines were actually not a bad value all considering, though I forget what the exact prices were.

Overall, I found the F&B on the property to be a bit too western (understanding that I didn't experience Kozue, the Japanese restaurant). It normally wouldn’t have mattered to me as I’d have been off eating excellent Japanese cuisine all around Tokyo and not in the hotel, but traveling with the kids made that more difficult to do.

Amenities

Club on the Park is beautiful and a fantastic Globalist benefit. It’s a huge facility with two dry saunas, a steam room, cold plunge pool, large whirlpool, and 6-7 showers with free flowing Aesop shower products as well as non-Aesop shaving cream and razors. In the locker room, there are numerous vanities stocked with Aesop facial toners, lotions, emulsions, and hair tonics in addition to various hair products. I spent the better part of two hours shvitzing, soaking, primping, and preening before heading up to meet my wife at the New York Bar for some drinks and music.

Having no-cover access to NY Bar is a great perk for guests. Drinks there are expensive at 2400 yen and up, but the high quality of the drinks, the setting, and the live Jazz make it totally worth it for a few. Also, I’d seen mentioned on here that they reserve some good tables for Globalists. I don’t know whether or not that’s truly the case, but  our first visit was a Thursday night when the bar was lively but not overly busy. We got the one open table that was along the windows and right next to the band. I then stopped up for a drink on Saturday night, and the bar was very busy, but I was seated immediately along the communal table. The Saturday night crowd was a bit different from the Thursday night crowd, with lots of very obtrusive selfies and filming of the performance on Saturday night.

Overall

Bottom line is that this is by all means a spectacular hotel and one of my top 3 favorites so far in the Hyatt portfolio. If you’re a family or need a suite for any reason, Park Hyatt is the clear winner due to its proximity to the park/playground and ability to use TSUs. I also think that typically a Park Suite is going to cost less in cash than a suite at Andaz if you’re going to go the cash route. However, if you don’t need a suite and/or easy playground access, I’d choose Andaz most times due to better proximity to subway, F&B that while admittedly more limited, better aligns with what I like, and base level rooms that are superior to those at Park Hyatt (based on feedback from others. I didn’t see a base room at PH). This is not at all a knock on Park Hyatt. I simply think that Andaz is THAT good.

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