I spent a night at the Hilton Narita a week or so ago coming back from Cambodia/Hong Kong. There is a Hilton shuttle bus to/from the Hilton Narita about every half hour or so--there are signs outside that show times.

The Hilton Narita rooms are nothing fancy, about the only freebie is a couple of bags of green tea (instant coffee costs like $2.50 for two), the windows do not open and I could find no temperature control for the A/C. The bar closed at 12 midnight (last call at 11:30), so if you have illusions of Lost in Translation, this isn't the place. Bring your own drink unless you enjoy short bar hours and high prices (check your bill--I got charged for drinks other than what I ordered). Check-out time is a miserly (considering the clientele) 11:00 a.m., a couple hours more costs you 25% more, etc. My minimal room was booked as SINGLE ROOM DELUXE – JPY 16.000,00 (USD 151,00) PLUS 15% TAXES, European plan (no meals). No idea why it was called Deluxe. Certainly the Hilton Narita does not seem like an international business hotel in terms of how it operates. The electronic toilet seat is interesting, however.

Taking the shuttle back to the airport, at the stop at another hotel, a warning light went on saying the door wasn't closed (even though it was). This caused the driver to fall apart, so we waited there for about 45 minutes until another bus arrived. Great embarassment for the driver, he and the hotel porter did a deep bow in shame as we finally pulled off. I had a sense that I was in a place where if things didn't work as they were supposed to, nobody knew what to do.

[This message has been edited by GuatemAlA (edited Mar 08, 2004).]