Originally Posted by
RichardInSF
[Tokyu Shibuya Excel Hotel] is a decent looking hotel, sort of deluxe business hotel.
That's right. The guest hallways and rooms feel as if they're brand new style-wise. Nothing terribly fancy, and standard Japanese-style rooms (i.e. tiny by western standards) but everything is up to date and in good repair.
But despite the hotel being connected to the station, it seems to me like the walk to/from the N'Ex platforms is about a half mile
That's true. Most of the distance is getting from the N'EX platform to the main section of JR Shibuya Station, but that has speedramps most of the way.
plus it's very difficult to avoid some stairs, which is a pain with baggage.
... but not impossible. I have the route down pat. I can get from the door of the airplane at Narita Airport to my room in the Shibuya Excel without going up or down a single step, let alone flight, of stairs. There are escalators and/or elevators available along the entire route.
The baggage issue is a good one to point out. I'm pretty efficient when it comes to bags: even if I have a large bag that I check with the airline, it has four wheels and my carry-on sits on top and slips over the handle. As such, as long as I have a flat surface or an escalator/elevator, I can marshal it along rather effectively. If a visitor to Tokyo has such luggage, then I think taking the train to/from NRT is a great option to certain hotels. However, if there is a large amount of luggage, such that it's more than just one stack per person that can easily be wheeled about, then I think taking the limousine bus directly between NRT and the hotel is a better option.
Having said all of that, and not just considering baggage, I still highly recommend the Shibuya Excel. I've also stayed at the Cerulean, Grand Hyatt, Park Hyatt, and Hilton, and would recommend to others and almost certainly stay at the Shibuya Excel myself in the future. It may be only a 3-star hotel, with the others being 4- or 5-star properties, but it's the only one that I mentioned that is directly connected to an N'EX station, and there's tons to do literally right outside the door. All of the others suffer from isolated and much more sterile locations to one degree or another when on foot, perhaps with the exception of the Grand Hyatt.