Originally Posted by
RichardInSF
Another option is to skip Tokyo and go a bit south to Odawara and stay in the Hilton there, it's about 1/5 or so of the way to Kyoto.
Odawara Hilton, though nice, is inconvenient, especially during the summer and weekends, when the Odawara shuttle shuts down and you have to do the transfer at the unmanned station in Nebukawa.
I'd keep it simple and interesting, and stay at the new Tokyo Station hotel. Can't get better access to the bullet train than that!