Having lived in Asia for 12 years including two years in Tokyo, I have spent over a hundred nights in the three Tokyo Hyatt Properties
First Key Item for Fellow FlyerTalkees- do NOT spend more time that you need in the hotels as Tokyo is the most fascinating city on the planet more than my hometown of NYC or Paris.
Park Hyatt- Over Rated and the employees have an attitude problem as they are used to dealing with Hong Kong Celebs and Japanese CEO's girlfriends so normal Diamonds have to fight for an Upgrade. On Several occasions after dealing with an Australian Rooms Director, I got upgraded to a 100m Suite during slow season when they were 50% capacity but it was an unpleasant experience for a diamond
-I had room service where they would forget to bring silver wear
-I dealt with Local Japanese Concierge's that had no idea where a local 7-11 or Lawson's was (Credit to the regular concierge for doing a good job but the B team is awful. This is just completely unacceptable for the price point and Park Hyatt.
Grand Hyatt- Is very well appointed with Floor to Ceiling windows and a fantastic Spa and Gym. There are superb restaurants and bars on premise including a high end French Pastry (Joel Rubuchon), Top 10 Sushi in Tokyo (Roku Roku) which is the famous Jiro's son's restaurant). However the Roppongi area is not very interesting unless you are in your 20's and looking to do pub crawling in which case it is the perfect location. Amazing Diamond breakfast in the restaurant (not as good a range of choices in the lounge).
Hyatt Regency- I agree with others at the immense value offered as I get in here at $230 Corporate Rates quite often. The hard part the last 20 years I have stayed here was the lack of Diamond Upgrades as the Japan Railway Company owns the hotel and the lack of money invested in the aging property. That has changed recently as they had the Famous Super Potato Design firm (Who are know for designing the Grand Hyatt Singapore rooms/restaurants and Park Hyatt Tokyo as well as dozens of local restaurants) re-did the Lobby Restaurant and the suite rooms one of which had a large hot tub enclosed with a glass wall looking into the bedroom. (For Design Fans, nothing compares to Japanese and Italian design:>)
Local Things to do (Do not sit in your room posting on Flyer Talk:>)
1-Tokyo is all about different neighborhood vibes complete w/ people/design/food
Ebisu is my favorite and you can have drinks down the back alleys or hit my favorite Napoli pizza place outside of Italy called Partnenope (Always get Buffalo Mozzarella with Cherry Tomatoes. They are trained/certified by Napoli Pizza Association and yes the Japanese are masters at all kinds of Intl. food.
If you have not tried Japanese Tepenyaki in Japan (Not to be confused with the Americanized Benihana), I highly recommend treating yourself to the Westin Top Floor Restaurant called Ebisu and comparing Japanese Steak at the most tender level ranked A4 and A5, be warned you can drop $75 on 150 grams but it is worth every yen as you are only in Japan once in awhile so be "Big in Japan"
2-Shopping is huge and you don't have to worry about the Americanization Chain Store ruining the experience. Go to Shibuya and bring your kids to the 109 building to see Japanese teens shopping and hit the Uniqlo store for high quality T-Shirts/Hoodies and Jeans (They are open in NYC and San Francisco).
Ikebukuro is another key area where you can not miss the Seibu Department store which has the largest Open Food market in Japan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpegD7jm4DA
with tasty delights for everyone and a secret conveyer belt sushi place in Basement 2 supermarket that has higher quality than Top U.S. sushi places for $2-5 a dish. We also liked the stationary at the Loft on top floors of Seibu, the bookstore for Japanese Cook Books and the Cooking Section where we got a high end Tiger rice cooker (for those still using Uncle Ben's rice:>). We also bought a few high end cooking and carving knifes from the Brand called Global which have a wonderful grip and are 1/3 cheaper than buying in the U.S.
Bicco Camera is a multi-Story electronics store that was a weekly visit for us when we lived in the "hood" but the small BuckWheat Soba store half way down the block is sublime so don't miss that.
Omote-Sando is the Beverly Hills/Fifth Avenue of Tokyo with high fashion and it if you enjoy live music which is just good for your soul and well being then I highly recommend you visit the Tokyo branch of Blue Note for live Jazz or R+B
http://reserve.bluenote.co.jp/reserv...le/move/201404
Akihabara- is the adult area for electronics, Cameras, Appliances etc and the Japanese Yen is currently about 100 Yen to the Dollar so you may save 10-15% on your favorite Camera brand vs Amazon and get the latest gear a few months earlier than it goes on sale in the U.S.