I always find it quite odd that anyone might opt for a luxury hotel due to proximity to a railway station platform. It seems to come up as a discussion topic here for Tokyo quite often in a way that never arises in any other city in the world.

I can’t imagine anyone opting for one luxury hotel over another in NYC based on proximity to Grand Central or in London based on proximity to Waterloo or Victoria stations. Let alone one platform or another. I don’t think anyone has ever picked a luxury hotel based on proximity to a train station in Paris.

It was a mere 10-12 min subway ride or 15-18 min taxi ride from our Prince Gallery hotel to Tokyo Station when we were there in May. Somehow, we managed just fine. I’d like to think that’s not so unusual.

I could see the rail station quite easily from the FSM. And yet I found the hotel to be a very dated and weak example of a luxury hotel.

Absolutely baffling.