ne0ven0m

Had a pleasant stay there about 2 weeks ago. I am an Explorist and was upgraded (without asking) from King with Club Access (I used Club passes after booking with awards), to Deluxe King with View. The 21st floor views of the skyline and Chuo Park below were so nice, I actually decided against going to any observatories during this trip (even though the Govt Metro building was next door). Another pleasant surprise: I was granted Club Access for my entire 5 night stay, even though my first night was booked with a Cat 1-4 cert, and nights 2-5 were with points. The clerk even mentioned that you're not supposed to get Club Access with free night stays, but they wanted to gift it to me, so I took it. Only went up for cocktail hours that first night. It was busy but not full. Mostly tourists or business travelers, as I probably hear more English in that area than I did anywhere else during my time in Japan. I enjoyed the food offerings here, as well as during breakfast. They had western and Japanese style buffets, and switched a few items up each day.

The room seemed large from my expectations of reading reviews about Tokyo rooms. Honestly did not feel any more cramped than several US rooms from similar level hotels. The toilet was separate from the main bathroom. In the main bathroom, large tub and separate shower stall with closing glass doors (this came in handy to steam out wrinkles in clothes, as I could not find an iron in the room). I think the concerns about a stiff bed are valid, although I was still able to enjoy it. My wife, however, said it didn't give her the best sleep (especially coming from the Ritz Carlton Kyoto beforehand, which had a much softer and nicer bed).

7-Eleven below the hotel was a god send. I loved the snack options and would load up each day to try something new. The hotel's shuttle to Shinjuku Station was also convenient, but it does stop running at 10:00pm. We did use the Tochomae Station that's across the street once, but it is a non-JR line. Not wanting to deal with luggage on our departure, we opted for the airport bus, I think roughly 6000 yen for TWO (corrected). The trip is advertised to take 2 hours + traffic, but we took the 6:00am one and it was barely 90 minutes to NRT. Another service I don't see often talked about is a local laundry service with pick up options called Wash & Fold. The concierge is familiar with the company. Instead of being fleeced by washing at the hotel, you can buy a bag (500 yen) and fill it up for 3000 yen, and have your laundry returned. They warned it could take up to 2 business days, but I had my clothes washed, folded, and returned to me in 24 hours. It's quite a sizable bag, as it could hold 4 days of clothes for me, and still had a little room.

The staff was polite across the board, from the welcome tour I got of my room, to room service, to everyone else in between. I think the high standard of customer service in Japan will spoil me going forward.

Would gladly return to this hotel, and/or the adjacent Hilton Tokyo. I really enjoyed Shinjuku, and barely got to explore it. The access to train stations can't really be beat either, unless I stay closer to Tokyo Station.