After completing a 14-day quarantine in Chiba Prefecture after returning from the US, I stayed at the Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo for 2 nights in the second half of September. I had two FNAs from credit cards with an expiry date of Jan. 2022 and given the dearth of Marriott hotels near me in Kyushu, I decided to use them while in the Tokyo area. Although I'm Marriott Gold, I was at 49 nights when I checked in and would be at 50 (Platinum) after my first night. I was therefore expecting that I would only receive Platinum benefits from my second night. In addition, the Marriott app showed that the Club Lounge was not open at this time. Anyway, to my surprise, the check-in agent not only told me that they would confer Platinum benefits to me for both nights but that the Club Lounge was also open, contrary to what the app said. This made my day, as I had really wanted to experience the three club lounges here and at the neighboring Prince hotels. We were told that alcohol would not be served in the club lounge due to Tokyo's COVID emergency measures, so we were offered a gift of one full bottle of white, red, or sparkling wine delivered to our room instead. We handed our luggage to the bell person and made our way to the club lounge for a drink. After that, we headed to the hotel's sauna and whirlpool bath (basically a sento) to wash up and relax.

Lobby lounge

Prince Sakura Tower Club Lounge

The hotel was fairly busy on our first night and in the evening we could not access the club lounge cocktail time between 5 and 7 pm immediately so we were put on a waiting list and called by phone when space became available, which it did after about an hour. The food (or snack) offering was fairly meager but tasty along with the white sparkling wine. Although we'd been told that alcohol would not be served in the club lounge, I thought I'd misunderstood because the white wine tasted read, but it was not until the third glass that I realized that it was non-alcoholic. The Sakura Tower club lounge was probably the smallest of the three Prince hotels (Sakura Tower, Shin Takanawa, and Grand Takanawa) lounges but perhaps the most comfortable and certainly large enough. Breakfast was served in each of the lounges with only the Grand Takanawa offering a Japanese breakfast with the others serving continental breakfast. If you had wanted, you could have gone from one club lounge to another and had both Japanese and continental breakfasts as there was no way they could track you. The same goes for Cocktail Time visits. In fact, I went from one cocktail time to one at another Prince hotel in the same evening and saw others do the same.


Prince Sakura Tower Club Lounge

Club lounge food and beverages

Japanese Breakfast at the Prince Grand Takanawa Club Lounge

View from the Prince Grand Takanawa Club Lounge

Prince Grand Takanawa Club Lounge Cocktail Time

View from the Prince Sakura Tower Club Lounge


Room with double beds

The main disappointment for me at the hotel was the guest room itself. The hotel lobbies, club lounges, fitness center, sauna and whirlpool bath, and gardens were all very nice, but the guest rooms did not measure up. Overall, they were frumpy, dowdy, and drab interiors that reminded me a lot of the guest rooms of Japanese hotels, even the upper tier Okura and New Otani, during the 70s and 80s. The one bright spot was the bathroom, which was more up-to-date and included a bubble-blowing bathtub and walk-in shower. However, the counter with two sinks was unusually low, even for a Japanese hotel.


Shin Takanawa Hotel Pool

I was surprised to find that the pool was open and being used during Tokyo's COVID state of emergency. That said, I also found US hotel pools sometimes open and used during August and September, as is usually normal.


Garden area between hotels

The garden area was very pleasant and even more extensive than I originally thought. It was fun walking between hotels and enjoying the sights and greenery along the way, which was very relaxing.


Pond with colorful carp

Restaurants
The three hotels offer numerous restaurants, which all appeared to be open. Given the paltry food offering at the club lounge, I had planned to try a hotel restaurant, but one evening I found that club lounge hopping provided me with enough food to tide me over. However, one night we did order in-room dining, which was a sub-par experience, and I find it to be pretty hit-or-miss at most hotels.

Sauna/Whirlpool Bath
There was a sento with alarge whirlpool bath along with dry and steam saunas, an area with chairs and chaise lounges for relaxing and washing stalls for about eight people. It was not especially crowded and on our last day, I had the space to myself much of the time.

Gym
The gym had a fair amount of equipment, mainly weight resistance stations and aerobic equipment such as treadmills, stationary bikes, and elliptical machines, which I did not use during my stay.

Service
My only real contact with staff was at the front desk and in the club lounges, but the service was consistently good and efficient. All of my interactions with the front desk were exceptionally good and they went out of the way to ensure that I was satisfied with everything. For service alone, the hotel deserves a 4.6 rating or higher.

Overall
Although this hotel has a high 4.6 guest rating, after my first night I really wondered why it was so high. The service aspect aside, the guest room really detracted from any rating I would give it and was below what I would expect for a Category 6 hotel (this is an Autograph Collection Hotel, after all). However, after my second night, my opinion shifted somewhat due to the garden grounds, the three attractive club lounges that could be freely used by any guest, the service quality, and the sauna/whirlpool bath. Still, the rooms are the weak point of the hotel and for me, do not warrant such a high rating for the hotel. OTOH, Shinagawa is a very convenient location for travelers and has a direct train to Haneda, is a Shinkansen stop, and connects to multiple train lines, so I understand why travelers might favor it. Plus, you have the benefit of staying in a green oasis in the middle of Tokyo. But, if you are planning a longer stay in Tokyo, I would choose a hotel in a location where nightlife and shopping are far more convenient such as Ginza or Roppongi. I guess it all depends on what your needs are.