Originally Posted by
MattEvan
OK, so I have stayed here a few times over the last three months. Overall, my impressions are mixed.
The hotel is mostly great, but it's completely lacking
omotenashi, and it's not in the elite top tier of Tokyo luxury hotels (Aman, PHT, MO, Palace, Hoshinoya, and a few others. Sometimes Andaz.). In other words, this hotel could be in London or Los Angeles, and you would never know if you didn't look out the window.
The Tokyo Edition is also very influencer-driven, which makes my skin crawl. The crowd is odd, and the people watching is quite sad, actually.
Physical plant is high-quality, but the light color furnishings are already somewhat worn and stained.
The GM and rooms director are very accessible and eager to help. The concierge is well-intended but nothing special. They were competent are executing my detailed and specific instructions, and did propose some interesting options, but no "magic".
Location is solid if Minato City is where you want to be based.
Breakfast is table service, but buffet quality.
Some things I learned which were not proactively shared:
- Inclusive breakfast can be taken in-room for a ~1000 JPY surcharge.
- The Virtuoso benefits are only F&B and spa, not other incidentals.
- There is often a high degree of variance in room size within categories. In suites and premium rooms, ask for kitchenette rooms as they are almost always the best in category.
- Upgrading is stingy, book the cat you need or want.
For me the headline is: Edition is not the right brand for my tastes and preferences.
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Stayed here as Titanium Elite in early Dec and agree that the property is lacking in omotenashi, and also concur regarding the stingy upgrades. The crowd staying here seems to be young influencers, and a lot of foreigners rather than any native Japanese.
I kind of wanted a Tokyo tower view so looked on the app to see if there any available to potentially score an upgrade on the day of check in. There was, so I messaged in via the app -- no response. Then I inquired again during check-in several hours later, and they said the 'tower view' rooms were all fully booked.
Meanwhile a person next to me was getting upgraded to the room I wanted (I think perhaps they booked via Amex FHR and also had Elite status) -- and there were still rooms left on the app when I checked later. Too tired to make a scene so just decided to drop it. They did upgrade me from a regular deluxe base room to premier room (albeit without the tower).
Still I feel like there is no need to lie just to deny me an upgrade. But I guess it is easier to tell the white lie than to explain why. Perhaps the GM has told the front desk to be stingy with upgrades?
I ended up liking the RC Tokyo much better... and would probably choose that again if given the opportunity.
Edit: Had another stay more recently (RC was like twice the price for the same dates). The service was markedly better than the last (not sure if it was just dependent on which staff is on duty but from check in to the valet, the staff seemed more proactive and better trained). Still no upgrade though but it's busy in Tokyo now so can't blame them.