On the second stay, I got a one category upgrade, from River view to Bay view. This is exactly what was advertized as Ambassador, so I can't complain, especially after the very nice treatment on the first half of the stay. But still, the break-up of categories in this hotel is maddening... At least the Bay View (which is Rainbow Bridge view) is actually enjoyable, so it's not a fictional/insignificant upgrade over the River/City view -- though Tokyo skyline is pleasant as well.

The Bay View, at night.

The room was identical to the one I got earlier, and the pictures on the website are representative of what I got. The corridors are dated. Bathroom is OK, a small bath, a Toto washlet, and a walk-in shower. Larger than what you could fear in Japan, but nothing to write home about. No natural lighting so it's a little depressing. Byredo amenities, and a rather comprehensive kit (brush, toothbrush, shaving kit, sponge...) as is commonplace in Japanese hotels. Reception can provide power adaptors if asked.

Also, I commented on the Diamond Breakfast in the main restaurant, and not on the lounge(s) offering. Nagomi lounge offers Japanese breakfast. If you're not into it, it is possible to have breakfast in the Club lounge at the 20th floor. It wasn't explained by anyone at the hotel, but it is mentionned on a paper sheet they give you when you do the check-in at the Nagomi lounge, even if you don't have Club Lounge access. The breakfast in the Club Lounge has a much reduced spread from the main restaurant, but it's good: eggs to order (they said "eggs your style" but the waited only understood "omelette" and "sunny side up"... will try again getting poached eggs tomorrow....), sausages, salads, fruits, a short selections of pastries (that were actually not bad, a surprise given the usually low-quality of croissants in hotels), three kind of cold cuts, bacon, smoked salmon, rice porridge, two kind of potato salad ("german" and "japanese"), fruit salad (4 kinds of fruits), fruit juice, 4 kinds of yoghurt, a coffee machine (but no tea as far as I could tell), and, more surprisingly, chinese pork dumplings and chili con carne. Sorry for being long, but breakfast offering being difficult to find is a pet peeve of mine, so I usually try to be complete ! At the nagomi lounge, the Japanese breakfast is a set meal, not a buffet. Good quality but not everyone's (my...) taste.




The Japanese breakfast plate has the same sleek look than the two Japanese dinner plates (appetizers then tempura/sushi/miso soup, slightly rotating from day to day, by the way), but it's quite different from what I am used for breakfast...

Uneventful stay again. I recommand it. The staff's level of English is very hit-and-miss. When I arrived, I waited for my luggage to be delivered to my room, and nothing happened. I called, and was told that my luggage "hadn't been received yet" and that they would try to locate it. No follow-up call. So, I had to either go the loyalty lobby route and try to get this stay comped, a compensation of 47 millions IHG points and free breakfast for life... or just call again. I chose the reasonable behaviour and my luggage was promptly delivered to my room in the next five minutes. At another time, I inquired in the lounge if I had left my phone there at breakfast... and the lounge attendant had trouble making sense of my simple request. On the plus side, she fetched the... cook, who spoke perfect English and who told her what was going on. If having difficulties communicating can ruin your stay, I'd advise against going at this property -- but it's not uncommon in Japan.

Edit: as a side note, I must mention that hordes of 40-nighters are still to be seen in the lounge at breakfast time: