We had a very nice four night award stay this week.

Transportation
We took an Uber taxi from Shinagawa to the hotel. Note that the car entrance to the hotel is not on the main Kushu-Kaido Avenue but on Juniso-Dori; I don't know how you could explain this to a driver without speaking Japanese and giving them other landmarks in the area. So, we got dropped off a little farther down the street that we need to and had to lug our luggage in the front door. Not the end of the world.

The nearest main rail station is Shinjuku; about a 10-15 min walk. For those not familiar, Shinjuku is a very busy station full of commuters and can be pretty challenging to navigate (at least for me). There are also closer stations on the Oedo Line and Odakyu Line. For the latter, Google Maps likes to suggest the Minami-Shinjuku Station over the Sangubashi Station. We much preferred the latter; navigating to the Minami-Shinjuku Station from the hotel involves winding through a residential neighborhood with narrow streets and you pretty much need to have your phone in hand to navigate the multiple left and right turns needed. In comparison, the Sangubashi Station is at the West Entrance to Yoyogi Park and the Meiji Shrine and it’s a walk on two major streets with wide sidewalks, lots of streetlights, and minimal turns.

To get to HND, there’s no Airport Limousine Bus stop at the Kimpton so you’d need to go to the Washington Hotel to catch it there. We asked the hotel to call us a taxi which took about 10 minutes to arrive at the proper car entrance so it was easy to load ourselves and our luggage into the car. Hailed taxis charge a metered rate to HND but pre-booked taxis and Uber are flat-rate so keep that in mind during rush hours. Our metered rate was slightly more than the flat rate.

Booking
We booked King Essential on points (four nights) and received High Floor King Premium with Extra Space on the 13th Floor (highest floor for rooms). Based on previous stay reports, I think Diamond members can expect either a Premium or Premium With Extra Space on points bookings. I inquired what the cost of a suite upgrade on a points stay would be and was quoted 32,000 JPY per night.







Previous posts have mentioned the lack of a view from rooms; this was ours.


Also, the open concept bathroom can be partially or completely closed off via sliding wall partitions. The small dining room table was convenient for our traditional Last Night in Japan dinner of take out depachika food items while we packed.

WiFi was a very speedy 100 mbps up/down.

Elite Benefits
In addition to the room upgrade, we requested a late checkout of 1 pm which was granted without any issue. We also elected for the free breakfast amenity which was a great value as the food is excellent and the menu varied enough so one does not need to eat the same thing every day. Servers were all extremely friendly and spoke English fluently.

Overall
I was happy to burn off some IHG points with good return on the room upgrade and free breakfast. That being said, and at no fault of the property or staff, we won’t be eager to stay in Shinjuku again in favor of properties in better proximity to local transit.

Rooms: A-, Location: B+, Staff and Diamond Benefits: A.