Are Taxi prices expensive? Yes.

- Typical taxi meters start at 660yen for the first 2km.
- Thereafter, the fare increases by 80yen per 274 meters. (or 80yen per 1min and 40secs, when moving at less than 10km/h)

This information comes from the Nihon Kotsu taxi company:
http://www.nihon-kotsu.co.jp/taxi/fare/

Are there taxis big enough for 5 passengers? Yes, but not easy to find.

If you want a taxi and you are in central Tokyo, it usually makes sense to hail a cab... but most cabs can seat only 4 passengers. (3 in back and 1 up front). It is possible to telephone with a request for a larger vehicle. If you call for a cab, you can ask for a "mini van" which is a soccer-mom type vehicle at the same cost - but who knows how soon they can dispatch one.

If you want to call for a taxi (in English) check out this service:
http://www.nihon-kotsu.co.jp/en/taxi/ephone.html

With several people in a cab, the price can be competitive with some public transportation for short rides. (Compare with 170yen each for a short subway journey). But I don't think you want to rely on cabs for every journey. I would prefer to be in a hotel with easy access to public transit.

Is relying on taxis very difficult?

I like Tokyo taxis for the fact that they are safe, clean and virtually ubiquitous *(unless it's raining, when it becomes harder to catch one). The drivers tend to know less about Tokyo geography than they ought to, but they will all know how to reach this hotel.

At the end of a day of sightseeing, when your feet are tired and the kids just want to take a nap, there's nothing nicer than just catching the first available cab and taking the easy way back to the hotel. But with Tokyo taxi prices and traffic conditions, you want to make sure you're not doing this ten times per day.

What this means - In terms of using Chinzan-so as your base in Tokyo

I have looked at reviews on some websites, which all rave about the service at this hotel, but several of the reviews agree that the location is so inconvenient.

- Review on trip advisor kind of confirms what I am thinking:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...kyo_Kanto.html

- Review on eLuxury further confirms it:
http://www.eluxury.com/browse/servic...ervicetypeid=4


So - my advice - only choose this hotel if you can make a really good travel plan for each day and stick to it. Don't plan on popping in and out of the hotel several times whenever the fancy takes you.


If I were running this hotel, I would definitely arrange some free shuttle buses to some nearby railway hubs (maybe Shinjuku and Yotsuya). That would solve the only fault that anyone seems to be able to find in the hotel.

[It seems - I found - they used to offer a shuttle bus to Waseda station, but it is no longer advertised on their website. I imagine that the uptake was low, because Waseda is not a useful transportation "hub"]