Originally Posted by
LapLap
Are you
sure the internet is free at the ANA for regular rooms?
According to this
http://www.anaintercontinental-tokyo.jp/e/room/
It's about ¥1,500 a day
Club rooms get free internet access, and it might be a perk for those with RA status.
The point about taxes and charges being included is a very good one.
But I personally cannot agree that the Tokyo Bay IC has the nicest views. I can't help but find the views from Tokyo Bay to be a bit depressing, whereas, for me, views over the rest of Tokyo are exhilarating. But then, I downgraded myself at the Yokohama IC to face Sakuragicho rather than face the murky gloom on the premium Bayside of the hotel.
It all depends on your taste. For me, the view from a North West facing room at the Strings is pretty darn special - great in the day, spectacular at night. From a Strings Panoramic or corner room, it is awesome.
If anyone is actually interested, I can post links to impartial photographs of the views from all these properties. It seems its more about 'taste' than which is actually 'the best' or 'the nicest'.
Hmm. It might be a perk for RAs who get upgraded to Club Floors at IC ANA and IC Strings. If you're a non RA, better check.
Due to some varying unavailability, rate fluctuations and, let's be honest, the 4x promotion for points, I just finished a 6-day stay that sequenced through all 3 properties twice (6 stays x 10,000 points + 20,000 from other promotions = 80K points in 6 days!).
IC Tokyo Bay - upgrade to junior suite with 2 corner views of the bay, plus one from the bathtub. Bottle of wine (still Cotes du Luberon, now 2005 vintage), sliced fruit (in minibar) and Club Lounge access.
IC Strings - upgrade to "club" room which gives assorted perks; teddy bear gift, as well as some sort of mug, free drinks (limited selection is free, some wines, beers, champagne and a half dozen spirits but not specialty drinks such as martinis made from same spirits) at the bar in the restaurant ("The Dining"), voucher good for breakfast or lunch or laundry of 4 garments. View of a lot of buildings. Free Internet. Free Minibar in the guestroom (I believe this is a "club" perk since there is no Club lounge, not just a perk for RAs).
IC ANA - upgrade to club room on club floor. Free Internet. Club lounge nice but not as many choices as @ IC Tokyo Bay. Gift - leather business card case (better than the leather luggage tag I got last time).
As for accessibility, let me clarify some of the previous posts. The JR Yamanote Line is convenient if exploring the entirety of Tokyo, particularly along the periphery of the city and jaunts outside of Tokyo. Inside the city and its various downtown areas, such as if you might be visiting on business, you may find the world's most travelled metro system to be more convenient. They do intersect but often clumsily so.
The Tokyo Bay IC requires an expensive Yurikamome monorail to connect to anywhere (or a 400 meter walk to Hamamatsucho JR station or a 600 meter walk to Daimon Metro station). ANA is almost connected to Tameike-sanno station on the Ginza line and Roppongi 1-chome on the Namboku line, but requires a change at Shimbashi if you want JR. Strings gives you covered walkway access to Shinagawa and is most convenient for trips on Shinkansen to the West, but is actually fairly inconvenient to the Metro; you can take a private rail line one stop to Sengakuji (interesting story at that temple BTW) and switch to the Asakusa line, or take JR Yamanote to Shimbashi, Ebisu, Meguro, Shibuya, etc. to connect to various metro lines.
It all depends on one's traffic patterns. As for what is in walking distance nearby, Strings is essentially in a brand new shopping mall area so lots of restaurants but nothing much of interest; Tokyo Bay is convenient to cruises and the Odaiba landfill development area; ANA is walking distance to the older parts of Tokyo, the Government and embassy area and the notorious Roppongi. None is perfectly situated. But then there is no perfect location in Tokyo; many hotels are in the high-rise Shinjuku area but that's inconvenient for much of the rest of Tokyo; some are in Ginza but that's like being on Times Square. Others that have a bit of free space require taxis or long walks to train or subway stations to get anywhere. Such is part of the charm of this city that boasts more Michelin stars than Paris and New York combined.