Conrad Tokyo {JPN}

Hi,

I stayed here for 3 nights from 3rd to 6th January.

I took the Keihin Kyuko line from Haneda to to Shimbashi station then walked to the hotel.

I went up to the 37th floor Executive Lounge to check in . ( around 4pm)

The lounge was very busy and was told there was a queue to check in but I grabbed some afternoon tea and waited my turn.
After about half an hour I was just about to ask about how my position in the queue was progressing when the lounge agent came up. He welcomed me back and thanked me for my loyalty and for waiting.
He mentioned that a suite would be available the next day which I accepted. He inquired if I needed a late check out on my departure date but as I had a 11am flight I did not need one.

My initial room was a bay view room (3043) . The bay view is excellent but you have a restricted view of the gardens as directly below the 30th floor is the roof and and the window washing crane for floors 29 and below.

I got awelcome amenity of several small cakes and a bag of candy.

The lounge was busy but was able to get a seat with no problem ( afternoon tea around 4 pm then the evening snacks just before 8pm when they were removed)
Breakfast in the lounge was very good with a made to order omelette station.

I left my case with the bell desk in the morning and came back at 330pm in the afternoon and was told that my case had been delivered to my new suite ( 3331- bay view)

The suite was excellent with a separate wc just as you came in, the lving room ( and nespreso machine ) and two doors leading to the bedroom with another couple of doors leading to the closet/safe then to the bathroom ( separated by doors from the bedroom rather than glass in the standard rooms)

The bedroom had a easy chair by the window rather than the day bed. The bathroom had a heated floor and a wetroom with bath and rainhead shower). The bathrobes were fluffier than in the standard rooms but were smaller ( I am not that large but the robes did not cover everything.)

Room and bed was quiet and very comfortable

Swimming pool and gym ( gym open 24hrs) were excellent.

When leaving I took a taxi to Hamamatsucho (Y570 -10mims) then the Tokyo monrail ( c 15m for the express monorail Y490) to Haneda airport international terminal

The Caretta Shiodome winter light show was excellent

Overall an excellent stay although on my final day I came dowm withh a chill/headache/sore throat so did not workout or use the pool on my final day.

Regards

TBS

Was there a TV with the shower? Was there a view from the shower/tub over the sink through the windows to the bay? I had a suite like that many years ago and wondered if you got one like that.

Completing a three night stay here and been happy with my stay. I haven't been here for a while but I was impressed with the expanded lounge. It still gets busy not like the packed circus before the renovation. One of the previous posters mentioned a shift to tour group guests. From my check-in experience, I can attest to this assertion. When we arrived in the lobby, a group of about 50 were in the process of check-in. All FD agents were busy processing passport information. Lobby staff were a bit overwhelmed and I ended up having to flag down someone.

Congratulations, that's pretty good. You got a way better deal that we did. I was hoping for at least a jr. suite like on my previous stay. During check-in, I was informed of my one-category upgrade to a king exec bay view room. Then they added if I wanted a suite, one was available for a fee. The lounge agent quoted the price in yen but it was around $130 per night. I declined, even though it was a special "Diamond" only price.

In the bay view suite, there's a TV with the tub, not the shower. If memory serves, you can't see from the shower/tub out through the wall/window to the bay. It might be IC Tokyo Bay that has that.

edit: I went back and looked at photos from my stay. The suite's bathroom has two sliding doors that slide open fully. One opens out to the bedroom, the other to the closet. With the former fully open, the only barrier between the tub/shower area and the bedroom is the transparent glass wall that encloses the tub/shower. So technically you could see out the window to the outside from the shower/tub, although your vantage point may be too low if you're sitting in the tub.

Also I have to correct myself about the tub/shower/TV. I forgot that the tub and shower are within the same glass-enclosed area with TV mounted right next to the tub. So yes you can watch TV while bathing or showering.

IC Tokyo Bay's bathroom does not have views/windows. Okay, everything I wrote above was wrong! I'd stayed in so many places over the past 1.5 months, I had everything confused.

Yeah I was extremely surprised and grateful. Who knows what is involved in decisions on suite upgrade. I'm guessing it's a game of room shuffling on the staff's part based on the inventory and who else are staying. When you say 1-cat upgrade, were you upgraded from bay view to exec bay view? If you went from city view to exec bay view, though, that would be at least a 2-cat upgrade. This is the first time I've gotten anything other than exec floor "upgrade" of the exact same room type.

Often it could be one single person taking up a long time to check in at Conrad's EL. And I don't mean to generalize, but it is pretty much always Western guests who do this, negotiating for this and that. Last summer, I waited probably >15min while this European guy hogged up the lounge check-in desk before I gave up and headed downstairs to check in at the lobby. When I returned ~10min later, the guy was still there nagging the EL lady. This really gets out of hand sometimes.

Last month, there was again a similar situation developing at the EL. The difference was that, as soon as we arrived, another EL lady took charge by having me take a seat by the window, bring out drinks and then having my check-in processed over the course of ~20min while she went back and forth and we sat windowside without ever having to go to the check-in desk.

Hi,

In the suite bathroom there was a TV over the bath. If you had the sliding doors between the bathroon and bedroom open you could look across the bay.

Regards

TBS

I wonder what kind of suite I was given a few years back, then. It had a TV mounted for the shower, and lovely views from huge windows behind the sink (as well as floor-to-ceiling windows in the dining room).

I did last year.

We are making a return trip in December and I was checking out the rates. Any reason why this is going for 389,000 points? We were looking at 12.9-12.11.

I'm assuming this is because it is so far away and things can get a bit wonky with availability that far in advance.

Not sure why the rates are that high at the Conrad during that time frame. The other Hilton properties have normal cash pricing and Standard Award Rooms (60K at the Hilton Tokyo, for example). The Conrad stands out with a very high cash rate and the 389K points is towards a Premium Floor Award (never worth it IMHO).

Correct. Even if I was someone who had millions upon millions of Hilton points, there is no way I'd pay 389,000 points per night. If they don't have the 95k available, you just have to say "well damn" and look for something else.

I'm actually debating whether to stay at the Conrad or the Hilton for an upcoming trip. Currently have the Conrad reserved but I'm more of a fan of the Shinjuku area so the Hilton is a bit tempting, not to mention the point savings.

Conrad is the better hotel, but the Hilton is still a nice property. Choose the Conrad if you prefer hotel ambiance, better breakfast spread, and convenient access to that side of Tokyo.

If Shinjuku is your thing you can't go wrong with the Hilton. The lobby of the Hilton can feel quite hectic at busy times, doesn't have the views of the Conrad, and the rooms are a little more dull.