Rin

yep,I was told a millions times by my friends and FTers that the Sauna was awesome before I had made the reservation.However, I personally dont like the Sauna, cause I cant stand the heat and steam. What a shame! But I'm easy to satisfy, the running machine faces the french window is amazing enough to me.

Fly Me To The Moon

Has anyone been successful in booking a Park Suite all on POINTS at the Park Hyatt Tokyo? I called the Diamond Gold Passport line, and the gentleman said this was not possible. If it is possible, how many points? And, how should I go about doing it? Call the hotel directly, or call a more knowledgeable Diamond Line Customer Service Rep? I'm looking to stay 3 nights.

AZ Travels the World

I have. It's a Category 5 property, so this chart shows that it is 27K points per night. That's what I 'paid.'

I spoke to a Diamond Line agent, who checked availability and booked it.

Perhaps the problem you had was availability on your specific dates? I would try again, during the week, with a Diamond agent.

Fly Me To The Moon

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Fly Me To The Moon

Dakota

I am a Diamond and have a five night, paid, reservation for a suite at the hotel. They emailed me the other day in response to my request for a (not very) early check-in, with a flight arrival at NRT at 10.00. Hotel check-in time is 13.00. They suggested I extend my reservation to the previous night, to guarantee availability...

I replied saying that it was a request and I hoped they could accommodate me. They replied again, saying "we are not able to confirm early check in".

It usually it takes a good two hours from NRT to town, plus of course time to clear immigration, etc., so I would be lucky to make it even by 13.00 and, at most, maybe a few minutes beforehand.

Now, everyone knows these things are requests and there is no guarantee, but this rankles with me. My stay is over several nights, in an expensive room and I have status, but the hotel seems not to cut any slack at all. I find it surprisingly ungracious. In fact, it would be from a much lesser hotel in these circumstances, status or not.

Is this hotel usually so inflexible in its service delivery? It has given me very cold feet, I must say.

SanDiego1K

Dakota, I can understand your frustration - paying for a suite, not an award stay, and there 5 nights. It certainly seems reasonable to want access on arrival if that should be an hour or so before the scheduled check in time. But I wonder if it is that you are going into a suite that is the challenge. Perhaps their suites are heavily booked. If so, it would have resonated much better if they had responded "We aren't confident of having your suite available before 1pm, but will do our best to give you a room in which you can relax until it is." It's all about the approach, and that would have made it clear that you are a valued guest.

sfvoyage

I also sympathize with your frustration, and I have shared similar frustrations at this hotel. Mostly it is cultural, as the Japanese tend to stick to the rules, but it doesn't mean they won't try to accommodate you. This hotel, in particular, is really formal and rigid when it comes to how they communicate to their guests. On the one hand, they are very polite and would mostly deliver flawless and fantastic service; on the other hand, they are firm in telling you what the rules are, and if they are bending it just a tad, they will say so and state that this is a one-time exception, not to be expected again. (In your case, and in mine, these are little things that other hotels would offer up pro-actively, or wouldn't blink an eye in complying with our wishes, but in this property, it seems to be always a struggle.)

I am very patient and understanding, having just lived in Japan for almost 2 years. But for some reason, they tend to irritate me more than at other places in Japan. Some of it may be training, especially with the specific, formal language they use to communicate in English. I think perhaps they have been trained with specifically what to say in various situations, and some of them lack the confidence and/or language skills to improvise or deviate from their script to add some warmth to the message delivery.

In any case, I have about given up on this hotel, mostly due to the inconvenient location. I stay at the Grand Hyatt mostly now. The PH is still a great hotel, so you should enjoy the stay. Their pool and gym and spa areas (you have free access as a Diamond anyway) are great and much better than at the GH.

RichardInSF

I am a big fan of this hotel, but not a big fan of the reply you got, especially for a diamond. I think the issue is not the availability of suites but the tendency of folks not to vacate until later -- most North American flights leave at 5-7pm, so people don't leave for NRT until 1-4pm, and then the hotel has to clean the room.

However, with a 10am arrival, I wouldn't pay the extra night, instead, I'd just show up. You are right that you likely won't catch a N'Ex (for example) before 10:45, arriving at Shinjuku around 12:10, which means you'd be at the hotel not long before 1pm.

Dakota

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

As to cultural differences, while I haven't been to Tokyo for a few years and previously stayed at Hilton, Starwood, IC and Prince hotels there, I don't remember anything jarring like the communication above. The fact it was considered and repeated rules out an isolated slip, supporting sfvoyage's view that this is the hotel style.

I really wouldn't care too much if the suite were not ready on my arrival - if that's what happens, it's fine. Only the insane or insanely rich would pay for another night's stay at those rates for what might be 30 mins' use at most. What I do mind is being heavy-handedly reminded of the letter of the rules like a schoolboy.

I am tempted to reply that, since I will need to check-out by 08.00 at the latest when leaving, the hotel may wish to reduce my last night's rate! Let's see what happens!

JonathanIT

I'm excited to have a three night FFN stay coming up at this property starting November 5. I noticed in this thread a couple pages back (posted around mid-July) that Diamond members were having trouble getting the full breakfast benefits from this hotel... i.e. they were still only offering "continental" breakfast. I was wondering if any Diamond members had any recent experiences? Have they updated their policy? I'm hoping I won't have to "battle" to get the breakfast benefits!

I find it ironic with all the talk about how closely they abide by "the rules" in Japanese culture that they would refuse such a clearly stated benefit.

SanDiego1K

I was at the hotel in the last two weeks. The hotel is fully compliant re breakfast.

jimmychang

You get the complimentary New York Grill ( American ) breakfast. You still have to pay the difference if you prefer the Japanese one, which I think is of much better value.

dooha

I'm replying late to this thread, but I thought I'd add an observation. From 6 years of living in Tokyo, I'd call this response pretty typical... but I wouldn't take affront. Japanese are typically hesitant to commit to anything unless they can guarantee it. I'm sure you'll find the hotel staff very gracious once you arrive.

Until Citibank came to Japan, most ATMs were closed on weekends... that always baffled me, and nobody could ever explain why. After living there for a while, I kind of figured that it was probably because ATMs sometimes run out of money. The idea of an ATM being open but out of service was probably more jarring than the idea of just not having access to cash over the weekend, in general. I don't know that that's actually the reason, but nobody's ever been able to give me a better one.

SanDiego1K

Welcome to FlyerTalk, dooha. That was very interesting insight, and I was fascinated by your example of ATMs. I hope that now that you've made your first post, you'll share more often with us.