hailstorm

They could just contact them beforehand and let them know they want the Japanese breakfast?

If it's not just theoretical griping, but something that's causing actual problems that enough people complain about, then I'm sure that they will resolve the issue. That they haven't yet says to me that, in practice, this change really isn't that big of a deal.

OsakaWino

It is true that most younger Japanese, and many older ones as well, prefer to eat breakfast at the buffet, so maybe you're right and it is a market decision. But precisely because the hotel offers Japanese food on the buffet, it should not be very difficult to offer it for room service. Maybe they don't want to detract from the set Japanese breakfast that seems so special.

If I were staying there (did so just once, but it has been quite a while) and saw that the Japanese breakfast was preorder only I would just shrug it off, but after seeing it come up in discussion, it just seems very strange to me, as I said, it is like saying "you have to either preorder your eggs or come down to the buffet". Maybe at a lesser hotel, but it seems strange at the PH.

OsakaWino

You're right that for me it is just theoretical griping, as I said above, but I still think it strange.

As you know, the majority of Japanese are not going to complain about it; if they want Japanese breakfast they'll go to the buffet.

But is it so hard to offer a bowl of miso and some rice and tsukemono for room service? The food is being prepared for the buffet anyway.

hailstorm

Who's said that they don't?

OsakaWino

Post #1048 in response to my specific question to that fact.

And most of the other posts regarding the Japanese breakfast have alluded to that without actually stating it.

And per the hotel's online room service menu, the only Japanese breakfast is the set breakfast.

Of course, they might do something on a special request, but most people are not going to inquire about things that are not offered on the menu.

hailstorm

That only refers to the specific full "Japanese Breakfast" course. Nobody ever said that you couldn't get miso soup or a rice ball or such via room service.

OsakaWino

quote from #10 48 "no Japanese B'fast without previous evening order."

Do you have actual experience to the contrary?

No miso or onigiri or anything similar on the hotel's posted room service menu.

Any experience to refute the evidence of their posted menu?

Just because nobody said you couldn't get it does not mean you can get it.

hailstorm

From me, personally, it will have to wait until the spring when I'll have a chance to try to do this.

(of course, in the worst case scenario, you could just go to the basement and buy it yourself...)

sensei

Yes, but not quite a 5-star hotel experience. And I do love some of the restaurants in the basement, especially "Saboten", the tonkatsu joint. Just not for breakfast when they had a perfectly fine system in place that was on par with properties of this level and that frankly even many lower end "business" hotels in Japan manage to offer. It isn't like you are trying to order a Japanese breakfast at a property in America or Europe.

hailstorm

But there's always been the case of being unable to get the breakfast at 2:30am, or 11:30 at night. I've never read a single complaint about that.

Does a hotel that does not immediately prepare any food at any time of day not offer a five star experience? Does a Michelin three star Japanese restaurant that does not offer to prepare a hamburger for a patron upon request unworthy of the rating?

Seems more like an American entitlement issue than somebody's actual problem with the Park Hyatt Tokyo.

MikeFromTokyo

Special requests at non-hotel restaurants are something different and irrelevant to this thread.

At high-end hotels standard breakfast foods (e.g. American or continental breakfast) typically are available 24 hours a day through room service.

Industry standard is that during restaurant operating hours virtually anything on any hotel restaurant menu should be available in room, even if this is not stated on a room service menu. Outside of restaurant operating hours, a more limited menu is available, but even at 3 a.m. every effort within reason should be made to satisfy special requests.

OsakaWino

Yes, breakfast is usually available 24 hours a day. And I would definitely judge a hotel by the quality and availability of its room service. That said, the Hiltons I have stayed in in Japan have had terrible room service menus (other than breakfast items), mostly just things like udon or curry.

To be more thorough, I looked at the PH's Japanese language room service menu and compared it with the English version, and found one Japanese breakfast specialty item that is on the Japanese menu but not the English menu: chicken rice porridge (okayu), either in Chinese style or Japanese style.

I can't see the comparison with expecting a Japanese hotel to offer a few Japanese food items on their room service menu vs expecting a Japanese restaurant to prepare a hamburger.

Of course for many guests this would not detract from the "5-star experience", since they might not be interested in ordering a Japanese breakfast, but in my opinion it does detract from an overall objective assessment of the hotel.

LIH Prem

IIRC, there were plenty of Japanese items on the breakfast buffet when I was there. I know there was salad and other items I didn't pay much attention to, so I don't recall the exact items they had.

I'm sure you can get Japanese items. this thing only applies if you want this one specific Japanese Breakfast Set.

This sure has generated a lot of discussion.

-David

AZ Travels the World

Ridiculously so, in my view.

I bet 1-out-of-50 of the readers of this thread care about the Japanese breakfast at this property.

Is it less than 5* to require a pre-order breakfast at a specified time? Yes -- no doubt.

Enough already.

canyonleo

We don't need a poll, it's way more than 1 of our 50. I typically stay at the HR and I love the Japenese bento (not buffet) breakfast. I'm American, and I eat local food when I travel (I don't even eat American breakfast at home).