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Grand Hyatt Tokyo REVIEW - MASTER THREAD

Grand Hyatt Tokyo REVIEW - MASTER THREAD

Old Sep 19, 2003, 5:02 am
  #1  
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Grand Hyatt Tokyo REVIEW - MASTER THREAD

I took the airport limousine bus from NRT to the Hotel. I was the only person on the bus stopping at the Hotel. Travel time today was 2 hours.

At front desk directed to check-in on 10th Grand Club. A nice roomey Club with a separate smoking area. Soft drinks. Hard liquor offered at Happy Hour. Light stuff with a good variety of deserts. The Hotel has 21 floors. My room was presented with a apology so I knew I was going to be disappointed. I was given a room on 8. All odd number rooms on East side facing Mori building. Huge Mori building. The room faced thru a courtyard to the Mori building where I could see people working. The West side is even numbered rooms and is the preferred side. Finally moved to a twin room on 19. Rooms called Grand are just normal rooms. No further upgrade given. My Diamond account asks for king, non-smoke and high floor. Later one of the managers admitted that someone did not do a good job of keeping track of my room type. The room is good size with large flat panel Sharp tv. One also in bathroom. The bathroom is the real treat here. It is very nice. High end amenities. High speed internet complimentary with all of the attachments already in your desk. The room has a dvd player and movies are downstairs and free.

Breakfest in Club tomorrow will be continental. Today is a Friday and the Club was full of couples. The Hotel is hot and on everyones list to visit. Many people just meeting in the lobby. Great sitting chair by the window. Management assures me these are one way windows but I am not taking any chances. I can see into the Mori building as I have a odd number room. I think it best we not expect much in terms of upgrades. The did describe them but non was offered. The staff is very young, attentive and helpful. It will probably take me a couple hours to figure how to control all the lights.

This evening I found a place on the other side of the street called the Lunch Box. You can pick you meal and they cook it while you wait. Now this is not high end food. It is cheap, hot and frankly good. You can get your soda from a vending machine.

The Hotel is located around the corner from Roppongi nightlife. You exit the Hotel bear right and go up then down a escalator to get to the main drag. The lights in the area are beautiful. The young people are out and the city is vibrant. I am here on FFNs. FYI
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Old Sep 19, 2003, 12:58 pm
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Hmmmm does it seem like everone on FFN's at this property are getting the "dregs" of the room types, even though many of us are "Diamond"...
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Old Sep 19, 2003, 12:58 pm
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I love Tokyo. This is truely a great city for everything. And FFNs makes it better. So far yes the PHT is still it. I have yet to be overly impressed. My katsu donburi was 550 yen and my Dr Pepper was 120 yen. Now that is a bargain anywhere. And you know it was good. I enjoyed it after writing my report.

BTW Be careful. There are a set of two large industrial fans the size of 777 engines which whirl 24/7. I was wondering what the noise was and low and behold there they are. So the West side or even numbered of the Hotel is it. Apparently from management I heard people do complain about getting lots of sun at the end of the day. So if going out leave your ac on.

Now a few other things. I have been exploring. The room has a inroom safe with a power connection inside for the laptop. It is small and would probably only fit your laptop. So leave your millions at home. The dvd player will not play by US dvds apparently and the remote for the dvd is in Japanese. So hunt and peck. The TV has like 30 some odd channels. No movie channels I could find.

The ice machine is near room 16 so you want to avoid this. I was offered a 16 room and while I was waiting just stepped in there and pushed the button. Avoid 16. The bathroom has a rain shower head which looks great. The tub is a deep soaking tub. The toilet area is kinda strange. You can have privacy by pulling on the door which is part of the wall you face when seated. A magnet on the wall will keep it closed. Kinda interesting. The drawers hold a assortment of interesting bags which I am sure fellow FTs will be making off with. I do not think they are as interesting as the ones at the PHT but you know. They would fit in your bags. The room contains some sleek looking writing pens which FTs will also probably favor. Another thing. The Hotel rooms have refs. They are not the auto bill ones so you can leave something in for cooling. There is a am pm by the Lunch Box. Regards
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Old Sep 19, 2003, 1:06 pm
  #4  
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That is what I am thinking. I have used FFNs here and at Seoul. Yes as a Diamond you get Club. Which is nice. But in terms of rooms expect nothing. Reminds my also of the crap room I had at PH Paris. I searched my memory and I can not recall ever getting a suite as a upgrade out of Hyatt. Now I know a upgrade to a suite is not part of the program but it would be a nice bone. Is this part Starwood is superior. I asked the manager about this and he said points or FFNs you still earned it.

This trip so far has been total Hyatt and it has been a struggle. I am big on the hotel room experience and it has been a drag. I know I do this to myself but it could have been easier. I will be taking the train and check into the Hotel Granvia Kyoto. That will be flawless. Not all the perks of Hyatts but flawless. I know Julia is reading this stuff but I think the Zipper has a point.

Also this brings to mind this properties use of the word Grand in describing their rooms. I do not think that is fair to use as consumers. All rooms begin as Grand and for someone at Hyatt reservations to be promoting this as exceptional is wrong.
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Old Sep 19, 2003, 1:09 pm
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Thanks for the minireport. I will actually be in Tokyo for the first time ever in about 2 weeks and only have 3 days of leisure before moving on.

I booked the GHT because it was the newest and seems to be slightly better located for touristy things. Should I stay at the PHT instead?

Also, I am currently already booked in a Grand Club Room so does that mean by definition I will be on a low floor?

Any other hints or recs would be appreciated. Never been to Asia and really looking forward to it.

P.S. Travelling with a fluent Japanese speaker who lived there for 12 years so I don't think language will be a barrier to anyone's recs.
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Old Sep 19, 2003, 1:19 pm
  #6  
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I would stick with GHT. I have been to all three Hyatts in Tokyo. This one is most centrally located for Tokyo nightlife which is important. The Hibiya subway line is fairly close. The Tokyo Hyatt is a non choice. Just plain. The PH Tokyo is a experience. I guess if you did not mind a room move this would be IT for a night. The Hotel is world famous.

Interesting that the floors here do not have signs which say smoke and non-smoke. So make sure as ask for your preference. As for where Club floors are I am not sure. The Club is on 10 so the floors must be clustered around there. The walls are insulated but we get noise. The room is so high tech that I could make the walls rock with the equipment attached to the bottom of the desk. Almost like surrond sound but frontal only.

If you e-mail me direct I have a contact name for you. You may wish to make your preferences well known in advance. Enjoy the GHT. The free internet is great as you can see.

2/8/05 With regret I have been advised the FT friendly contact at the GH Tokyo has left for Taipei. Will be at the GH Tokyo 3/05. If I get a new contact will advise. Regards

Last edited by RTWSTARALLIANCE; Feb 8, 2005 at 8:04 am
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Old Sep 19, 2003, 8:15 pm
  #7  
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by FlyLots:
Thanks for the minireport. I will actually be in Tokyo for the first time ever in about 2 weeks and only have 3 days of leisure before moving on.

I booked the GHT because it was the newest and seems to be slightly better located for touristy things. Should I stay at the PHT instead?

Also, I am currently already booked in a Grand Club Room so does that mean by definition I will be on a low floor?

Any other hints or recs would be appreciated. Never been to Asia and really looking forward to it.

P.S. Travelling with a fluent Japanese speaker who lived there for 12 years so I don't think language will be a barrier to anyone's recs.
</font>
Even if you are traveling with a fluent Japanese speaker, for your first time in Tokyo, stay at the GHT. The PHT is the best hotel I've ever stayed at, but my only peeve about it is location. It is not convenient for either business or pleasure.

I found the GHT to be very good. The rooms are smallish, but the fit and finish of the rooms is tops, they are very well appointed, and the service is impeccable. Check out the new Mori building complex, including the observatory/gallery in the top floor.

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Old Sep 19, 2003, 8:22 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by divaof travel:
Was it PH that had the full electric seat? I reckon the water spray is controlled by joystick and camera by some guy with a TV monitor in the basement.</font>
Actually, the GHT goes one further, with a fan to suck out the odors. Mrs. Pickles (who always travels with a small can of Lysol, I can tell you many stories about near-confiscation at airports) loves the feature.
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Old Sep 20, 2003, 7:49 am
  #9  
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have been to the hotel last weekend. was disappointed by the normal rooms. i begged for a suite upgrade and received one. from that point on, everything was nice. friendly service.
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Old Sep 20, 2003, 4:34 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Pickles:
Actually, the GHT goes one further, with a fan to suck out the odors. Mrs. Pickles (who always travels with a small can of Lysol, I can tell you many stories about near-confiscation at airports) loves the feature. </font>
Just arrived at the PHT and guess what: the toilet seat was replaced with a fancier one that sucks out the odors. The old toilet seat had 8 controls, this one has 14. I may spend much of the rest of my stay trying to figure out the toilet, but maybe it's because I don't lead an interesting life otherwise.

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Old Sep 20, 2003, 5:14 pm
  #11  
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Had a great tour of the entire complex yesterday by MJM. In terms of location this is it for Hyatt fans versus the PHT or HR Tokyo. The Hotel has a wonderful amazing variety of restaurants. Connected to what will probably become one of the finest shopping complexs in all Japan. The Virgin cinema is grand. Gotta try that next time.

After my initial disappointment I have settled into my room. I will probably as stated above be more inclined for the West side next time. The idea of a office tower looking into the room is just not comfortable. They say you can not see in from the tower but gotta wonder. If you have a chance and 1500 yen go to the top of the Mori building for the museum and observation deck. Also the Hotel has a collection of 70 movies which looks to change monthly which you may borrow for free. One at a time. I've past some hours with a couple of movies. It is raining and a typhoon is on its way to Tokyo. Also experienced what MJM says was a mild earthquake. It made me put my pants on and be happy I was in a very new building.

Since we are talking about seats. And I mean seats. I have limited controls and have not found away to shut of the heat on the seat. No idling on these toilets. They are warm to hot. I leave today for Kyoto so this is it for my experience. Regards from the GHT.
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Old Sep 20, 2003, 9:09 pm
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If the seat is like the new ones at the PHT, the visible buttons are not all there are; you lift the plastic cover behind them to expose a bunch more. One is labeled "seat" -- if the seat is too hot, push it until the indicator labeled "low" is lit. Never thought I'd be giving instructions for this!

And there is also a new list of DVDs to borrow free here as well -- but "Lost In Translation" isn't available yet!
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Old Sep 20, 2003, 9:11 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by RichardInSF:
If the seat is like the new ones at the PHT, the visible buttons are not all there are; you lift the plastic cover behind them to expose a bunch more. One is labeled "seat" -- if the seat is too hot, push it until the indicator labeled "low" is lit. Never thought I'd be giving instructions for this!

And there is also a new list of DVDs to borrow free here as well -- but "Lost In Translation" isn't available yet!
</font>
Edited to add: Y1500 (USD13) to go up the Mori building is outrageous -- come to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building in Shinjuku, the tallest building in the country, and during the day, you can ride to the observation deck at the top for free!
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Old Sep 20, 2003, 9:44 pm
  #14  
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Interesting reading this thread. I have a bit of a connection to the whole complex and the feedback is good.

It is my pleasure to extend the offer of a full tour of the project to FTers that may find themselves here. Had a great time yesterday with RTWSTARALLIANCE and Kathy and look forward to seeing others as travels bring you here.

As for the cost of getting up to the top of the tower and having to pay 1500 yen to do so, it is easily the best deals going in my opinion. Why? Well for a start the museum at the top is one of the best I have visited and with its ties to many of the major museums of the world it will continue to be a great place to visit. The exhibition schedule has breaks about every three months where there is redesign going on so be careful in planning if this is a place on your itinerary. Open until Midnight and with a view that allows you to look down on Tokyo Tower and the Tokyo Met. Gov't. Building, it is the highest viewing place in Tokyo available. And if you are bold enough and the weather is behaving, guests are invited to the roof for a fresh air view of one of the most sprawling cities around. Culture, Views, and open late night to enjoy after taking in a meal with a friend. Plus, if you know the right people, you may also get in for a reduced price.

Hope to see some of you here,

Mike

[This message has been edited by mjm (edited 09-20-2003).]
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Old Sep 21, 2003, 12:09 am
  #15  
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If you did not get that- MJM is the right person to know. If you are further blessed he will take you to Heartland to down a few. MJM I think FT needs a Tokyo Do. What do you think? 800 euros worth of beer at Heartland. Friday evening mind you! Thanks for taking care of a fellow FT. In Kyoto now.
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