Jan 15, 2024, 3:08 pm
Last edit by: FlyinHawaiian
Tips on how to navigate to the hotel from Shinagawa Station (JR Shinkansen, Yamanote Line, Keikyu Airport Line to/from HND, other various lines that stop in Shinagawa).
The easiest way is via the second (main) level, one up from street level. Exiting the station, there are elevated sidewalks/skyways that leads into the elevator lobby of the hotel.
From the second floor, follow signs to the Konan (East) Exit of the Shinagawa Station and exit there. Best to walk on the right side of the corridor. When exiting, the Dean + DeLuca cafe will be on your right, follow the flow of traffic to the right past the store and then take a left down the long walkway and you will see the sign for the hotel as you get closer on the right side. There's a small 7-11 on the left when you get to the hotel entrance. Walk down the corridor and turn left which will lead you to the elevator banks that service the 26th floor check in lobby.
The easiest way is via the second (main) level, one up from street level. Exiting the station, there are elevated sidewalks/skyways that leads into the elevator lobby of the hotel.
- Keikyu Line platform seems to mainly exit to street level so make your way up to the second level at the earliest opportunity.
- All other non-Shinkansen lines exit from the platform up stairs/escalators/elevators to the second floor; follow signs to the Central Exit outside of fare control
- Shinkansen lines have their own exits from the second floor
From the second floor, follow signs to the Konan (East) Exit of the Shinagawa Station and exit there. Best to walk on the right side of the corridor. When exiting, the Dean + DeLuca cafe will be on your right, follow the flow of traffic to the right past the store and then take a left down the long walkway and you will see the sign for the hotel as you get closer on the right side. There's a small 7-11 on the left when you get to the hotel entrance. Walk down the corridor and turn left which will lead you to the elevator banks that service the 26th floor check in lobby.
The Strings by Intercontinental Tokyo Master Thread [merged]
Aug 6, 2023, 8:48 pm
#181
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SIN (LEJ once a year)
Programs: SQ, LH, BA, IHG Diamond AMB, HH Gold, SLH Indulged, Accor Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,741
Our corporate rate books into the 1 King Classic and I'm just fine with that one as what supposedly are next higher room categories are all very similar room layout wise with maybe 1-2 sqm difference (if at all) and another orientation/ view or such only. YMMV.
Nov 13, 2023, 8:10 am
#182
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: AA Executive Platinum, Marriott Lifetime Titanium, IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,451
Looking at staying at The Strings in Oct '24 for long layover (arrive NRT Mon at 16:00, departing NRT Wed at 11:00). Figured this would be the most convenient way to get back and forth to the airport, and do a day in Tokyo.
I am IHG Platinum, and am looking to use points (50,500 per night), or Chase Anniversary Free Nights. For points, the only room choice listed for 2 is a "Double Classic." From reading this thread, I am assuming the following apply:
1) I will not get an upgrade
2) I will not get free breakfast
3) I will not get lounge access.
4) I will get a small room.
Is my summation correct?
Any options to upgrade my situation?
I am IHG Platinum, and am looking to use points (50,500 per night), or Chase Anniversary Free Nights. For points, the only room choice listed for 2 is a "Double Classic." From reading this thread, I am assuming the following apply:
1) I will not get an upgrade
2) I will not get free breakfast
3) I will not get lounge access.
4) I will get a small room.
Is my summation correct?
Any options to upgrade my situation?
Nov 13, 2023, 9:37 am
#184
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: AA Executive Platinum, Marriott Lifetime Titanium, IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,451
So Ambassador Program looks to come at a price of $200, or 40K points. And this would only provide me a benefit of a 1-level upgrade? But still no free breakfast, lounge, etc.?
Nov 13, 2023, 10:39 am
#185
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: DTW
Programs: Marriott Platinum, SPG Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 394
Looking at staying at The Strings in Oct '24 for long layover (arrive NRT Mon at 16:00, departing NRT Wed at 11:00). Figured this would be the most convenient way to get back and forth to the airport, and do a day in Tokyo.
I am IHG Platinum, and am looking to use points (50,500 per night), or Chase Anniversary Free Nights. For points, the only room choice listed for 2 is a "Double Classic." From reading this thread, I am assuming the following apply:
1) I will not get an upgrade
2) I will not get free breakfast
3) I will not get lounge access.
4) I will get a small room.
Is my summation correct?
Any options to upgrade my situation?
I am IHG Platinum, and am looking to use points (50,500 per night), or Chase Anniversary Free Nights. For points, the only room choice listed for 2 is a "Double Classic." From reading this thread, I am assuming the following apply:
1) I will not get an upgrade
2) I will not get free breakfast
3) I will not get lounge access.
4) I will get a small room.
Is my summation correct?
Any options to upgrade my situation?
I’d personally rather pay for the crown plaza near Narita and check out Ueno/Asakusa from there if you wanted IHG or better yet pick a budget hotel for 80 usd somewhere.
Take the 200 and spend it on a very nice evening out unless you plan on staying at ICs more than once
Last edited by Cthunder86; Nov 13, 2023 at 10:44 am
Nov 13, 2023, 11:54 am
#186
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: AA Executive Platinum, Marriott Lifetime Titanium, IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,451
You will arrive at the hotel at 18-19:00 and need to leave by 8:00. You won’t be able to make use of the 4pm checkout, you can get a drink with the 2,000 amb credit, breakfast is not included, and you will get upgraded to a room with a view.
I’d personally rather pay for the crown plaza near Narita and check out Ueno/Asakusa from there if you wanted IHG or better yet pick a budget hotel for 80 usd somewhere.
Take the 200 and spend it on a very nice evening out unless you plan on staying at ICs more than once
I’d personally rather pay for the crown plaza near Narita and check out Ueno/Asakusa from there if you wanted IHG or better yet pick a budget hotel for 80 usd somewhere.
Take the 200 and spend it on a very nice evening out unless you plan on staying at ICs more than once
Will check out Ueno/Asakusa.
Nov 14, 2023, 4:53 am
#187
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SIN (LEJ once a year)
Programs: SQ, LH, BA, IHG Diamond AMB, HH Gold, SLH Indulged, Accor Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,741
You will arrive at the hotel at 18-19:00 and need to leave by 8:00. You won’t be able to make use of the 4pm checkout, you can get a drink with the 2,000 amb credit, breakfast is not included, and you will get upgraded to a room with a view.
I’d personally rather pay for the crown plaza near Narita and check out Ueno/Asakusa from there if you wanted IHG or better yet pick a budget hotel for 80 usd somewhere.
Take the 200 and spend it on a very nice evening out unless you plan on staying at ICs more than once
I’d personally rather pay for the crown plaza near Narita and check out Ueno/Asakusa from there if you wanted IHG or better yet pick a budget hotel for 80 usd somewhere.
Take the 200 and spend it on a very nice evening out unless you plan on staying at ICs more than once
As Platinum, an upgrade is unlikely, but if lucky OP may get a better view or a slightly bigger King Classic or so. Best is to expect nothing and be surprised. Whether Ambassador is worth it is a different question, for OPs case I don't think so unless there is a good use for the AMB free weekend night certificate during the membership year.
We are at the property right now and as Diamond Ambassador, being a repeat guest though and on a 4 nights corporate rate stay, we got very lucky and were upgraded to a One Bedroom King Suite from a 1 King Classic room. This is a multi level upgrade that the hotel usually doesn't give even to RAs. No Club lounge benefit's though of course, but in Tokyo there is so much good food that it is not needed at all. YMMV.
Nov 14, 2023, 8:02 am
#188
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: DTW
Programs: Marriott Platinum, SPG Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 394
The OP is staying 2 nights I gather from Mon evening to Wed morning so that's why OP is mentioning a full day in Tokyo. Definitely IC Strings being next to JR Shinagawa which is a NEX stop makes sense.
As Platinum, an upgrade is unlikely, but if lucky OP may get a better view or a slightly bigger King Classic or so. Best is to expect nothing and be surprised. Whether Ambassador is worth it is a different question, for OPs case I don't think so unless there is a good use for the AMB free weekend night certificate during the membership year.
We are at the property right now and as Diamond Ambassador, being a repeat guest though and on a 4 nights corporate rate stay, we got very lucky and were upgraded to a One Bedroom King Suite from a 1 King Classic room. This is a multi level upgrade that the hotel usually doesn't give even to RAs. No Club lounge benefit's though of course, but in Tokyo there is so much good food that it is not needed at all. YMMV.
As Platinum, an upgrade is unlikely, but if lucky OP may get a better view or a slightly bigger King Classic or so. Best is to expect nothing and be surprised. Whether Ambassador is worth it is a different question, for OPs case I don't think so unless there is a good use for the AMB free weekend night certificate during the membership year.
We are at the property right now and as Diamond Ambassador, being a repeat guest though and on a 4 nights corporate rate stay, we got very lucky and were upgraded to a One Bedroom King Suite from a 1 King Classic room. This is a multi level upgrade that the hotel usually doesn't give even to RAs. No Club lounge benefit's though of course, but in Tokyo there is so much good food that it is not needed at all. YMMV.
They say reading is fundamental but I apparently I didn’t get the memo
I suppose as long as he is happy with the base room then I’d probably still take the 200 and spend it on a nice dinner Tuesday evening somewhere vs Ambassador.
Nov 14, 2023, 8:39 am
#190
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: AA Executive Platinum, Marriott Lifetime Titanium, IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,451
With the feedback received, no plans on spending the $200 (I also haven't been staying at IHGs much these days other than to liquidate points). Considering we wouldn't be getting to The Strings until 18:00-19:00 Monday, and departing early morning on Wednesday, part of me is now thinking we may stay near NRT at the Crowne Plaza. 30K points for the stay vs 102K points. Even though it may not be all that nice... Perhaps dinner in Narita City?, then backtrack to airport on Tuesday morning and grab the train to Tokyo to points of interest (TBD). Then train out Tuesday evening back to NRT, good nights sleep, then short shuttle to airport in the morning. (Another factor that comes into this decision is we will not be traveling light- wife and I each have 23KG dive bags, and each also have a standard carry-on with camera gear.... and a backpack)
Good idea? Bad idea?
Nov 14, 2023, 5:46 pm
#191
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SIN (LEJ once a year)
Programs: SQ, LH, BA, IHG Diamond AMB, HH Gold, SLH Indulged, Accor Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,741
Okay, I would think for what you plan on doing, the CP around NRT will do fine. Yes it is a tired Japanese CP so no design star or anything like that, but should be clean and overall functional for such a stay.
Hauling luggage wise, getting to the IC Strings, I dare say isn't much more work than making your way to the airport shuttle and such. Once you get to the NEX on NRT and then arrive in Shinagawa the main headache is navigating the station and making your way to the Central Gate and then turning right to Konan Gate and another right at Arte Building (Dean & Deluca) and walk 200m or so (all covered) and you are at the IC. We have rollaboards of 16-17kg and it is easy peasy, but we also know where to go and all that.
The IC is of course a way nicer hotel, but whether you need that this time around or not and rather save the points / free nights is really your call.
Hauling luggage wise, getting to the IC Strings, I dare say isn't much more work than making your way to the airport shuttle and such. Once you get to the NEX on NRT and then arrive in Shinagawa the main headache is navigating the station and making your way to the Central Gate and then turning right to Konan Gate and another right at Arte Building (Dean & Deluca) and walk 200m or so (all covered) and you are at the IC. We have rollaboards of 16-17kg and it is easy peasy, but we also know where to go and all that.
The IC is of course a way nicer hotel, but whether you need that this time around or not and rather save the points / free nights is really your call.
Last edited by demue; Nov 15, 2023 at 8:15 pm
Dec 18, 2023, 6:36 pm
#192
Join Date: Mar 2022
Location: Boston MA
Programs: Hilton Gold, Jetblue Plus
Posts: 75
I have some questions looking to both2 night this summer for my wife and kids to stay using reward points. First question is can I used for my wife and kids for the booking. Second question when. Looking at the site it seem it won't let me book a room with 3 occupancy on points for 1 room. Is it possible to book 1 room with 1 adult and2 kids? If anyone knows for any ihg property in Tokyo thanks?
Jan 15, 2024, 3:45 pm
#193
Moderator: Hawaii-based airlines & Hawai'i forums
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Ka ʻĀpala Nui, Nuioka
Programs: NEXUS/Global Entry, Delta, United, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, and Hertz
Posts: 18,043
I did a two-night stay at The Strings to use my Ambassador BOGO weekend cert. +1 and I arrived on a Saturday evening at HND Terminal 2 on a domestic ANA flight and took the Keikyu Airport Line to Shinagawa. I've added a Wikipost with (hopefully) helpful instructions on how to navigate the station and get to the hotel, which can be daunting the first time.
I booked a King Classic City View: 31.5 sqm room, which is the highest non-Premium room in the hopes that the one-class Ambassador upgrade would result in a decent outcome. I was pleasantly surprised that our upgrade was to King Premium Club Lounge Access: 38 sqm on the 32nd (top) floor. As posted above, this did *not* grant us Lounge Access, but it was a slightly larger room than the standard King Premium so that was a nice upgrade. Under the current exchange rate, our two-night stay came to about $575 all in.
We was very happy with the quality of the breakfast in the restaurant; in addition to the Japanese and Western options in the buffet, there was also a decent variety of Chinese dim sum, noodles, congee/jook, and fried rice. The only weakness was the bread and pastry options, which was pretty 'meh.' A pleasant surprise was to find that the lovely classical music heard while eating Sunday breakfast was provided by a string quartet sitting just adjacent to the restaurant. Service was top-notch.
On the day we checked out, we had plans to see a DL flight attendant friend of mine who happened to be on a one-night layover later in the morning and have lunch with a co-worker so rather than tie up the room with a late check out, we opted to check out after breakfast and left our luggage with the hotel. We were given options to pick up the bags back at the 26th floor reception area or the second floor elevator lobby; we opted for the second for convenience. We decided to splurge and take a taxi to get to our next hotel (Kimpton Shinjuku); the taxi entrance is on the first floor and reached by the same elevators used to get to the 26th floor lobby. I didn't see any taxis waiting in a queue (there really isn't room for a proper one) so I used Uber to get a taxi. It was only a 100 JPY surcharge to use the app and it had the benefits of giving the driver exact address details of the destination (helpful if one doesn't speak Japanese) and having the charge settled directly to a linked credit card.
Overall, it was a very nice way to use the BOGO getting terrific value in return in terms of room upgrade and Diamond free breakfast amenity.
I booked a King Classic City View: 31.5 sqm room, which is the highest non-Premium room in the hopes that the one-class Ambassador upgrade would result in a decent outcome. I was pleasantly surprised that our upgrade was to King Premium Club Lounge Access: 38 sqm on the 32nd (top) floor. As posted above, this did *not* grant us Lounge Access, but it was a slightly larger room than the standard King Premium so that was a nice upgrade. Under the current exchange rate, our two-night stay came to about $575 all in.
We was very happy with the quality of the breakfast in the restaurant; in addition to the Japanese and Western options in the buffet, there was also a decent variety of Chinese dim sum, noodles, congee/jook, and fried rice. The only weakness was the bread and pastry options, which was pretty 'meh.' A pleasant surprise was to find that the lovely classical music heard while eating Sunday breakfast was provided by a string quartet sitting just adjacent to the restaurant. Service was top-notch.
On the day we checked out, we had plans to see a DL flight attendant friend of mine who happened to be on a one-night layover later in the morning and have lunch with a co-worker so rather than tie up the room with a late check out, we opted to check out after breakfast and left our luggage with the hotel. We were given options to pick up the bags back at the 26th floor reception area or the second floor elevator lobby; we opted for the second for convenience. We decided to splurge and take a taxi to get to our next hotel (Kimpton Shinjuku); the taxi entrance is on the first floor and reached by the same elevators used to get to the 26th floor lobby. I didn't see any taxis waiting in a queue (there really isn't room for a proper one) so I used Uber to get a taxi. It was only a 100 JPY surcharge to use the app and it had the benefits of giving the driver exact address details of the destination (helpful if one doesn't speak Japanese) and having the charge settled directly to a linked credit card.
Overall, it was a very nice way to use the BOGO getting terrific value in return in terms of room upgrade and Diamond free breakfast amenity.
Jan 15, 2024, 7:29 pm
#194
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SIN (LEJ once a year)
Programs: SQ, LH, BA, IHG Diamond AMB, HH Gold, SLH Indulged, Accor Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,741
For breakfast they come around with croissants and offer them and those were actually quite decent and in our opinion of higher quality than the standard bread selection which is okay but nothing special.
Jan 16, 2024, 1:09 am
#195
Moderator: Hawaii-based airlines & Hawai'i forums
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Ka ʻĀpala Nui, Nuioka
Programs: NEXUS/Global Entry, Delta, United, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, and Hertz
Posts: 18,043
For the IHGs in Japan we've stayed at this trip the bread offerings at Beppu were the best, followed by Kimpton Shinjuku, then The Strings. Agreed that the walking croissants delivered tableside were better than what was at the buffet, but nothing to write home (or post on FT) about. 