jpdx

I'm looking for advice from the Tokyo regulars on which hotel you would recommend for a wheelchair user (manual wheelchair, unable to walk). I have been to Tokyo many times, but never with someone who has a mobility impairment. Whether the actual hotel room is accessible matters little, it's more about getting around town. This would be a short 3-day trip for a first-time visitor, so I'm thinking close to the Yamanote line (most stations have elevators, and the line gives access to most sights a first time visitor might take in).

I have stayed at all Hyatt, IHG, and SPG hotels in Tokyo. The ANA IC and GH are nightmares due to their location (subways only with hard to get to platforms). PH is out of the way and requires a bus/cab transfer in addition to navigating a large and confusing station. IC Tokyo Bay might work, easy access to Hinode Pier and all the places the waterbus goes; however, the Yurikamome isn't easily accessible and neither is Shinbashi JR station. The Westin may be an option, but I am not sure about the walkway from Ebisu station (any stairs?). Finally, the best bet (perhaps) is IC Strings, located directly on top of Shinagawa station, which is excellent for accessibility.

What would you recommend? Thanks in advance!

jib71

It's clear you've thought about it quite deeply. I agree that the Strings looks like it has the best access from the station out of the ones you've considered. The Westin hotel itself is cited as "barrier free" in some online forums for wheelchair users, but that walk ... on those bouncy walkways. Hmmm. It's step-free, I think, but so long!

An alternative suggestion - there are several hotels directly attached to Tokyo Station:

(1) Marunouchi Hotel - You can certainly access the hotel via the underground passage out of the station and via street level. I think the underground passage may be less bumpy, since there isn't even a curb to negotiate.

(2) Hotel Metropolitan Marunouchi - I'm pretty sure this is just a flat walk.

(3) Shangri-La Tokyo - I'll confess I am not sure about this one, but I can take a look this weekend.

I think the Tokyo Station area has a little more atmosphere than around Shinagawa. Marunouchi has wide sidewalks, pedestrianized areas. It's hard for me to say whether it's "barrier free" or wheelchair friendly ... although I do recall that I regularly saw a guy in a wheelchair decked out in extreme-right-wing slogans who voiced his opinion through a megaphone at the passing crowds in that area. I guess he must have found it convenient ...

I found this guide to disabled access on JR railways around Tokyo, which might be of interest. It's in Japanese, but you may be able to interpret the facilities at all the stations based on the icons.
http://www.jreast.co.jp/setsubi/

The Subway Oedo line claims to have been specifically designed for accessibility, but I think that's dubious. Although the stations are kitted out with elevators, the platforms are so terribly deep, it takes several elevator journeys (with walks in between each elevator ride) to get anywhere. And the elevators often serve one end of the station but not the other. I remember a disabled person complaining that the Ushigomekagurazaka station placed its disabled access at the furthest end of the station from the commercial center - Although it was "barrier free" on paper, it was as good as useless for a wheelchair user seeking to go shopping in Kagurazaka.

As for advice on getting around Tokyo in a chair, I recommend that you search the archive for the posts that LapLap made when she was temporarily wheelchair bound. Her account of Tokyo from the perspective of a wheelchair user might help you.

jib71

Barrier free information for Toei subway lines:
http://www.kotsu.metro.tokyo.jp/subw...rrierfree.html

Barrier free information for Tokyo Metro subway lines:
http://www.tokyometro.jp/safety/barrierfree/index.html

joejones

Mandarin Oriental might work. It's within walking/wheeling distance of Tokyo Station, and there is an elevator to the basement level of the Mitsui Tower which drops you off right by the Ginza Line entrance. Another elevator takes you down to the platform. From there you should have stair-free access to Ueno, Asakusa, Akasakamitsuke and Omotesando, and a pretty easy surface ride to the Ginza and Tokyo Station areas.

LapLap

I have visited Tokyo and stayed in three hotels whilst I was a wheelchair user:

Strings Intercontinental, Shinagawa
ANA Tokyo Intercontinental
Sheraton Miyako (I noticed that this hotel in particular was very popular with other wheelchair users, I saw more here than at any other place I’ve ever stayed at)

All of these can be recommended for those in wheelchairs, but I’ll confirm that the Strings was particularly convenient.

If you do stay at the ANA Tokyo IC, please ensure that it is explained to you how to access the hotel at night once the main doors have been closed for the evening. At night guests are requested to access reception using a flight of stairs outside the building. However, there is what might as well be a secret elevator entrance through the ARK buildings next door. This elevator can be found inside a nearby car park.
As I said, make sure you have been made aware of this.

Yamanote line is very convenient and even stations which don’t seem to have elevators will have wheelchair access - such as Shimbashi. Some escalators have special functions so that they turn from a staircase into a moving platform. It’s very nifty, but does mean no other passengers can use the escalator whilst it’s being used to transport a wheelchair. As a courtesy, it would be best to avoid peak time travel for these smaller stations.
When entering a station you will generally be asked which stop you are getting out of. Station workers can help with getting onto the train if you need it and can be there to help you out at your destination. They can also offer route advice so that you stick to the most accessible routes and use the simplest interchanges.

Shiodome/Marunouchi* border area is a nightmare.My husband would push me nearly everywhere in the wheelchair and we were surprised and delighted to find out how wheelchair friendly Tokyo is. However, on one walk we went from the Strings up to Tokyo station and came to this area, it turned out to be our Waterloo.
It may be that the planners and designers have incorporated a rat maze of subterranean elevators and tunnels into this new urban development so that they comply with theoretical access standards but we couldn’t figure out where they were. I had to be carried over some of the pedestrian overpasses.
If that guy with the cardboard signs is still there in April, I’ll join him for a spell.
For an area built so recently it’s shameful!
Avoid.

The area where the ANA Tokyo IC isn’t a great one, but it is doable.

I hope your friend is fit, the wheelchair access is generally there, it just means lots of lengthy detours so a chair bound visitor ends up ‘walking’ double the distance that a fit pedestrian will need to. The other pain is having to queue to get in and out of every station.

More info written whilst it was still fresh here
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/8680415-post16.html

*Not the Marunouchi area - please see post below

jib71

Please could you elaborate? I am not sure what you mean by Shiodome/Marunouchi border. (Do you mean the East side of Tokyo station - the Ginza area? Or perhaps the West side of the tracks around Yurakucho?)

I think your original post stated that "Marunouchi" is a nightmare. I was a little surprised, but in no position to dispute your experience.

LapLap

My experience of Tokyo from the ground is quite different to the way I experience it virtually in research mode (where Google Maps has all the areas helpfully labelled in English)
Although I can remember all the aerial footbridges and pedestrian overpasses as if it was yesterday, that memory didn’t come with a reliable label. For some reason I though it was Marunouchi then I remembered it was just outside Marunouchi and went to look for information I had written at the time (hence the link).

But Tokyo is becoming more and more hazy because we hadn’t even got to Marunouchi, it was definitely Shiodome and more probably on the border of Yurakucho.

Which is why I like posting here. My memory for details is atrocious and I can rely on the regulars here to pick up on dodgy information. Makes me feel much more comfortable when doling out advice!

Sorry jib71. Please remove the strike throughs.

jpdx

LapLap, jib71, and joejones, thank you very much for sharing your insights! It is good to hear encouragement that Tokyo is relatively accessible; my impression on past trips certainly was that wheelchair users need to put in a lot of extra effort in terms of accessing stations and finding clear pathways, often doubling the distances. Thank you, also, for the other hotel recommendations; I think given status benefits the IC Strings will be the best option. Although the area is a bit sterile, this hotel seems like the best "bang for the buck." I will also consider the Tokyo station hotels, as I agree that this area is generally very accessible. The MO, unfortunately, is too expensive for this trip (even though I enjoyed it when I stayed there a few years ago).

NickW

Is the Grand Hyatt so bad? You have elevators directly from the the platforms of the Hibiya line to the station concourse, then along the tunnel toward the 1c exit for Roppongi Hills. There's an elevator in the Metro Hat which goes to the Roku Roku Plaza, from there you go into the West Walk and catch an elevator up to one of the levels which has the bridge to Grand Hyatt.

It wouldn't have thought it was significantly worse than the walking route; as I play it through in my head. I might be missing something significant though, as I've never actually tried it in a wheelchair.

rjque

I think a key consideration would be the transfer access from the Hibiya line to the Yamanote line. I found the map below online, but I'm not sure how old or accurate it is:

http://www.wakakoma.org/aj/map/etokyo01.pdf

This map says that Ebisu station requires the use of stairs.

LapLap

Seems accurate to me. Komagome is a good example of a station which is accessible but only with assistance - becomes tricky late at night, as you do require the assistance you'll need to arrive something like 15 minutes before the last train to allow the employees to help you down to the ticket hall with an elevator that isn't in normal use (can't fully remember this bit as we were a bit p*ssed, there's an izakaya we really like here), and then they need to cordon off the escalators to turn it into a moving platform. The photo I posted a link to in the link above of the moving platform is at Komagome station.

What the map doesn't cover is the JR Yamanote line access. There may be stairs at the Ebisu Hibiya line exit but not at the Ebisu JR station entrance.*

*confirmed here:
http://www.wakakoma.org/aj/map/etokyo02.pdf

jpdx

I think you're spot on, it's not significantly worse than the walking route, but -to me- the walking route is already pretty inconvenient. Having to deal with elevators etc makes an already long trip even more arduous. I do agree, though, that the GH is probably not in the same league as the ANA IC as far as inconvenient access to public transportation is concerned.

A general concern with the subway lines is that they just introduce an added layer of complexity. Although they may be accessible, figuring them out (finding elevators, alerting station staff, etc) is something I'd rather avoid for a short three day trip for a first-time visitor. There are some trip reports on various disability forums, and they all indicate that Japan is much more accessible than most travelers would think, but that access is often cumbersome, requires searching, long trips, and extra time. I don't feel particularly bad about not wanting to venture into the subway system considering that there are plenty of able-bodied travelers who are afraid of venturing past the Yamanote line!

Thank you so much for the Wakakoma maps! That's a great resource!

LapLap

Not sure what you mean by that.
One thing in the ANA IC's favour is the direct access to the Namboku line, perhaps one of the most accessible lines on the network.
Using (or trying to use) the Hibiya line is a pain.

NickW

Is it possible to go anywhere on public transport in Tokyo without having to deal with elevators or escalators? It's not like there are actually really that many lines at ground level in the centre of the city -- it's all either subways or elevated railways.

LapLap

I think I understand

With the JR Yamanote line access is quite straightforward in most train stations. The elevators being in relatively convenient locations.

With other lines, such as the Oedo line (as has already been discussed), the access is there and this looks good theoretically, but the reality is that you have to go along one long corridor to get to an elevator, get out, go along another long corridor to another elevator and, in some extreme cases, so on and so on, zig zagging the station to get to the ticket halls and platforms.

The instinct to stick with the Yamanote line is, I’m convinced, a sound and sensible one.

I also used the Toei buses when I stayed at the Strings and found these to be a very curious and interesting experience which I would heartily recommend as a one off. The Toei buses were handy to go from Shinagawa to the Azabu Juban/Shirogane border where my father-in-law lives but there are good links to Roppongi also, so this would be an alternative way to get to some of the Tokyo districts which would require a Metro journey.
Let me know if you need a link to help with planning a route for these.