CPMaverick

My friends and I (4 of us) are arriving to HND at 11 pm.

I am familiar with the area, I would normally grab the monorail and stay in Shinjuku or Shinagawa.

However, the last monorail leaves at 12:10 am and I guess that would be difficult to catch. And I assume that if we did catch it, we'd be stuck in Hamamatsucho, an area I am unfamiliar with.

We are only in Tokyo for 19 hours and would really like to check into our hotel and maybe explore an area of the city that is still alive and kicking.

Any advice on an interesting area, not too difficult to transit from HND after 11 pm, where we could get a hotel? We have some interest in a capsule hotel if there is an option for that (I would love to stay in the one in Ueno but it seems too far to taxi from HND)

Thanks

Charlie

CPMaverick

Any advice on this Shinjuku property?

http://www.expedia.com/Tokyo-Hotels-...#roomsAndRates

If we want to get to Shinjuku after train hours, any better method than taxi? The only limo service I can find shows the last departure at 12:00 midnight, again a stretch. With four of us, will it be difficult to find a taxi we can all fit in?

Steve M

I would imagine that the operation of HND is such that if your flight arrives on time, that you can catch the last train or last bus. Otherwise, what would happen in practice to all of those passengers on those late flights every night?

But it does bring up a general question: Assume the the above is true. What happens when one of those late-arriving flights is behind schedule and lands, say, 90 minutes late for whatever reason? There could potentially be 250 passengers that have no way to get into town on public transport, and I suspect few of them were planning on staying at the airport hotel. Plus, you have all of the ground grew, Immigration officers, etc that must stay late to service that flight.

There must be contingency plans in place for when this happens, although I've never heard anyone describe them.

I once had a late-night arrival into HKG, around 1am, due to my flight from NRT being delayed by several hours due to thunderstorms. That was well past the time that the Airport Express train or the regular buses ran. I expected that I'd just have to take a cab, and hoped that someone had the wherewithal to coordinate with taxi services such that enough cabs were available. But much to my surprise, the airline had arranged chartered buses for everyone. Passengers were split up by which area of town they were going to, and then the buses provided door-to-door service for each passenger as needed, at no charge to the passengers.

CPMaverick

Hmmm, that is a good point. If I were flying a Japanese airline, I would probably expect those arrangements to be in place. But, I am flying Delta and their strange timing of this new route probably speaks to their understanding of the ground transport system in place there.

Even if the monorail waits for us, the rest of the trains will be done, so that isn't much of an option. Maybe the limo bus service will stick around....

armagebedar

If you are on time, even if you are the very last person to disembark and walk extremely slowly, you will make the 12:10 monorail. Even if you don't, there is a 12:40 night bus departure for Shinagawa. If the flight is late, most carriers have contingency plans (i.e. taxi tickets).

To be honest, the only places that will be "alive and kicking" after midnight are Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, and Shibuya (and perhaps Ginza). Shinagawa and Hamamatsucho will be basically dead.

I would go to Kamata. It has a number of restaurants, bars, and hotels and is very close to Haneda, either via the Keikyu line or via taxi.

CPMaverick

I should clarify that we are arriving from DTW. So we have to clear customs. I know Japan is efficient but if we will still easily make a 12 midnight train, then I would be surprised (but happily so!). I do agree it's possible and our goal.

Thanks for the advice so far!

joejones

You could spend the night at Oedo Onsen Monogatari in Odaiba. They have capsules inside.

http://www.ooedoonsen.jp/higaeri/english/info.html

I think you would have to take a taxi there from HND, though.

BuildingMyBento

Of course it depended on where you final destination was in HK, but there are all night buses from HKG in the same place as the day buses. Also implied that they aren't nearly as frequent, but here's a handy link: http://www.hongkongairport.com/eng/t...from_hkia.html.

gnaget

If you are going to Shinagawa or Shinjuku then you take the train (Keikyu), not the mono-rail. You will make it with ease if your flight arrives at 23:00.

Even at NRT I am catching buses and train about 30 min after touchdown even with luggage. (They actually send Priority bags out first in Japan. On a recent flight they didn't. Useless SAS put my bag in wrong container. So a floor agent ran back and hand delivered the bag to me. That's Japan in a nutshell.)

You can also book a cab for 6000 yen with MK. That's pretty affordable for 4 people. If you take a bus at or after midnight (e.g. to Shibuya at 00:30) then it is 2000 yen per person so better to take a cab.

joejones

Or with any other taxi company, though it goes up to 8000 yen after 10 PM and doesn't include expressway tolls, and you have to book at least an hour in advance.

That said, last time I took a taxi to HND from Shinjuku, the driver let me have the 6,000 yen rate even though I hadn't pre-booked it, though he had to call his dispatcher and get permission.

http://www.nihon-kotsu.co.jp/taxi/use/haneda/ (Japanese link)

armagebedar

DL627 arrives at 22:30. Even with the bank of late-night arrivals, I would be extremely surprised if you were not out of HND by 23:45 at the latest. Even if you do miss the last train or bus, a taxi (or two) to Shinagawa or Kamata would not be an unreasonable expense.

I'll be making an international arrival to HND at around the same time (22:15) in three weeks so I'll let you know how it goes.

RichardInSF

This hotel is certainly in an "interesting" area. Between the touts, clubs that it is best to avoid going into without a solid knowledge of Japanese, and drunk salarymen in the adjacent capsules, you definitely should have a fun-filled evening.

CPMaverick

Sounds good! I know that area is supposedly cleaned up a bit, but I do like interesting.... And 'interesting' in Japan is still plenty safe.

Keikyu and the monorail both terminate on the JR line, right? Won't the JR line be shut by the time they arrive anyway? If we are going to Shinjuku, neither will work if JR line is down. I generally prefer the monorail because it has more luggage space, but it has been awhile since I rode the train.

RichardInSF

The JR Yamanote line has a longer schedule than most others, it runs at least until 12:30am or so, sometimes even a bit later if you are only going a few stops.

mnbp

Hyperdia shows the last train from Haneda Airport International Teminal station to Shinagawa leaves at 00:01 arriving Shinagawa at 00:23, then change to the Yamanote Line 00:38 departure to Shinjuku arriving 01:00.

http://www.hyperdia.com

The last Monorail departs Haneda Airport International Terminal at 00:10 but unfortunately arrives at Hamamatsucho a couple of minutes too late to catch the last Yamanote Line train to Shinjuku.