driving time from narita at night?
 

Question for tokyo experts. My family is traveling to Tokyo in March for the first time. We are staying at Shangri-La (tentatively). We are arriving into NRT at 8:30 pm on a Monday night. I know everyone thinks trains (NEX or Skyliner) are the fastest and most efficient way to get to Tokyo. HOWEVER, we'll likely have to rush to get the last NEX at 9:44. Even if we get it, that puts us into Tokyo station at 10:40. Skyliner involves a transfer and we would, at best, get in around 10:15??
So here's the question. Shangri-La has a special for a 20,000 JPY car service/limo from NRT. Wouldn't this be faster at that time of night? We will have luggage and a 9 year old child, so doing the skyliner transfer isn't too appealing.
Thoughts? What is the realistic driving time estimate from NRT to Shangri-La at 9pm on a weekday?
Thanks in advance. I have learned so much from this forum and this is my first post...

¥20,000 is around $166. I don't think most people recommend the train *only* because of speed, but also cost. The Skyliner for three people is ¥7,410, which is still significantly less than ¥20,000.

If you're ok with the cost, then by all means, take the car. The travel time is going to be around the same. The convenience will be a lot better with the car. It's just going to cost more. I personally would have a hard time stomaching $166 just for a ride from the airport to my hotel, but different people have different financial scales and different ideas for what each part of their trip is worth.

Assuming the car service is at the airport, waiting to meet you and does not have many other pick-ups, it will indeed be faster than the train as it will go straight to the hotel. The only problem I see is the $175.00 +/- cost. If you are ok with that, I don't see a quicker way.

The Shangri-La is right next to Tokyo Station, so assuming you can catch the N'EX, getting into Tokyo Station at 10:15 should be no problem. Be warned, though, that Tokyo Station is huge, practically a business district in itself, but anyone should be able to direct you to the Shangri-La.

The Shangri-La has a free meet-and-greet service. They pick you up at the platform at Tokyo station and walk you to the hotel. Just let them know on which train / NEX you arrive and the car number and they will have someone waiting for you. Did it last year and worked perfect - and I probably would have gone lost somewhere in this huge station...

Honestly - if you are staying at the Shangri-La what's an extra $100 - take the car service and don't give it a second thought - the stress isn't worth it....

I'd probably go for Skyliner to Ueno + cab.

thanks for the responses! I had not considered skyliner to Ueno plus cab. I assume its easy to get a cab -- could I assume all cabs know how to get to the shangri la and that the language barrier wouldn't be a problem?
Otherwise, we'll likely spring for the car service.

Very easy to get a cab at Keisei Ueno station. You could just exit to street level but I recommend going to the taxi rank inside the station - After you exit the ticket gates, turn sharp left and left again (basically a 180) to walk along the slightly inclined passage (past storage lockers) to a garage where you can press a button to call a taxi.
If you're concerned about the language barrier, print the hotel name and address from the website.

For people who have been to Tokyo and/or speak Japanese, the price seems silly. As a cheapskate myself, the price is tough to stomach. But having traveled with 2 kids (in economy), there is a serious value proposition in having someone meet you and take care of getting you where you are going when you are jet-lagged. [Note: I've never stayed at the Shangri-La.]

When my kids were younger, we took an MK Taxi a few times, and it was worth it. Lately, the NEX works fine for us (we also arrive a bit earlier ~6pm). But my family speaks Japanese....

You'll have to balance your ability to navigate Japan for the first time (it isn't hard, but it will take some amount of effort) with jet lag and family.

Not knowing where you are coming from or how well your 9 year old travels makes it harder to answer. First time to Tokyo and later in the evening makes me say hit the easy button and pay the price to take the car service.

You would not believe how many cabs there are in Tokyo. On my last trip, I took a phone camera video of the intersection in front of my hotel. In the one minute video, twelve cabs pass through that intersection. Yes, I said "twelve." I had noticed that there were a lot of them, but I was surprised when I watched the video and counted them.

Taxis cruise constantly on all arterial streets and hang out at all major train stations.

I agree with the advice to print out the hotel's Japanese web page and show it to the driver. Printing out information in the local language is a good idea in any country where the Roman alphabet is not used.

Another option is the LCC buses: Access Narita or Keisei Bus. They drop you off across the street from Tokyo Station Yaesu exit and operate up until 11 PM. There is a bus every 10 minute (alternating between the two operators) so it's hard to miss.

To answer the question: it should take about 45 min if the driver is not a slug. The journey is about 70 km and it is motorway all the way except the last few hundred meters.

20k yen is a normal price for this trip, so you are not really getting a deal.