konaflyer

I just wanted to give you an update since your recommendations were spot on! We originally booked the Suiran, which is a beautiful property that we visited when we were in Arashiyama. However, we changed it to the Ritz Carlton because of its central location which also helped our Japanese friends who were visiting us, We LOVED the RC. Both my husband and I had Gold status, and they upgraded our standard room (on points) eto a view suite with a Japanese garden! The place is a sea of Japanese serenity. We also used our 3 free night certificates at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo and LOVED it too. They upgraded us to a corner room with a view of Mt Fuji that we saw on our second and third days there. I felt like I was living in the Lost in Translation movie between sitting on the window ledge with the view of Tokyo, to swimming in the awesome pool and using the spa, and especially having drinks and food in the New York bar with a great American jazz singer. The hotel concierge booked us an awesome table at the bar (the $25 cover charged per person is waived for hotel guests) which allowed us to avoid a line. The hotel comped our coffee (lattes) every morning brought to our room as Discoverists so we were able to split a very large continental breakfast in our room each morning. I actually preferred those peaceful breakfasts to a club lounge. I also liked the location of the hotel as we were a short walk to the Meiji Shrine, the Harijuku area and the Shinjuku train station with an area where they made great authentic grilled food (I forgot the name of it).

evergrn

Glad you had a nice time.
Also good to hear that other chains are taking care of elites so well.

On my recent trip to Jpn, I did 4 separate stays at 3 different Hilton properties as a Diamond. I only got upgraded once on the trip, and that was a measly 1-category upgrade. Hilton's becoming precipitously less generous with upgrades and other things.

MikeFromTokyo

kaka

For Kyoto,
both SPG properties are super out of the way. so HR and RC is the way to go. without including taxis i think HR is better in terms of bus routes (Kyoto is a city that relies more on buses than the metro). RC is better for views on the river and trains to Osaka. (I've stayed at all 3 bar suiran, and knows the Suiran area rather well.)

For Tokyo. Conrad definately has the best location of all the western chains - no if buts or whatever else. My experience with the hotel wasnt that good, but still, the location cannot be beaten - the far end of Ginza and is located near JR, metro, and Keikyu (thru trains to both airports). Unless you want to be in Roppongi, then you can stay at the dated GH.

JMBResona

But I'm not sure that the Conrad's location is particularly convenient - especially in a Tokyo summer. (OT: these 36 celsius days are steadily chipping away at my sanity...) Sure, Shimbashi's within walking distance; call me lazy, but I wouldn't be too keen on the 10 minute walk to/from the station around this time of year - especially if it's 3PM and you have luggage with you. And if you're dragging suitcases onto a non-Skyliner Keisei train from Narita into the Asakusa line, you're sure to get some nasty glares from commuters depending on when your flight leaves/arrives - not to mention the fact that it takes ages.

That leaves the Yurikamome from Shiodome, but boarding that for 1 station to Shimbashi every time you want to go somewhere is a bit frustrating in its own way...

Of course, a quick ride on a cab solves everything, but the same goes for other hotels as well. I'd personally rate the Conrad's location as slightly better than the IC Tokyo Bay...but the IC also has free buses (albeit not too frequent) to Hamamatsucho/Shinagawa, which has Tokyo Monorail (HND) and Narita Express (NRT) service respectively.

Transit-wise, IC the Strings probably wins overall, while the Hyatt Centric Ginza's location is hard to beat for tourism.

Then there's the Peninsula in Hibiya, the Four Seasons and the Shangri-La around Tokyo station, etc but they tend to be at a higher price bracket.

Btw why weren't you satisfied with the experience at the Conrad? I have a stay there coming up, so I'm curious as to what I need to be looking out for.

evergrn

I agree with you as far as Conrad's location.
It's not horrible, but it's definitely not one of its virtues.
I've stayed there quite a few times now, but it's extremely difficult to find coming from Shinbashi Station. Going from the hotel to Shinbashi Station tends to be easier because you just follow the signs. And there're better stations to be close to than Shinbashi. It's more convenient to be near Shinagawa, Tokyo or Shinjuku station. Also there's not much in the immediate vicinity of Conrad. Shiodome is really a concrete jungle of primarily office buildings.

As for Conrad experiences, what I find annoying about the hotel is that they're not generous like Conrad HKG. I've never been granted a checkout later than 2pm. They will charge (~7000yen, I think) for a rollaway. They try to charge you EL access fee (~4500yen) for your child that's staying free. They give you all of 1 soap for the entire bathroom even though there're 2 sinks, tub and separate shower room. The best thing about the Conrad is the room layout, the pool and the amazing breakfast.

kaka