konaflyer

In mid-May 2018, we will be staying for 3 nights in Kyoto followed by 3 nights in Tokyo . We have points and status in quite a few programs: SPG (Gold), Ritz Carlton (Gold), Hyatt (Explorist) 3 free nights certificates & points, IHC (Platinum Ambassador) 2 free nights which we get in January & points), & Hilton (Diamond). We have never been in either location so we would like to see some of the major attractions. We would love to be able to walk to some or take a nearby subway. We will be arriving by train into both locations. We like to stay in historic hotels or ones with striking architecture. And we love club floors when we can get upgraded or pay extra for entry. We want to use the Hyatt free nights on this trip because they expire soon. Thank you in advance for your help!

abmj-jr

I will let others make recommendations for Tokyo but the Kyoto Hyatt Regency is fairly recently renovated and a very nice stay. It is in a good location, across the street from the National Museum and a major temple and virtually next door to another major tourist attraction, Sanjusangen-do temple. If I had free night certs, I would jump at the chance to stay there.

The _Banking_Scot

Aloha konaflyer! ( love flying into Kona and going to the Hilton Waikoloa village and the big island)

I would probably visit the individual hotel forums for finding information on individual hotels but for Hilton ( I'm gold with HH) there are 2 main ones

Hilton Shinjuku ( nice rooms, good lounge with one side of the lounge having nice views of Mt Fuji in the distance on a clear day)
Conrad Hilton by Shiodome ( close to Ginza and a couple of beautiful gardens one of which ( Hamarikyu Gardens) is just across the road from the Conrad and which you can see from your room depending on which side you have). The lounge is supposed to be excellent.

Both are close to train stations and the subway.

The other 2 hiltons are a bit further out ( at Odaiba and Tokyo Bay for disney)


The hyatts that I know are , Park Hyatt and the Hyatt Regency in Shinjuku and the Grand Hyatt in Roppongi ( I have not stayed at the hyatts). The Shinjuku hotesl are close to the tokyo Metropolital Govt Buildings ( a free observation decks in each of the north and soutth towers on the 45th floor), the Shinjuku city park, the neon nightlife to the north east of Shinjuku station and the Shinjuku goyen national garden to the east of the station area.

There is also an Andaz between roppongi and shiodome

Enjoy Tokyo !

Regards

TBS

konaflyer

Thanks for the ideas so far. I'll definitely check out the Kyoto HR and the Conrad Hilton in Tokyo. But I've been torn between the Park Hyatt and the Andaz in Tokyo so I'd love some input on that.

konaflyer

Also I'd be happy to help anyone with trips to Hawaii (on all islands) using Hotel points or otherwise!

FlyinHawaiian

As suggested upthread, the individual hotel forums are a good place to do your initial homework, and this forum is good with specific questions like the one you have above. The PH vs Andaz question is covered in threads such as this one: which Hyatt in Tokyo?. The general consensus (with which I agree) is that the basic rooms at the Andaz are nicer than the PH's and without Globalist status to unlock some major perks, the PH's relatively remote location from public transportation and points of interest vs the Andaz make it less desirable. Look at the Hyatt Centric in Ginza if it's open for bookings while you're in Tokyo.

I'm on the tail end of a two week trip to Japan with my wife. Our first few nights were at the Conrad (we're HH Gold), I'm checking out of the Park Hyatt today (I'm in a suite thanks to my Globalist upgrade certs) and heading to the Andaz for the rest of this week.

Existing threads:

Conrad Tokyo {JPN}
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/inte...tal-tokyo.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr...kyo-japan.html
Andaz vs Conrad Tokyo for free nights

konaflyer

I LOVE to hear your comments at the end of your trip having stayed at the Conrad, PH and Andaz so recently. I guess as Explorist you don't get much at the PH? I will definitely check out the posts on the hotel forum, but I doubt anyone would have stayed so recently at all three. Mahalo nui loa!

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

Do you know what the main sights you will be visiting ( ie if you are not interested in the Shinjuku area, it probably does not make sense to stay there although it is relatively easy to get around the centre of tokyo by rail/subway ( it will just take a little longer from some stations) but you may want to avoid some stations at peak times ( ie the Shinjuku railway station)

Two good lines are the JR Yamamote Line and the Toei Oedo subway line which are roughly circular in pattern and go round most of 'central tokyo'

For only three nights (and you will be only scratching a small part of tokyo ) but you can still see quite a lot , I would only pick one hotel.

If choosing an observation tower, Tokyo tower is undegoing renovations for about a quarter of them main observation deck at a time, the Mori tower in Roppongi is great on a clear day ( pay the extra for the sky deck and you will be on the roof of the tower)

Regards

TBS

MikeFromTokyo

I would suggest Andaz or Park Hyatt Tokyo, to maximize value from those Hyatt certs and for impressive/iconic architecture and design.

If you can get it, go for Ritz-Carlton Kyoto. Suiran and Westin Miyako could be other options.

I wouldn’t particularly suggest going with IC in Tokyo. As an award guest you would get a last sell room, from what I hear. Conrad Tokyo could be a fallback option if you cannot get availability at Andaz or Park Hyatt. Of course, if you want the best club level option, there’s Ritz-Carlton, but I’m not sure if they allow upsell from award rooms. Unlike club level at Grand Hyatt, R-C club level is an exclusive product and very good.

konaflyer

Unfortunately, I don't know much about Tokyo. What sights would you recommend focusing on with just 3 1/2 days to sightsee?

SQ319

It really depends on what you and your partner like. Are you a history buff, or are you into the culture etc. Pick up a guidebook and do some reading up will give u an idea. Do a search in the previous posts will also give you some idea of what other people are doing in their 3.5 days there.

I've stayed at all 3 ICs in Tokyo, so can give input on those in terms of locations or surrounds, if you are considering them. However, I normally pay for my stays so can't comment on the type of rooms you'll get there on points. I absolutely love the InterContinental Osaka though and would think it's worthwhile using the points to stay there compared to the hotels in Tokyo, but I wouldn't sacrifice the nights you have at Kyoto to stay there. Lol.

MikeFromTokyo

I would recommend extending the stay to be quite a bit longer. Even coming from Hawaii, you’ll have very little time once you arrive and settle in to do anything in just three days. Particularly if this is a first trip and you’ll need to get oriented.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

Apologies , I have been busy today but will provide a list of some of the major sights that may be of interest tomorrow

AS SQ319 said a guidebook will be useful but I found this site

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2164.html

To be useful whem planning my trip in November ( to see some of the fall colours in the garden)

I assume you will be flying into Tokyo first?. Getting from the airport (s) ) either Haneda ( closer to the city) or Narita ( about 60 miles from Tokyo) will take up several hours to get to your hotel depending where you are landing and in some cases Narita might be more convenient ( ie you can take a Narita express train to Shinjuku without changing whereas from Haneda you will probably have to change and some of the stations have long passage ways and steps.

I also assume you will want to see some of the night sights ( ie all the neon signs etc: some good places are Akihabara, Ginza, north east of Shinjuku station ( with the bars, night life, the Robot restaurant) and Shibuya ( with its famous Shibuya crossing)

Will post more tomorrow

Regards

TBS

RichardInSF

There's a whole thread on this in the Hyatt forum. I have stayed a zillion times at the PH and love it but never been to the Andaz, so can't help with a comparison. I have stayed at the Conrad, which has its fans, but still prefer the PH. People do grumble about the distance from the PH to Shinjuku station, it is about a 12-15 minute walk but there are two subway lines about a 10 minute walk away and the hotel runs a shuttle to near Shinjuku station.

In general, if you have never stayed at an upscale or luxury hotel in eastern Asia, you will be very pleased by your experience regardless of where you choose. The standards overall are just so very much higher than in most other places.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

Some of the sights I would consider going to ( sunset will be around 645pm -7pm in May IIRC)

The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace then walking through the Imperial Palace to view the Nihubashi Bridge

Ginza ( if there on a sunday afternoon one of the main streets Chuo-dori is closed to traffic so you can walk and windows shop)

From there you could walk through Shiodome ( the Conrad is here) to the Hama-rikyu gardens and a little further the Kyu shiba rikyu gardens ( you can see some of the Shikansen bullet trains whilst in the garden)

Akihambra
Shinjuku
shibuya

All the areas look completely different between daytime and night time so it is worth visitng them at both times of the day time permitting.

Muesums: There is a large complex of museums in Ueno park ( including the National Mueum, theArt museum and the Science museum) There are aslso the Edo-Tokyo musem , the Sword museum and the Sumo museum

Uneno park could also be tied in with Asakusa area and the Senso-ji temple complex and shopping street ( the temple is lit up at night). The Tokyo Skytree is one stop from here

Roppongi and the Mori tower ( pay the extra for the Sky deck viewing area on a clear day)

THe Meji Shine, & Harajuku could be combined with a visit to Shibuya, Shinjuku and the Shinjuku gyoen garden.

I loved the Koishikawa koakuen garden by Tokyo Dome ( it has the Tsutenkyo red bridge and the Engetsukyo ( full moon bridge- as with the reflection in the water it looks like a full moon.)

The Kanda and Yanaka areas are supposed to be good but have not been yet.

Odaiba ( across the Sumida river is nice with a lot of open space but not sure I would go there with 3 days or less). The train ride across the Rainbow bridge is nice and there is a replica of the Statue of Liberty there.

Tokyo tower and Shiba park ( with the Zojo-ji temple) are nice ( tokyo tower is lit up in orange and white at night) but some of the views from tokyo tower will be closed due to renovations.

Other gardens that I liked are Rikugi-en gardens and the Kyu Furukawa gardens ( this has a stone residence designed by the British architect Josiah Conder) in Komagome

If you want to take full advantage of the lounge then you should have breakfast there and then either afternoon tea/evening snacks)

Hope this gets you started.
Apologies for any spelling mistakes.

Regards

TBS