kalbear

Thank you for the suggestions. Getting food at Haneda seems like the best option for us.

bluemeansgo

Agreed! Haneda has a great mini edo-period tokyo village.

If you are feeling adventurous, however, you may want to Yokohama to the Landmark Tower area. It's 35 minutes away, about the same time as Shinjuku or Shibuya. And the harbour is pretty at night. Search for Minatomirai station.

kalbear

Thank you for the Yokohama suggestions. I'll keep that in mind if we are feeling adventurous.

Any suggestions for a good late-night snack at Yokohama/Shinjuku/Shibuya? I know it's a very general question but just wondering if you all have any favorites.

freecia

You might want to look for a 24 hour or late night option
Late-night restaurants - west-side Tokyo - Tokyo Food Page Restaurant Listings
Late-night restaurants - central Tokyo - Tokyo Food Page Restaurant Listings

I would probably get a light snack as take out. If one of the little ones wakes up & won't go back to sleep, a walk to a 24 hour combini or Donki while allowing the other family members to rest would probably be prudent. If everyone is awake then perhaps late night ramen?

evergrn

Are you getting on another international flight the next day?
If so, then if I were me I'd bite the bullet and spend some extra $ to stay at Royal Park Hotel. Royal Park is right at the international terminal, which will make it very convenient for you both upon arrival and departure. Plus it looks like you'd be having meals at the international terminal landside shop/dining complex. Finally, having done countless TPAC flights with little kids, I can tell you that there's a chance your little ones will wake up in the middle of the night. If that happens, as freecia suggests, it may be nice to be able to walk to a 24hr konbini. There's at least one landside inside the international terminal.

kalbear

Yes, I'll be flying to SIN the next day. Looked at the Royal Park hotel but unfortunately the price is too high for us. My guess is the little ones will wake up super early so we'll just head the airport early.

jib71

I think your plan to stay near the airport is a good one. But if you want to have the option to go out, I'd suggest that you change hotel - stay overnight at Kamata (nearest town to the airport) or near Hamamatsucho (the terminus of the monorail), or Shinagawa (served by the Keikyu line).
- Kamata is an ex-urb of Tokyo with the usual range of izakayas, restaurants, and whatnot.
- Hamamatsucho is not that exciting, but it's a short hop by train or cab to Roppongi or Ginza.
- Shinagawa is also not that exciting. You would need to take trains or cabs to reach Shibuya,

In terms of places to go in Roppongi, Ginza, Shibuya ... I can't think of any places that I'd go to with kids at 10:00pm or later. Family restaurants, perhaps. If you're doing that, you might as well stay in Kamata. (Or might as well eat at the airport). That's just my opinion. YMMV.

kalbear

Thank you for the suggestions. Eating landside at the airport seems to be the best option for us now. I'm hoping the kids will asleep as soon as we reach the hotel and I can a quick jaunt to the city. Hoping....but probably not going to happen.

jib71

Perhaps it's none of my business, but I feel compelled to say that I don't think you should do that. Who takes care of the toddler and infant if they wake up? Who evacuates them from the hotel in the event of a fire or earthquake? Just something to think about - no need to answer.

kevincrumbs

Unless I'm reading it incorrectly, it sounds like OP is a party of four consisting of two adults and two children. I interpreted it as OP heading out and the second adult staying behind with the two children.

FWIW, I had a similar layover a few years back as a solo traveller (TG BKK-HND to NH HND-CTS) and I ended up at the Hotel JAL City Haneda, which is down the street from the Keikyu EX Inn Haneda. The area around the hotel isn't much to write home about (main attraction: the Yamato Group's Chronogate facility, which does offer tours) but there are a few restaurants, konbini, etc. Sadly, I don't have any recommendations for food as I'm pretty sure I just ate sandwiches I purchased from the konbini. The area was certainly nothing exciting but it was sufficient for an overnight layover and wasn't difficult to get to via the Keikyu Airport Line.

kalbear

@jib71 Very valid points. Thank you for your concern. My wife would definitely stay back if I did go but you are right, not the safest thing to do.

bluemeansgo

Uhhhmm... mom would take care of them?

As for fire/earthquake... that's kind of a weird comment to me. Especially in Japan... arguably the safest developed country on the planet.

My wife often wants to do some shopping while I happily take the kids out to a restaurant without worrying about whether or not the restaurant will have a kitchen fire. I don't think it's a matter of safety.

Just my 2¢

LapLap

We're coming up to a 7th anniversary that still leaves me in tears - I'll bite my tongue (and clench my fingers) regarding what kind of a comment that is to me.

There are a lot of inconveniences that go hand in hand with the actual dangers surrounding an earthquake. Losing contact with your family is one of them as cell phones can stop working. Tall buildings with upscale hotels may be safe but they can also trap the inhabitants - someone can leave a kid up in their room, alone or with their partner, and then find themselves unable to go up and join them until permission to use the elevators is granted, which may take several hours. That's enough to freak out plenty of adults. Not all buildings are built to code, it's not just Taiwan where corners are cut. You might get stuck on a subway train which won't be allowed to move until the all clear is given. I personally always make sure my own child is holding any escalator hand rails tightly warning her that an earthquake could hit at any moment, I grip on too.
A taste of what can be expected ca be seen here: You guys ok?!!!
I'm not alone in expecting something worse to hit Tokyo... soon.

evergrn

I don't think it's weird at all unless I'm also weird. Fire (plus earthquake in the case of Jpn) is one of the first things that come to mind as to why I would never leave my kids alone in the hotel room. Those are things that can kill them if there's no one to protect them. There are serious building fires in Jpn all the time. Even if it's not a legitimate fire, what if the fire alarm goes off? What would be the fallout if you leave kids alone in the room in such instance?

bluemeansgo

I'm really sorry... I should have been more sensitive and read more in between the lines. Just to be clear, In no way was I minimizing the destructive power and general dangers of being in any kind of disaster.
I do realize this... my wife actually grew up in Osaka and lived through the Great Hanshin Earthquake ( the Kobe Quake ) and has vivid memories of what that was like. One of the things she impressed on me is that FIRE is the worst part of most earthquakes. The first thing they're taught is to open all the doors after the first shock as foundations can move and trap you. Collapsing buildings is far more rare a killer than fire caused by a ruptured gas line. Which is why part of the evac. procedure ( at least how she was raised ) was opening doors and turning off the gas before leaving a building.

I've experienced several quakes, some of them right after the Tohoku quake while I was visiting Kansai that year. They were a shock to me at the time, but what I mean to say, is that it's not something we can control, and people still go about their daily lives... which I hope doesn't mean I'm minimizing the impact of the destruction possible, just that of all countries, the Japanese have put exceptional thought into contingency planning and disaster response that I find I can let myself not focus on all the things that could happen.

In any case, I should have chosen my words more carefully, so I'm sorry.