Which of these hotels?
 

Hi - I'm looking to go on vacation to Tokyo for the first time next month. I don't really have any itinerary set yet but plan on getting out and exploring the city.

That said, I'm currently looking at a few medium-to-higher end hotels for my stay. Given my admittedly vague itinerary and the following hotels & nightly price points that I've been able to find, any suggestions from below?

Akasaka Prince: Y17000
Hotel New Otani Tokyo: Y19000
Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Chinzan-so: Y23000

Also, if there's another nice place you'd recommend [such as any of the other hotels mentioned in the previous posting below], feel free to throw that into play too.

Thanks in advance for any advice you may be able to provide.

Are you going to visit Japan alone or with anyone else?

Welcome to Flyertalk.

If you do a search both in this forum and luxury hotels you'll find quite a bit of information.

That is a good price for the 4 Seasons which is an excellent hotel. However, the location is very inconvenient and can't be recommended. Both the Akasaka Prince and New Otani are good choices in a pretty good location. My personal preference (as you'll see from other postings) is the Imperial which is very centrally located.

You'll find other suggestions depending on the specifics of your trip and any particular interests, concerns, likes, budget, etc.

As for hotel itself, it is a fantastic price for 4 Seasons: but for location, New Otani is better.

The rooms at the New Otani is very small and the hotel is showing it's age -- the Prince is even shabbier, so if you don't mind being a little out of the centre I'd definitely opt for the Four Seasons. Make sure you ask for a room with a view of the Chinzan-so garden.

That is true, but then large rooms for a reasonable price is a thing unknown to me in TYO ;) The price that was quoted for New Otani is - in my opinion - very good.

Speaking of which: apart from buying a suite at Park Hyatt or something similarly expensive, which hotel would you recommend as spacious enough for a family trip (two adults + 2 children)? I am asking because I always went to TYO on my own and space was not a particular consideration - but I was usually particular about location because of my tight schedules. Thanks.

If you are a family and are staying in Tokyo for more than a couple of days you may wish to consider one of the many serviced apartments (for example http://www.oakwoodtokyo.com/) in the city. They are much bigger than hotel rooms and relatively centrally located.

You could always try getting one of the larger rooms at The Claska (http://www.claska.com/) - for example a 46m2 room with a 56 m2 terrace is only Y52,500. The design is nice too (although the location is terrible).

Thanks very much... This is handy ^

Oakwood won't rent you for less than an initial two weeks. Once you are in there, you can negotiate additional weeks. And it ain't cheap. Their cheapest property is about 15,000 a night for a studio room the size of a decent hotel room in the US.

Thanks kindly
 

Thanks for all the input on the hotels. I've had limited access to check back but was pleased to see your great responses.

I'll be going with another first-timer, so, from the responses and previous posts I could find, New Otani sounds like it might be our choice for location purposes. The (relatively) low Four Seasons price is throwing off our decision a bit since it's hard to pass it up, but it sounds like it may be a bit isolated for our plans.

Thanks again.

I would also vote for the New Otani, but pay more for a better room. This hotel has a zillion rooms covering a huge quality range. If you can get upgraded significantly, it would easily be worth paying Y5,000 a night more -- although it won't be nearly as nice as the 4 Seasons Chinzanso.

However getting to/from the 4Seasons gets old quickly, like after the first time.

I will be staying at Akasaka Prince next month. Do they have any tie ins with any US based Hotel affinity programs? Will I be able to get Delta Skymiles? Which subway station (Akasaka Mitsuke or Nagatacho) is actually more convenient.

thanks,
marc

IGNORE PLEASE.
If it wasn't the hotel's own website, could you tell me where you found this rate for the Four Seasons?

It's an extremely good price and I would be very tempted to stay here (I'm just choosing somewhere now for the 29th October... I have a flight from NRT early the next day, so Tokyo Station would be perfect).

You can tell I think it's a bargain as its veering me away from Le Meridien Pacific and its lure of 5,000 bonus SPG points!

EDIT TO ADD:
Oops! See next post:

That's the other Four Seasons, LapLap (not the one at Tokyo Station) and a price from two years ago (someone has bumped an old post).

Marq, re: subway stations for the Akasaka Prince, I'd say 6 of one half a dozen of the other. Take whichever train is easier for you to get on. I believe I used Nagatacho a lot while I stayed there, but everywhere I hang out is on the Hanzomon line. Don't remember any points being available.

They only have this: http://www.princeclubinternational.com/
Which I've never been able to use - you need to book the Prince Club International Rates to get benefits like breakfast, and the rates much higher than those typically available through Utell.

You might want to check and see how yours compare.