Hotels in Tokyo
 

What is everyone suggestions?
Convenience
Service
Best Value for the Points
Hilton,Starwood or Marriott.

We will be there November 25 to Dec2nd
Anything Special going on?

And how long is a piece of string?

What sort of hotels have struck your fancy so far?

Which areas of Tokyo are you hoping to visit?

What kind of budget do you want to keep to?

Marriott points won't get you much in Tokyo.
For value from SPG points, I'd suggest you look at Le Meridien near Shinagawa Station (although you can stay in The Westin near Ebisu too) EDIT - I now suggest Sheraton Miyako
For Hilton. You can stay at the NRT Hilton on your last night... otherwise there are many good reviews of the Hilton near Shinjuku.
Have you actually checked ANY of these yet???

Without points and if there are two of you, IMO the best value hotel I know of (not the cheapest, but the one that offers the best facilities my yen can buy) is the Takanawa Prince, just next to Le Meridien near Shinagawa Station on the ultra convenient Yamanote Line. If you're linked to the US Government/Armed Services (and only if you have this link) best deal seems to be the Sanno.

You could also spend a couple of nights in nearby Yokohama on top of Japan's tallest building at the Royal Park Hotel - it occupies the highest stories of Landmark Tower. Expedia has good rates for this - about $150 per night for two.


Convenience? Convenience for what??? If a hotel is near the Yamanote Line its cheap and easy to get everywhere - you just need to return a little after midnight.

Service? It's Tokyo!!! Service is good everywhere!

I stayed at the Dai Ichi Hotel Annex which is just off the Ginza. Got a rate of about $125/night off Expedia. While the rooms are not large, they are adequate. Had fun going to the local public bath (ask the hotel desk for info-they are very helpful and hand out supersized local maps which really helped). The Japanese are said not to stare, but the guys at the bath couldn't help themselves! ;) Also great-hundreds of restaurants under the nearby railroad tracks-an amazing scene with some good value sushi places (look for the line of locals to pick out the top value spots).

The location was amazing and I would stay there again. Reasonable is not a word which has a lot of application is Tokyo, but I thought it was relatively good value. Only negative (apparently common in Japan) was that the gym and swimming pool cost an extra $20 a day. Apparently the Dai Ichi Annex does have some sort of FF miles deal, but I didn't look into it.

Location of Marriott / Starwood / Hilton locations - These comments are purely subjective. As LapLap pointed out, the "convenience" of a location entirely depends on what you want to do and where you want to go in Tokyo.

Summary = In order of "convenience" of location:
Conrad Tokyo
Ginza Tobu Marriott
Le Méridien Pacific Tokyo
Atago Forest Tower (but not an option for short term)

Naturally, if you have a special need to stay near Disneyland / Narita / O-Daiba... then the other hotels listed have merit.

Marriott

1. Ginza Tobu Marriott - reasonably priced and arguably "conveniently located" (if Ginza is the area you want to be in). But looks IMHO like a "blah" Japanese mid-range property, onto which Marriott stuck its badge.

2. Atago Forest Tower (Marriott Executive Apartments) - only an option for longer term (1month+) visitors. Good location IMHO.

Starwood
1. Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel - Far from central Tokyo - Near Disneyland - inconvenient for anything else.
2. The Westin Tokyo - Luxury Hotel. West side of town (Ebisu) - Inconvenient location.
3. Le Méridien Grand Pacific Tokyo - Inconvenient location - O-Daiba
4. Le Méridien Pacific Tokyo - Shinagawa - Convenient-ish location
5. The Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel and Towers - In Yokohama (not Tokyo itself).

Hilton
1. Hilton Tokyo - On the far West of Shinjuku. Convenient-ish if you want to be in the Shinjuku area.
2. Hilton Tokyo Bay - Far from central Tokyo - Near Disneyland - inconvenient for anything else.
3. Conrad Tokyo - Super luxury hotel. Good location for Ginza and East side of town, Neighbourhood immediately around the hotel is "sterile"
4. Hilton Tokyo Narita Airport - Next to the airport. Only suitable if doing a Narita stopover etc.


As for "Best Value for the Points" - I think that Tokyo is a variation on the "You get what you pay for" theme.
The Tokyo version might be "You get what you pay for, but smaller"

Service is universally good - At the high-end luxury places it should be good enough to make you cry. (If it isn't, then you'll be crying about the prices).

I would not regard Ebisu as an inconvenient location. I really like Ebisu. Admittedly, the Westin is a 12 minute walk (involving some moving walkways) from Ebisu station, but that's not terrible.

I agree that Ebisu isn't inconvenient. It's a nice enough neighbourhood. I stayed at the Westin last week and it's a pretty decent hotel. If you want inconvenient, the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku is really in the middle of nowhere. Otherwise if your are feeling more adventurous try a Ryokan instead of a westrn style hotel

This is an old, old debate that we needn't kick off again, but I don't regard the Park Hyatt as inconveniently located either. It's certainly no farther from Shinjuku station than the Hilton.

I don't believe that Tokyo is known for great ryokans. Anyone have a counter-example? If you want to try a ryokan, maybe do that elsewhere.

I wouldn't consider any of the western chain hotels in Shinjuku or Ebisu to be too far from the station. You may have to walk for a minute, but that's not a big deal. The Shinjuku Hilton has a shuttle bus, and I would imagine that the Park Hyatt does as well. The Ebisu Westin is in a nice area of Ebisu - Ebisu Gardens - that I really enjoyed when I lived in the Tokyo. I consider Shinjuku one of the most convinient areas just because of the sheer number of travel options you have from there. There are Chuo trains that cut across the center of the city and get you to Tokyo station in about 15-20 mins, and from there you can take the Shinkansen to get to places quickly, or you have the option of the Odakyu line to go into inaka Kanagawa area (Atsugi, Ebina, etc), or the Chuo out into western Tokyo and Yamanashi, or the Yamanote around the city. The only area that really compares well as far as travel connections is Tokyo station, IMO. Shibuya is good too, but not as good.

While Shinjuku does offer a lot of transportation options, the OP might not need any of those options.

If the OP's main goal is to see Asakusa, Odaiba, see the East Gardens, visit Akihabara, Ginza, and do a visit to Yokohama then staying on the east side, say LeMeridian across from Shinagawa makes more sense.
If the OP plans a majority of visits to Shinjuku, Shibuya, harajuku, maybe Roppongi, then head out to western Tokyo to see a studio tour or do some hiking then maybe staying in Shinjuku or Shibuya might be good.
Of course those are only examples, "convenience" in choosing a hotel depends on where you want to go and see.

I was wondering what the OP's plan are?

PHT has a bus, but it doesn't exactly run like clockwork. Some sneaky types try to hop on the O-Zone bus, which essentially takes you to the back side of the building. Your luggage might give you away on this though.

As this debate proves - "convenience" is in the eye of the beholder (or the feet of the schlepper). It's a very subjective thing...

"I like the Westin because it's close to my favourite spots" - well fair enough
"I like the Four Seasons Marunouchi because I step of the train and I'm there" - OK.
"I like the Peninsular because it's the only five star hotel with a strict dress policy (hard hats must be worn)" - I'll buy that too.

BUT ... No location should be labeled "convenient" on the grounds that "you can catch a train/bus/helicopter from there to Tokyo Station and from Tokyo Station you can get to XYZ"

No - I won't allow it. :D

Nuff said.

And there you have it. ;)

The PHT shuttle now runs on a regular (mostly) schedule every 20 minutes in each direction but there are gaps to allow breaks for the driver.

There is a newer option that I have been using a fair amount lately: from the base of the PHT driveway, left side, there is a 100yen bus that runs every 10 minutes all day to/from Shinjuku station. At Shinjuku station, it uses the same close-in bus stop as the Hilton bus (#21, I believe).

Also, as the PHT is a tenant of the Park Tower building, it's totally allowed to use the O-zone bus but I don't find it as convenient as the PHT shuttle or the 100yen bus.

Hey, we'll be there November 28 to December 3. Maybe we should have a do!

You can walk underground from the Hilton Shinjuku. Felt like maybe 2-3 blocks of walking before you get to the subway lines. Hilton Shinjuku is far from inconvenient imo. Easily walk from there to Takashimaya Times Square (depends on how much you enjoy walking).

I've never stayed elsewhere, so it could be better being right in the middle of other neighborhoods. I don't know what other's opinions are, but I feel Tokyo is a great walking city.