stevebintley

I’ve been wanting to visit Tokyo for so long and have finally snapped some scarce award availability with BA to travel end of September. Except now I’ve realised it’s during the Rugby World Cup so most of the hotels I’d have liked to stay in are well out of my price range. I have however managed to find three which are alright, but they are all in a very similar location as well as similar price, so I’m torn. Does anyone have any experience of the following (I couldn’t find reference to a couple throughout the thread):

The Capitol,
The Imperial or,
Hotel New Otani Executive House Zen.

They’re probably all below the standards of most under discussion here but like I said I’ve been priced out on the dates! All are in Chiyoda City and I’d be staying in one of their standard rooms, for three nights. I like somewhere to be modern but also have a sense of culture, rather than be a clinical business hotel, but breakfast doesn’t really matter since I rarely eat in a morning. Some recent city centre hotels I’ve particularly liked and stuck in my mind are Pan Pacific Yangon, Grand Park City Hall Singapore, Melrose Arch Hotel Johannesburg, The Singular Santiago, The Plaza Tirana, The Langham Hong Kong and Okura Prestige Bangkok; hopefully helps give a sense of my taste!

Any experience or steer would be appreciated – the opinions of you lot mean more than continuing to trawl though hundreds more reviews on TA! Thank you!

RichardInSF

Chiyoda is a prefecture in central Tokyo; the location is fine, you will be near either Kokkai-Gijidomae or Akasaka-Mitsuke metro station and from there can get wherever you want to go.

The Capitol Tokyu hotel was remodeled and I haven''t been there since it re-opened. The Imperial hotel is a classic older hotel that many like. The New Otani has a wide variety of rooms from tiny to nice. All of them would likely be regarded as upscale, not luxury, hotels (with the possible exception of the Imperial). Note that in Japan, you will be rarely upgraded at check-in. You will get the room you paid for and nothing more, so be prepared for that. Entry level rooms can be quite small.

You'll do fine at any of these hotels, but again, these may not quite meet the levels we normally discuss in this forum. Let's see what others think.

anthonyma

Andaz is not the good choice,I will not stay again
In my experience,their concierge is worst,housekeeping not good,the staff is not smile,but one the good,it is view,you can see beautiful Tokyo Tower.

osxunf

Thank you so much everyone for your input!

I've also added Shangri-la Tokyo to my list of hotels. I would be getting the Premier Room (NO LOUNGE).

Has anyone been here recently? is the lounge access worth the extra $800....?

MikeFromTokyo

taipeipeter

I enjoyed the lounge, but I didn't pay $800 for it. I don't remember any extra service--hor d'oeuvres & drinks.

vantage03

bsb10

Just wanted to report that so far my interactions with Aman Tokyo have been nothing short of superb. They've surprised me by being ridiculously friendly, sweet and personable to me in all communications, and have managed to fulfill every request of mine even with some really complicated instructions from me and hard to book reservations. There has been no communication breakdowns/language barriers so far, and I could not be happier with the service I've received from them--definitely the best concierge interaction I've had with any of the 6 hotels on this trip so far.

RichardInSF

A post here about the IC Tokyo Bay has been moved to the IC forum as the hotel is not a luxury hotel.

RichardInSF, moderator, luxury hotels and travel

helvetic

Haha, that's the funniest kind of underhanded diss of the hotel.

Aren't ICs usually meant to be "luxury?" No opinion on this particular one, though.

RichardInSF

Every IC that I've been to is at least one step below luxury, this category is called "upscale." Definitely true for the Tokyo Bay IC.

instyleprincess

I just returned from a quick stay at MO Tokyo, concierge was very helpful securing Michelin starred restaurants for me (though I did reach out 3 months in advance). Unsure about getting recommendation in general from them, but had very positive experience with their concierge team during our stay. They even booked all of our restaurants and helped coordinate with our hotel in Kanazawa. Truly memorable and flawless stay, will have to try Aman Tokyo next time to compare!

helvetic

What about the ICs in SF, London, Bora Bora, Da Nang? I think most ICs are meant to be "luxury" (whereas the Shangri-La brand is more of an "upscale" business hotel brand in my eyes), though I agree that I wouldn't call most of them luxurious.

Mickidon

How did you find the rooms on your visit? MO was always my favorite hotel, but it was getting tired. I'm curious to know if the refurb took care of that. I tried the Aman last
time but wasn't as wowed as I should have been for the price.

instyleprincess

Yup they refurbished the rooms when I was there. Funny thing is this is only my second time staying at MO, first time was when they first opened. They replaced all the Eastern wood accents with modern beige. The staffs told me most notable upgrade of the rooms is making them more tech-friendly since that was not really the big thing 10 years ago lol

I wanted to stay at AMAN Tokyo but it was just a quick overnight stay for me this time so I didn't think it would worth the splurge. I was very happy with MO's service from arrival till departure though. Honestly unless AMAN concierge can get me into those guest list only restaurants, I don't know if I'd want to spend extra to stay there