bhrubin

747FC

Palace Hotel. Concierge Level. Great rooms, good location. Wonderful food. Excellent service.

richarddd

That makes sense and is likely a very large part of the complaints, although there a few that seem to find other issues (there are always a few).

In any event, PG is on our short list. Do you have any experience with the A Grand Deluxe Corner King, Club level, Guest room, 1 King, City view, Corner room, High floor?

The Aman does look rather nice, but is getting pricey. Perhaps I'll be feeling more expansive by January.

Their calendar is not yet showing availability for January (it's neither marked as sold out nor as out of booking range).

helvetic

Andaz 5th would fit your criteria well, if those are the things you care about. It can usually be had for far under your budget, and it's a good deal on Hyatt points despite going up a category recently.

I absolutely love the Prince Gallery; but the parts where it really shines aren't what you said you cared about, and the base level rooms are a bit on the small side, though very well designed and feeling a lot roomier than their square footage.

The PH location sucks major balls and the rooms are getting dated, though are large and well appointed.

RichardInSF

People knock the location because it's a 15 minute walk from Shinjuku station, which has connections to everywhere (it's the busiest train station in the world). The hotel does run a free shuttle to and from the station every 20 minutes. I think the breakfast buffet is fine, both Japanese and western included. As to view, this is Tokyo's original view hotel. The lobby is on the 41st floor and rooms above that. At the very top is the famous New York bar and restaurant.

ajca

Agree on Andaz hard product, it is outstanding. Breakfast is pretty good. @richarddd It's a huge city - where you mostly want to be and what you want to do and how comfortable you are navigating the subway?

The PH rooms and overall decor are somewhat a matter of taste, to be sure. I am still a fan of the kind of timeless minimalist design and attention to detail at the PH. And again for location, it depends on what you want to do... if it's drink whisky at Golden Gai then the PH is a good place to stumble back to If you want to do touristy stuff in Marunouchi or shopping in Ginza then naturally Shinjuku is not ideal.

helvetic

The views here are of a bunch of office skyscrapers, not the more picturesque Tokyo Tower or Skytree, or the Odaiba views you could get at the Conrad.

The walk to Shinjuku station is 15min if you don't get lost, which is very easy around Shinjuku, and if it's in summer or winter it'll be rather unpleasant to be exposed to the elements. Prince Gallery is connected directly to a huge pair of stations, and the Andaz is a much quicker 5min walk flat down a straight street (hard to get lost).

helvetic

That would be a long stumble home… especially intoxicated!

Note — I don't mind Shinjuku, which is a great area to be in. I just don't like how isolated PH seems in its office building 15min+ away from everything.

RichardInSF

Isn't that an interesting comment, he said as he looked at Skytree in the distance from his PH room window. Oh, and isn't that Tokyo Tower off to the right as well. Since I can see Shinjuku station too, I know that from the front entrance of the hotel, you take a right turn and walk straight there. And if it's summer or winter and you don't want to be exposed to the elements, you can enter the Shinjuku Washington hotel a few hundred yards along the way. From there, you can walk in a temperature-controlled underground tunnel the rest of the way to the station.

helvetic

I guess if you call that a view.

Compare with the view from the Andaz rooms:



Similar differences between PG and PH for Skytree

Aventine

I prefer seeing Fuji from my PH suite. Need that crisp winter air though.

ajca

Guys, we can love them both! They are both amazing!

But to be honest seeing the photos above reminded me of how much I like having NY Bar & Grill just an elevator ride away - especially compared to the absolutely rubbish rooftop bar at the Andaz or anywhere near there.

Aventine

I thought the drinks at Andaz rooftop were fine. You disliked being outdoors-ish?

johnder

So I am planning a long, first time trip to Japan for my 50th birthday celebration with my wife in which we will be spending a few days in Osaka, Kyoto and then Tokyo. I have the bookings done for the first two, but struggling a bit with the Tokyo booking. I have been reading through the hotel threads and getting a ton of great information from them but had a question which I have see only a little information on, and then some conflicting information at that.

The main purpose of our trip is really to take in some of the amazing food and drink the country has to offer, with some sightseeing / culture wrapped around the first two main goals. I have no real desire to try to go to Jiro, but of course would if possible love to try Saito, along with apparently everyone else visiting.

The question I put forth is among the bigger / luxury hotels

MO
Aman
PT
PG
etc,

Is there is a concierge power ranking or general feeling of who can probably still have the most connections with some higher end places to work with to get reservations?

I have seen some comments around the MO concierge not being to effective and has dipped off in regards to communication responsiveness, and also heard that the Aman, while excellent, also has it its stumbles with concierge service.

Given we have planned to be in Tokyo for almost 8 nights, we are hoping the duration of the stay will allow us to establish a good rapport with the concierge and also give enough flexibility in terms of booking days/nights for harder places.

Thanks!

MattEvan