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Tokyo Luxury Hotels (consolidated thread -- older thread, now closed)

Tokyo Luxury Hotels (consolidated thread -- older thread, now closed)

Old Sep 16, 2017, 6:02 pm
  #1141  
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I see. I do really like a good cup of tea. But for me, every time I've tried it, afternoon tea is much more focused on the tower of snacks and the optional champagne than it is about the actual tea—and it comes at a time when I tend not to be hungry.

I'm also a person who makes a conscious effort not to eat outside of meal—empty calories. I quit drinking anything sugary, and quit snacking throughout the day. I can't even stand the taste of sugar these days…

So, maybe I'm just not the target customer for this.
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Old Sep 16, 2017, 6:13 pm
  #1142  
 
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Originally Posted by helvetic
I see. I do really like a good cup of tea. But for me, every time I've tried it, afternoon tea is much more focused on the tower of snacks and the optional champagne than it is about the actual teaand it comes at a time when I tend not to be hungry.

I'm also a person who makes a conscious effort not to eat outside of mealempty calories. I quit drinking anything sugary, and quit snacking throughout the day. I can't even stand the taste of sugar these days

So, maybe I'm just not the target customer for this.
You and I are perhaps more alike in this regard then. I also don't go for all of the food most of the time, and I don't have a sweet tooth.

You can have whatever you ask for. Just tell them what kind of tea you want, and anything else you would like, and they'll provide it. There should be an a la carte price for tea only. Also, if you are on club level at any of the hotels, complimentary tea will be available for you every day.
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Old Sep 16, 2017, 6:40 pm
  #1143  
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Originally Posted by MikeFromTokyo
In Japan, it's primarily targeted at ladies. They love it. Their husbands are likely either at work, or otherwise playing golf etc... and it's a way for them to get together with friends in the comfortable surroundings of a good hotel. So, there's the answer.

Also, a good cup of tea is really delicious. I'm more of a coffee drinker, but also like Mariage Frres tea quite a lot when I get the chance. I like the "French Blue" Earl Grey or the Lapsang Souchong.

So, that's at least my perspective on the "why" question.
Japan has the formula down pat. Beautiful, high quality sets, huge variety of beverages and the high end champagne options. I think SL Tokyo would have a pu'er tea to satisfy you. Their tea sommelier and selection is probably top in the city.
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Old Sep 16, 2017, 9:04 pm
  #1144  
 
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Originally Posted by Aventine
Japan has the formula down pat. Beautiful, high quality sets, huge variety of beverages and the high end champagne options. I think SL Tokyo would have a pu'er tea to satisfy you. Their tea sommelier and selection is probably top in the city.
It's been a long time since I've stayed, but I never had pu'er tea at S-L. Your suggestion makes me want to stay again just for that...and the teppanyaki at Nadaman, the Italian food at Piacere, those views... it all brings back good memories.

I love the corner Premier rooms. Will have to try it again. And try different Chinese teas each day.
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Old Sep 17, 2017, 6:15 am
  #1145  
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Originally Posted by Kagehitokiri
its not just sugar and pastries etc can be costly to make so "expensive" compared/relative to what?

practically any offering that exists has a market. price can be relative to market.

at luxury all-inclusive i appreciate afternoon tea. (normally i might only eat dinner. certainly im not going to do breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner. pretty sure the standard for these teas is that they are an "or" proposition, especially depending on time of day and what region.)

there are also properties which include afternoon tea and or breakfast for guests, sometimes guests-only, while not including anything else in terms of F&B. or club lounge / club style package rate.
When they're well-thought out, they offer a good look at a hotel's patissiere skills and how attuned they are to the local culture. The best sets will incorporate local seasonal flavors in them. This Aman one uses seasonal fruit and it changes from season to season. Park Hyatt Seoul made their afternoon tea set into a Korean based one (a definite niche in a land of traditional English based tea sets). Gochujang crabcakes. Ginseng infused roasted chicken bites.

Originally Posted by helvetic
Afternoon tea is one thing I just don't understand at all why is it so expensive, just to get a tower of sugar when you're already full from lunch and just hours away from dinner?
Totally more than just a tower of sugar. I can see how tourists would find them a waste of time and money when they have only 3 meals a day and want to have ramen, sushi, teppanyaki, 3* Michelin, etc when in Tokyo. As MikeFromTokyo said, it's an experience for women of all nationalities who lunch. They might not stay at Aman Tokyo but they certainly want to be there and experience, even, just a fraction of the famed Aman experience.

Afternoon tea can be a meal by itself depending on who makes it. Aman's was comprehensive and filling.

Originally Posted by scented
Absolutely speechless, Aventine... this has to be one of the best Afternoon Teas in Asia, if not the world. Well done, Aman Tokyo. Very reasonable price, hope they get the service right. Any updates on new GM at Aman Tokyo?

Maybe you should forward this to MO Munich?
I think it's being taken care of by a caretaker as Marc moved on to East Asia regional vice president for Rosewood,.

MO Munich
I bet their hounds will find your scent and learn how afternoon tea Jimmy Choo shoes should truly be made!
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Old Sep 17, 2017, 6:51 pm
  #1146  
 
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My wife and I had a fantastic stay at FS Tokyo at Maranouchi at the end of August. Service was outstanding and perhaps the best we've had at any of the FS properties we've stayed at. A few of the employees mentioned the focus on service as the main selling point as the hotel lacks some of the breathtaking views other Tokyo hotels have (Aman, Park Hyatt, etc.) and the location is in a central business district. While all top hotels should be focused on service it was interesting they acknowledged the lack of views and semi-desirable location.

I highly recommend the Platform greeting/sending service if taking the train from Narita to Tokyo station. We declined it on arrival and that mistake turned a 5 minute walk into a 25 minute walk due to walking out the wrong exit in Tokyo station. Not fun in August heat and humidity. Upon leaving we probably could have figured it out however having a porter to carry the bags was refreshing. Location next to Tokyo station is convenient for exploring the city by train as well as taking the bullet train to cities outside of Tokyo.

Concierge was top notch and assisted with reservations at Narisawa, Ginza Sushi Ko, etc. Also went out of their way to assist with shipping some items back to the U.S. that wouldn't fit in the luggage.

Definitely lots of good options in Tokyo as we stopped at the Park Hyatt for a drink and did tea at the Aman. Both were impressive. The Four Seasons definitely held its own and the wife and I hope to return soon.
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Old Sep 17, 2017, 7:03 pm
  #1147  
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Originally Posted by kajonesbu
My wife and I had a fantastic stay at FS Tokyo at Maranouchi at the end of August. Service was outstanding and perhaps the best we've had at any of the FS properties we've stayed at. A few of the employees mentioned the focus on service as the main selling point as the hotel lacks some of the breathtaking views other Tokyo hotels have (Aman, Park Hyatt, etc.) and the location is in a central business district. While all top hotels should be focused on service it was interesting they acknowledged the lack of views and semi-desirable location.

I highly recommend the Platform greeting/sending service if taking the train from Narita to Tokyo station. We declined it on arrival and that mistake turned a 5 minute walk into a 25 minute walk due to walking out the wrong exit in Tokyo station. Not fun in August heat and humidity. Upon leaving we probably could have figured it out however having a porter to carry the bags was refreshing. Location next to Tokyo station is convenient for exploring the city by train as well as taking the bullet train to cities outside of Tokyo.

Concierge was top notch and assisted with reservations at Narisawa, Ginza Sushi Ko, etc. Also went out of their way to assist with shipping some items back to the U.S. that wouldn't fit in the luggage.

Definitely lots of good options in Tokyo as we stopped at the Park Hyatt for a drink and did tea at the Aman. Both were impressive. The Four Seasons definitely held its own and the wife and I hope to return soon.
I've had FS Marunouchi's tea set years ago and it was well done. Their F&B is small but they make excellent food and drink.
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Old Oct 1, 2017, 10:03 pm
  #1148  
 
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I was going to post in this thread asking if anyone had recent experience with the MO concierge, but then noticed that @chang9121990 expressed disappointment with the MO concierge two months ago here. So I see I'm not the only one dissatisfied recently.

To try to keep it brief, I booked a Tokyo trip on short notice; needed to be in Odaiba for the first part so split my stay between the Conrad and the MO, where I booked an Oriental Suite. But pre-stay interactions with the MO concierge were so unresponsive and unhelpful that I canceled my reservation, and I got absolutely no follow-up from the property even after registering a specific complaint.

It feels like all the details of all the interactions could fill up the example portion of a service failure case study, but the worst interaction was a simple request for event tickets. The MO concierge took several days to reply and claimed that the event was officially sold out. They did say they could investigate alternative channels, but they got hung up on insisting I had to fill out a CC authorization form and providing scans of both the front/back of my CC via e-mail. Others can comment on whether this is standard in Japan/Tokyo, but I thought this was over the top especially as they already had my CC info and the face value of the tickets wasn't even $100. (No other hotel concierge has ever asked for scans of my CC; heck, even the Park Tower Knightsbridge in London - a property that I'd say isn't exactly known for great service - required no additional information/forms/etc. whatsoever when they secured me event tickets earlier this year that were almost an order of magnitude more expensive.)

At this point, given how slow every response was from the MO, I had already started my stay at the Conrad. So I went to the concierge there and despite the event not even being during my stay there, the concierge was happy to get tickets to the event in question – and did so within 5 minutes (and it only took that long because the concierge printed out a seatmap of the venue to show me exactly where my tickets were), and at face value, to boot. That was the final straw after which I decided to cancel my MO reservation.

Hilariously, the MO concierge e-mailed me the next day that they were "still searching" for tickets to the event but again stating that to proceed, they needed the authorization form / CC scans.

As a side note, I went into my Conrad stay with very low expectations but was blown away by the level of service provided by their concierge and reception teams. I was repeatedly greeted by name in the lobby, my requests were consistently followed up on, and they simply showed they cared. There's a lot not to like about the Conrad property, but at the same time, the room rate of the bayview suite I booked isn't at all comparable to the Peninsula Deluxe Suite (where I rebooked my MO stay) or of course the MO Oriental Suite. I'll post brief reviews of my Conrad/Pen stays when I have more time, although I can already say my Pen review will echo a lot of the recent negative reviews about the property.
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Last edited by gengar; Oct 2, 2017 at 1:57 am
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Old Oct 2, 2017, 4:52 am
  #1149  
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I booked a regular, I think bayview, suite at the Conrad and got no recognition at all. Admittedly, it wasn't a club level suite and maybe yours was. My room was a nice room and really quite cheap for what I got but the service at the hotel was like at a random Hilton.
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Old Oct 2, 2017, 4:59 am
  #1150  
 
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Originally Posted by RichardInSF
I booked a regular, I think bayview, suite at the Conrad and got no recognition at all. Admittedly, it wasn't a club level suite and maybe yours was. My room was a nice room and really quite cheap for what I got but the service at the hotel was like at a random Hilton.
I only had a standard bayview suite (the club level versions, which are on higher floors, are referred to as "exe" in the room name). Based on past reviews on FT of the Conrad, I certainly expected an experience more similar to what you describe - but as I noted, the concierge/reception were excellent during my stay.
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Old Oct 2, 2017, 11:12 am
  #1151  
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When I stayed at the Conrad, I booked the cheapest room as Diamond and was upgraded to the Bayview suite. I was recognized everywhere, and the staff at the Club was extremely helpful with several requests I had. Great stay overall!
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Old Oct 2, 2017, 12:16 pm
  #1152  
 
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Originally Posted by gengar
insisting I had to fill out a CC authorization form and providing scans of both the front/back of my CC via e-mail. Others can comment on whether this is standard in Japan/Tokyo.
I have to do this each time I stay at Aman Tokyo, which is pretty stupid because it's the same card on the same email thread from my previous stays.
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Old Oct 2, 2017, 1:56 pm
  #1153  
 
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Originally Posted by BlackHappy
I have to do this each time I stay at Aman Tokyo, which is pretty stupid because it's the same card on the same email thread from my previous stays.
This is super common across hotels in JPN. Everything by the book, and on paper.
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Old Oct 2, 2017, 2:11 pm
  #1154  
 
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Originally Posted by MattEvan
This is super common across hotels in JPN. Everything by the book, and on paper.
Yes, that is cultural, and can't be helped usually. I find it easier to just fill out the form than to bother discussing it.

What is disconcerting is that MO apparently had difficulty doing something Conrad could do in five minutes. I'm very surprised to hear that.
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Old Oct 2, 2017, 2:49 pm
  #1155  
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Originally Posted by MikeFromTokyo
What is disconcerting is that MO apparently had difficulty doing something Conrad could do in five minutes. I'm very surprised to hear that.
I've been working with the MO concierge for our upcoming stay in December, and have been impressed.

In addition to securing a somewhat challenging reservation before the books "officially" open for our date, they've handled my numerous requests quite well.

The only knock has been a sometimes less-than-rapid response time (e.g. 2.5 days), but I don't consider this a serious issue for a stay that's still months away.
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