I did this last year. Was definitely worth it and most Ritz dont allow this.

Basically you just email the concierge and they take care of it.

Not clear how exactly they are deducting the points, nothing has been taken out of my account yet (though in Tokyo it is still only the evening of the same day I made the request). But received an email saying the upgrade was confirmed.

A few notes about my stay here.

Club lounge points were deducted a few days after my request (see previous posts). Club lounge is nice, about as expected for R-C, with extensive food and drink selections and attentive, verging-on-overbearing service.

Tokyo is such a great food city that in some ways eating a lot in the club lounge feels like a waste, but it can also be an expensive food city so having the option to get a snack or a meal at no cost can also be nice. I guess if you don't like Japanese food but for some reason were to find yourself in Tokyo, a club level room here could also be good.


As for the rest of the hotel, a few thoughts:

It's hard to believe the hotel is only 10 years old; it feels older and not in a good way. The style is not to my taste and has elements of the faux-grand-old-hotel design that some R-Cs use. But weirdly parts of this hotel feel less like a faux grand old hotel in a new building, and more like an actual shabby-grand old hotel, with worn-seeming carpets, cramped hallways, and other oddities. Meanwhile the light and curtain switches in the room look like they are out of the 1970s or 1980s, and there are no power outlets by the bed despite the hotel being built in 2007 and the rooms renovated even more recently. I'm perhaps being overly harsh, but for such a young, high-profile, expensive hotel, it should do a lot better.

Service is obsequious as always with R-C, though one odd gap: there is an entrance to the hotel from the Tokyo Midtown plaza, which is by far the easiest way to get to the hotel from the Metro, but it is completely unstaffed throughout a long hallway leading to the elevator bank to the lobby. We didn't encounter anyone, have anyone offer to take our bags, etc., until we got to the 45th floor. I'm not trying to be a diva and I can carry my own bag, but it's an odd oversight for an R-C. The car entrance is very well-staffed but it's not exactly unusual to arrive somewhere in Tokyo by Metro.


As for the good, the rooms are large even if this hotel were in suburban America, so extremely large by Tokyo standards. Concierge was extremely helpful and responds to requests by email (if you hope to do any dining at Tokyo's top restaurants I would strongly recommend getting reservation requests to them well in advance of your arrival -- like multiple months in advance). Bed is comfortable and bathroom is well-appointed, including a Toto Washlet--not the most advanced version, but it has the basic bells and whistles, including a heated seat, though one unfortunately with no ability to change the temperature. Views from all rooms are sweeping. Gym is superb, with a wide range of equipment.


All that said, for a high-end hotel in Tokyo using Marriott/SPG points I personally enjoyed the Prince Gallery Tokyo a lot more, and found its sleek, modern, minimalist, but luxurious style more my pace, despite slightly smaller rooms and perhaps a bit less polished (but also less overwhelming) service.

Location preferences in Tokyo depend entirely on activities, but Prince Gallery offers 5 subway lines vs. 2 at the R-C so for general tourism the Prince Gallery probably wins. Prince Gallery also has an edge for rail access to Shinkansen and Narita with a direct subway link to Tokyo station, though R-C has easier train access to Haneda. (To and from either airport I'd strongly recommend looking into the Airport Limousine Bus options rather than using rail anyway, especially if traveling with any more than a carry-on bag.)

However, if you have lots of points but no elite status and want a club access room, paying for an upgrade to a club level room at the R-C is quite a good deal, and I don't think a similarly good deal would be available at the Prince Gallery.

Oh, and, for those who may be interested, the full run-down of club level timings and benefits:

I had a 2 night stay here recently. As a Plat received an upgrade to a very large Towers Deluxe corner room. Another Plat benefit is free access to Sauna.

I wish the renovation went a bit further, as the way it is, it's missing a mark. The room feels under furnished, missing outlets at night stands, and bathroom feels outdated.

Service is top notch.

thanks for the review. after spending 2 week straight in japan. the club lounge sounds like a good idea with some western options. could save the $$ and splurge on high end restaurants.

How are the entry level rooms at this property?

I have a 15 nt stay coming up in a standard deluxe king; obviously not going to upgrade on points for an extended stay like this. I only have Gold status through SPG which means I'm unlikely to see any upgrades, so I'm resigned to the basic room with my award booking.

Probably about as good as you're going to get for an entry-level room in Tokyo. All of the rooms here are on the large side even for mid-sized American city hotel standards, so very large for Tokyo. Also plenty of closet/drawer space if you want to fully "move in" for your extended stay. (The entry level rooms are the same as the club rooms, just without club access, and maybe on a slightly lower floor but all rooms are in the top few floors of the building anyway.)

The three non-club rooms are the same size and same layout. In my experience they pretty much only differ in view. The entry level Deluxe Room faces toward Midtown Plaza and Mt. Fuji.

Thank you both so much!

I'm very glad to read that closet space is ample, since we'll be staying put for the entirety of our two weeks so we'll likely pack on the heavy side since we aren't going to be venturing outside of Tokyo this time.

bgriff, you mentioned in your trip report that you felt the rooms were a bit 'rough around the edges' and I was wondering if this is something that we should set our expectations for, and if you could perhaps expand on that and offer a bit more context?

I'm trying not to compare this trip with previous visits, since we've stayed in some high end multi-room exec suites at The Peninsula and Shangri-La. Still it's tough to beat 2+ weeks in Tokyo at any hotel, booked entirely on award points!

FTR, the description on our reservation indicates "city view", which I gather means nothing considering that's pretty much all of Tokyo. Should I express any preference for one side of the bldg or is it all more or less the same?

PLATINUM helped a lot here
 

I posted this in a different forum too.

Booked a 7 day points redemption at RC Tokyo and mentioned Plat at check in - was told there wasn't any upgrade availability until the 3rd night which I accepted and inquired if this included breakfast and was offered Tower Buffet for the entire stay as compensation for my inconvenience of having to move after 3 days. Left in the morning on day three and came back in the afternoon to find we had moved to a Carlton Corner suite ( 1200 sf ) with sweeping views of the city. My wife and I were more than impressed and this set the tone for a spectacular week in Tokyo, RC delivered BIG time and we had a perfect stay leaving just as Golden week began. I considered club level when making the reservation but I needed to go to Tokyo's abundant offerings of gastronomic delight

Normally plat doesn't mean much at RC.

Got lucky with the upgrade and free breakfast

I´d agree Plat doesn´t mean much at RC, but it means even less at this RC specifically (as do most status tiers).

Because status is such a small thing here, I always book a STARS rate...takes the breakfast out of the equation, at least, and it does give you first choice as to your preferred/best room in the category (not to mention the potential upgrade).

Basically, never rely on status alone here!

IME:
RC in Key Biscayne, South Beach & Toronto upgraded to suites several times and NYC Central Park upgraded to a significantly better room based on Plat status alone even when using a corporate rate.
It has worked for me more than 7 times in the last 2 years.

Thank you. I originally came to this thread just to check out the Ritz as I'll be staying there this weekend. Reading this, I was able to email and get an upgrade to the Club floor for 40,000 points for the two day stay.