Smiley90

I stayed at the Tokyo Ginza two weeks ago and it's a great property. Nice, modern rooms, excellent Elite recognition (Upgrade & Free excellent breakfast for even Golds, which we're not mandated to get at Courtyards)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...ard-japan.html

I also received two (!) personalized letters, one with a daily drink chit for the bar for the duration of my stay at check-in and one with a small teaset sampler waiting for me in my room.

The location is also great, only about a 2-5min walk from the Metro station with a direct line to both HND and NRT.

FlyinHawaiian

This. When I stayed at the CY Tokyo Station last June, I walked to/from Tokyo Station a few times and it wasn't that bad, especially when I found the underground route. Still, it's a long walk from the train platforms, plus the N'EX train is really deep under the station. When it came time for me to head back to NRT, it was raining hard and I didn't feel like trudging with my luggage, so I hailed a cab to the station. So, the CY Ginza gets the nod here for me,

The CY Tokyo Station is a newer property on the lower floors of an office tower. I liked it, but it's certainly more of a business hotel than a leisure one. The views out of the windows will be of the street or the office buildings next door. The CY Ginza is an older property that has been re-branded several times but is more of a traditional, purpose-built hotel. You might actually see a little of the Tokyo skyline from a room on a higher floor.

Looks like the Limo Bus also has service to/from HND in addition to NRT. The ease of getting to/from NRT and HND via the Airport Limo bus is a big plus, IMO (especially with luggage and family in tow. In this case, CY Ginza is better than the CY Tokyo Station.

For the Shinkansen, the CY Ginza isn't really walkable to Tokyo Station, so that's a minus.

Links to Marriott Forum threads have been added in a Wikipost.

No clear winner for me; for a family vacation, I might lean toward the CY Ginza for a slightly more traditional leisure hotel experience and superior airport transfer options. I encourage the OP to review the Marriott Forum links to get additional perspectives/opinions.

viracocha

Thanks for the input! I've been looking at the Marriott forum as well but I haven't seen a good comparison of the two. I like planning everything well ahead of time so will definitely keep checking.

Aventine

The weather is gorgeous now so walking is easier if you want to get out for things from either location.

Pureboy

I stayed in the Courtyard Ginza over 5 years ago. I chose it because Ginza is near so many subway lines, and there were lots of things to see within walking distance, including Tsukiji Market. Staying next to Tokyo Station has its own advantages, so I don't think you could go wrong staying at the Tokyo o Station property.

Hergertarian

I just stayed at the courtyard Tokyo Station. It was nice enough, and the comp'd happy hour and breakfast buffet for gold and plat were bother filling enough to be two meals each.

Rooms are tiny by US standards though :/

blitzen

Take the room size into account as you will be 3 in that room (probably with a lot of luggage).

aero0729

I got really lucky! Im doing a 4 night weekend trip to Tokyo. 1 night CY Ginza, 1 night Hyatt Regency , 2 nights Richmond by Skytree

Richmond had grand opening special of $90 US per night. Reviews are amazing and hotel is in a great spot for transport.

Hyatt- 12,000 points seems like a good deal!

Ginza CY! Found it on Orbitz for $164! Marriott was $311. It was not even advance purchase. Booked on Orbitz just in case they gave me a problem and booked on Marriott, did an LNF and it succeeded!! Im staying there for $116 US plus tax! $147 (TONS of tax)

I will report back if they do anything for Plat. Prem.

CPH-Flyer

The tax amount seems odd. There should be 8%,sales tax, a 200 yen per night city tax, and then any service charge the property adds. That gives about a 16% service charge. That seems on the high side. You should look at the breakdown of your tax amount.

armagebedar

Moving this to the Marriott forum as this is more relevant there.

Regards,
armagebedar
Japan forum moderator

CO-PLAT

I've stayed at the Ginza Courtyard several times and my usual restaurant is Sake No Ana, about 10 minutes walk away. Its an Izakaya restaurant, but last week I was craving Yakitori. My coworkers (local Japanese) and I ate at Ginzatoriyakou, less than 2 minutes walk from the hotel.


Its exactly 2 small streets behind the hotel directly across from Family Mart. During the day there isn't even a sign, but during opening hours they put this out:


I didn't pay the bill, so I don't know how much it cost, but this is Ginza so it wasn't cheap.
The food and drink were excellent and you can crawl back to your room if necessary.



Ginko nuts:

This tasted like potato salad...not my favorite:

My favorite dish:


This was a bowl of horseradish:


My favorite sake of the night...I sampled many! Oni Yanma - A dry sake from Niigata prefecture. The name means something like Demon Dragonfly.

Troopers

Anyone know of a laundry service nearby?

rustykettel

shonanroger

We had a one night stay here with 3 adults and one child in March on a weekend. It was a short term decision and I booked the rooms just in the morning of the day of arrival.

I compared prices at marriott.com and at www.tobuhotel.co.jp/ginza/, and found the prices at the tobuhotel page to be cheaper. After calling the hotel they told me that all rates at tobuhotel.co.jp are eligible for Rewards points and status perks. Unfortunately the page is Japanese only. Clicking the “English” link directs you to marriott.com.

While marriott.com doesn’t let you book a room for 3 persons, this is well possible at www.tobuhotel.co.jp. You’ll get shown rates for tripple rooms (twin with extra bed). As children younger than 12 can sleep for free with the parents in the same bedding, it is even possible to get one tripple room for a party of up to 3 adults and one child.

I finally booked 2 rooms as booking one single and one semi double came cheaper then booking one tripple. After arrival we were finally upgraded to one semi double and one twin.

Additionally, the hotel extended the Platinum benefits to all 4 of us on the grounds that we were one family. Very generous. The rooms were compact but clean and well appointed, and we all enjoyed our evening drinks and free breakfast.

I was a little bit sceptical if the Rewards points would really post, but they were already posted to my account the next day.

The hotel is a very good choice for families, ... in case one can navigate the Japanese tobuhotel.co.jp page.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the update & tip.

Cheers.