The Hilton Tokyo has a great location in Shinjuku, a fantastic lounge, and amazing service. This is part four of a six part trip report from my travels to Japan:
- Admirals Club Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) Terminal D
- American Airlines First Class Dallas (DFW) – Tokyo (NRT) on a 777-200
- Hyatt Regency Tokyo
- Hilton Tokyo
- JAL SAKURA LOUNGE Tokyo (NRT)
- JAL SKY SUITE Business Class Tokyo (NRT) – New York (JFK) on a 777-300ER – My new favorite business class?
Arrival and check-in – The hotel lobby is almost always packed, there are numerous very large tour groups that tend to stay here. The wait to check-in was about 10 minutes (the HHonors member line was no shorter than the normal line). Don’t worry there are traditional Japanese musical performances in the lobby while you wait! As a Diamond member I was not upgraded (the hotel was completely sold out), but I was given a high-floor, free internet, and executive lounge access.
The King Room –
High floor with great views, comfy bed, multiple outlets, blackout shades. Prior to 2013, half the rooms were renovated and half were not…and there was a huge difference (especially the bathrooms). I’m happy to report that all rooms have now been renovated. Wifi was decent, though certainly not as good as the private individual wifi network at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo across the street. If you want to have no idea what time it is, try those blackout shades!
For those of you visiting for work, pretty awesome dry cleaning services. Each item is individually cellophane wrapped to avoid wrinkling and then every 2-3 items are boxed for you and delivered on your bed like a present.
The executive lounge is definitely the sweet spot for this hotel. They had my name down by day two (even somehow the employees who I had not yet met), provided constant service, and the food was awesome. Some of the food options each night were incredible – a chef cutting tender pieces of Kobe filet for guests, a sushi night with great roll options made right in front of you, gourmet Japanese style sliders, and a beer and wine tasting experience. Granted, there seemed to be many guests who treated the lounge as their restaurant for dinner. The staff were surprisingly OK with this – I definitely saw one family ask for four portions each of the Kobe filet. Breakfast was impressive as well with all the normal options (both Western and Asian) plus an omelet bar, freshly squeezed OJ station, and smoothie option. I should also mention that the lounge is spacious and actually takes up two floors (37 and 38)!
Like the Hyatt across the street, there’s a free shuttle service to Shinjuku station and the Tokyo Metro is directly below the hotel. Unique to the Hilton are rooftop tennis courts and a 24/7 gym. If choosing between the two, there aren’t huge differences. I really liked the lounge at the Hyatt Regency but the Hilton lounge definitely had better food options. I’d give the Hyatt a slight edge with their bed, though the rooms were quite similar. With Diamond status at both, neither property upgraded my room type – though I was given lounge access at each hotel.
Up next – JAL SAKURA LOUNGE Tokyo
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4 comments
I agree, the Hilton Tokyo’s Executive Lounge is excellent. I’m not sure the lounge is still spread over two floors, though. When I was there in April, my room was on the 37th floor so I asked about using the in-lounge staircase to get between the floors as opposed to waiting for the elevator. The staffer at the desk told me the staircase was closed and that the lounge was now confined to the two spaces on the 38th floor.
@Greg – Thanks for the update, I visited in Feb/March.
What was your rate?
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