After disembarking the Mariner, we plan to stay in Tokyo a few days in October. I've made reservations for a garden room at the Four Seasons Chinzan-so but now I'm waffling. Does anyone have any advice regarding hotels in Tokyo? We're looking for something that's comfortable and elegant (with rooms that are bigger than a shoebox). Any advice is appreciated!

Andrea

Stayed at the Le Meridien on a forced layover for a few nights. I thought it was a great location as it is in the Tokyo Bay area and was not crowded or congested and had beautiful views. Room was bigger than a shoebox and had a very nice bath with a window view of Tokyo Bay. Shopping is in the same area as well as the Hotel Nikko.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1838

http://www.hnt.co.jp/english/image_ex/access_map/access_map01L.jpg

Or and the subway/skyway was right next door.

Andrea we will be staying at the same Four Seasons for two nights BEFORE our October 4 Mariner cruise. I read very favorable reviews of this hotel and it is supposed to have nice sized rooms.

Andrea,

I was able to live in Japan for a while in 2000. I HIGHLY recommend the Akasaka Prince Hotel. It's a fabulous place in a convenient location. I was afforded morning views of Mt. Fuji that cannot be beat!

Another great hotel, although I did not stay there, is the New Otani Hotel across the street. When the Prime Minister of Brazil (I think - PM Mori) stepped down, he and his crew stayed there and held press conferences at the Akasaka Prince. Quite exciting stuff going on late 2000 over there that the US was pretty much unaware of as we were wondering how our election turned out. Ha Ha

I'm so happy for all of you who are doing a pre/post stay in Tokyo. If I had not been forced to return to the states, I'd be an ex-pat there to this day!

Cheers! <img border="0" alt="[vhappy]" title="" src="graemlins/icon_vhappy.gif" />
Ash

Ash, thanks for the info. I am going over to Tokyo for a meeting in early Oct. Akasaka Prince and New Otani are the recommended hotels (because they have Embassy rates). However, I am partial to Hiltons. Do you know anything about the Tokyo Hilton in Shinjuku or the new Conrad in Shinbashi. Or, should I just stay at Akasaka Prince? BTW, which metro line is the Akasaka Prince on?

Mark,

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the hotels you mentioned. My time in Shinjuku was mostly spent shopping and oggling the lights (Times Square is NOTHING compared).

I was at Akasaka Prince in two different rooms for a total of about 15 days. The ammenities in the room, the included breakfast, the location, the views, EVERYTHING screams fantastic to me, so I naturally suggest you get the good rate there.

It is on the Red Line - Akasaka/Mitsuke station is diagonally across the street from the hotel and is a major connection station.

How I envy you! Will this be your first trip to Tokyo - and will Mrs. Mark (Arleen?) let you take me along as a guide???? Ha Ha

Cheers! <img border="0" alt="[vhappy]" title="" src="graemlins/icon_vhappy.gif" />
Ash

This is my first trip to Tokyo. Besides my meeting, I am on a reconnaisaince mission to ensure Arlene's arrival in Tokyo in early November is without incident. That is why I am thinking of Shinjuku since the Hilton will be a good place for temporary housing versus the Akasaka Prince.

I especially like the Park Hyatt. Its very sophistcated, tastefully modern, and the service is impeccable. If you've ever seen the movie "Lost in Translation" then you've seen the hotel, as the story is centered around the hotel's rooms and public places. The only negative is the $$ :eek: $$ rates...

Cheers,

Eric

I also like the Tokyo Bay InterContinental. Stayed there a few years ago and had a wonderful room with great views. :)

Masaki

Like Masaki, I stayed at the Tokyo Bay InterContinental last Sept. Enjoyed it very much. Beautiful views across the bay and close enough to various subway lines to walk to stations, if you like that mode of urban travel.

I'm latching on this topic from long back. I don't see a newer one. Anyone stayed at the Imperial? I wanted to consider it for a night or two next April since that is where Silversea is doing their precruise. I don't plan to do their precruise due to the price and not wanting to go to Kyoto first. They have great rates posted, but they only go till the end of March, and this would be a couple of days after that. Since it's a Leading Hotel of the World and we have liked the others we have been to, I thought it might be worth a "go".

It has been quite a while since I was in Tokyo, and I was on a land trip. We switched from one Singapore to Tokyo to Tokyo to Singapore due to the MUCH better sale. Now I am kind of regrouping as to what I had planned to do.

We stayed at the Imperial Hotel for 4 nights March 07. It was excellent. Great rooms, excellent service and in a perfect location to everything. Shops, railway, restaurants etc. Just loved Tokyo.

We're booked into the Imperial for three nights on April 16th after our Hong Kong to Tokyo cruise on Crystal. This is also the hotel that they use as well. We booked it privately as they charge double. So I'll take any reviews on it I can.

I stayed there last year with Regent's pre-cruise. The rooms were a weird combination of upscale and very dated. Perhaps my room had not been updated? I found the service to be very good, the food horribly expensive and the location wonderful.

Thanks for all the replies. I also was noticing the meal prices. The hotel seems really reasonable, and the restaurants don't. I did lots of things in the past like even a few days at Mt. Fuji and a skiing trip and have stayed in a Western and a traditional hotel, done the Japanese bath and so on. I want a Western hotel with the option of Japanese dining. The food does not have to be gourmet, and I don't mind dining elsewhere.

I am a bit bumped about our changed itinerary because now we have more emphasis on Vietnam than Japan vs. the other one. We had been going to Okinawa where my dad served, but I could not see spending $8000 for two extra days.

That wouild be bummed.

Debbie, fyi, if you click this icon, which is located at the top of your posts, you can edit your out your mistakes :)

I know, I run a bunch of messageboards, I was just lazy. I was in the middle of tears with water gushing down the walls from the rain and the hurricane damage! Adjuster comes tomorrow.

Karen, it looks like you should have scolded me, too for not posting this in hotels. I thought I was nuts when I did not see hardly any posts from this year and knew there was more info on hotels. I really have had the worst day! Thanks so much for all you do. I hope I didn't sound nasty!

Since I did get this over here in ports, what have people done or what are you planning to do to get to the ship from Imperial. I had the idea of latching onto the SS transportation, too.

We just returned last night from a land based 2 weeks in Japan. We stayed 5 days at the Imperial - great location with one of the highest levels of service we have experienced anywhere. The rooms are good sized (for Japan), we were in one of the renovated rooms, which, ironically, are located in the older main building - the "new" tower has older rooms. Good choice of restaurants, but watch out for prices - ouch!

Thanks for the post. The restaurant prices are the reason I haven't settled in on this place even though the hotel prices seem more than fair. How was the quality of the food? Did you dine around? Who speaks English outside of the hotel?

It has been years since I have been to Tokyo, but we got around with business cards and pointing to the names on them and other methods, and most around there had limited English.

Food was great with large choice of restaurants (17 including lounges). We went with Travcoa so meals, including any restaurants, were included in the tour price. Language was not a major problem - concierge provided us with Japanese language destinations for taxis. To give you an idea of prices, we had dinner at Kamon, the Teppenyaki restaurant at the Imperial - the tab was $520 for two not including wine , and it was not the most expensive thing on the menu!

This was our first time in Tokyo in 20 years - it has changed.

Tokyo restaurants are cheap; Tokyo Hotel restaurants are way overpriced. There are a lot of restaurants near the Imperial.

I like the Hilton in Shinjuku for its location. The New Otani and Akasaka Prince in Akasaka Mitsuke have scores of restaurants within a 10 minute walk and are on the Ginza and Marunouchi Lines which make the area exremely convenient. The ANA Intercontinental is also convenient to subway and restaurants.

The Imperial is close to Ginza but you could there in five additional minutes from New Otani, Akasaka Prince, or ANA. Also, you could be in Shibuya in just 10 minutes and Shinjuku in about the same.

There are a lot of good restaurants in Tokyo that are expensive (New York Grill cost us $350 for two) but I haven't spent more than $80 per person for any other meal.

Marc

While our experience with Tokyo restaurants is limited, I'm not sure that I would label them as cheap - but they are definitely cheaper than the hotel venues. Our experience at the Imperial was breathtaking! It was cited as a cautionary tale.

Ted

We had lunch at the New Otani - looked like a good choice with a beautiful garden - two weddings in progress while we were there.

Thanks for the additional comments, everyone. I am looking forward to it. We will probably wait until around Christmas to decide on flights, and that will determine how much time we will have to explore. I know last time I was there, I was 3 days in Tokyo and 3 days at Mt. Fuji, but it has been a very long time. I just want to make sure Todd sees some sort of local experience, even if it is just one.

I just spoke to Silversea, and they will let us add on our transportation w/ them for $135 pp from the hotel to the pier if we book our own hotel. They also have a one or two night option that pics us up at the airport, too. I am pricing it all out, but it seems easiest to stay at the hotel.

If you are leaving from Tokyo, transporatation to the ship by taxi will be quite a bit less than Silversea's quote. Don't forget that there is no tipping in Japan so all you are paying is the taxi fare.

If the ship actually leaves from Yokohama, then you are just paying for the convenience with the Silversea transfer.

From Narita to hotel will cost you 3,000 JPY (about $35) each on limousine bus; by far the easiest way to go. Do not take a taxi; will cost you around $400 or more.

I am looking at using them just to get from hotel to ship for two reasons - it is $135 pp), leaving from Yokohama. One, convenience as you said ad 2 because they may let those on the bus board at time of arrival, which they expect to be about 1:30.

The limo shuttle from the airport definitely sounds like the way to go. Please tell me the signs are in English.

Signs at Narita and throughout Tokyo are in English. You will have no problem at all. Which airline are you arriving on? What time time? Which hotel did you decide on?

We are going to do the Imperial and are flying in on Continental non-stop from Houston at 2:20 pm. I downloaded a shuttle schedule, and it looks like there is one for Imperial at 3 p.m. and then 4 p.m.

Like I said, it has been a very long time since I was in Tokyo, and then nobody spoke English and you had to carry business cards and point on maps and bring something written from the hotel to drivers. I am sure that is still needed at times, but I plan to take the subway, etc. like I did then.

I have not booked the hotel but will soon. I plan to book a renovated room.

I appreciate all of your input.

Debbie, nothing more for me to do; I was going to check schedule. You should have no problem making the one at 3pm assuming no problems at security. I would hightail it off the plane though.

Subway now has signs in english. Machines to buy tickets also have english. Some outlying stations don't have much english but you should have no problems. The hotel will give you a card with hotel address in Japanese. Very few taxi drivers speak english. Also, most taxi drivers in Tokyo don't know their way around Tokyo.

There is lot to do walking around Imperial. You are also convenient to both subway and trains.

Don't forget your walking shoes!

Debbie - If you have time to do so, it might be worthwhile to join Imperial Club International. It doesn't cost to join (at least it didn't cost anything a few years ago)and can sometimes be quite useful for discounts and upgrades. They used to be a bit slow in processing the memberships; so you should apply promptly.

I love the location of the hotel, very close to the Imperial Palace complex and an easy walk to the Ginza. The restaurants in the hotel, as Ted and Marc have noted, are preposterously expensive; but there are lots of restaurants within a few minutes walk from the hotel which are both excellent and reasonably priced. There is a cute little alley of yakitori (grilled skewered chicken) joints nearby that is great fun. Yumm, great memories of skewers of grilled chicken livers & gizzards brushed with a glaze of sweet soy syrup.

The food courts in the big department stores in the Ginza are remarkable, as well. They have everything from grilled Kobe beef to handmade Belgian chocolates.

I love yakitori and a lot of other foods we used to eat every couple of days when we lived in Guam and I am so happy for this time. Todd already has rumblings of being a stick in the mud on this trip. I could see him wandering off to McD's or Pizza Hut. He has had us doing that in Asia before. I know he would love the yakitori. I usually do stuff like that or tempura or something with him. I'd love to just find some little snacks and sake and chat and soak in the culture and then walk around some.

I know before, I did several of the touristy things and even 3 days with skiing, Mt. Fuji, etc. with the mats on the floor, the baths and the whole bit, and I guess what I remember so much about the non-English, definitely was the cab situation.

Marc, I saw a 5 hour walking-tour that interested me, and Todd said not to even think about it. I am going to either just wander around like I did in Hong Kong and Japan before or plan something up for us.

Freddie, I have read on Trip Advisor of the Imperial Club and some saying they joined at the hotel and then others saying that they could not because they did not bring a business card. After your advice, I will try to join sooner.

What is everyone's advice on converting money? I assume the cheap, adventurous places to eat need cash.

We will get there around the same time as the Silversea pre-cruise group that will be coming in from Kyoto. I am hoping to latch onto their 1 day tour that incorporates a lot of sites and a local lunch even though SS won't sell it to us in advance. At least I know where they are going. I have been to almost all those places, but every single picture I had was lost in a flood some time back.

This cruise also goes to Kagoshima. I went ahead and booked a ship's tour there. They only had two choices, and I picked the one that does the volcano and a couple of other things.

After that, it goes to Taiwan. I did not plan anything there yet.

We stayed almost a week in Hong Kong before and are staying two nights there, but I have not decided where to stay. We were in Causeway Bay before but went all over, even up into the Northwest Territories. We did organized tours and self touring. That has been 11 years ago, so a long time away from there, too. The new airport was still under construction at that time.

I know I am going to want to bring stuff back, so I think I will bring some collapsible bags.

I had not really let myself look forward to this trip in case we could not go. We had to cancel the Vietnam part, but that was necessary in order to keep the other trip we have planned for later this year.

Lauri, it seems now you can book a renovated room vs. not renovated. They say the non-renovated ones have much better views, but I think we will go for the renovated ones anyway. I ruled out standard and was thinking of moderate. I hope this will be fine.

I would get Yen at ATM in airport. When you buy your bus tickets, look behind you and you will find the ATM machines. Citibank gives market rate plus $5 fee. Great deal if you get more than 20,000 Yen.

That sounds great.