Toyko Hotel Choice

We are sailing around Japan in April of next year and I am noting that most of the hotels we were interested in are already sold out! We were looking at larger hotels, on a shuttle or bus line from the airport, on a subway line to downtown, near the Ginza neighbourhood for shopping. Are there any smaller boutique hotels in this area that would be good to stay at? We also need options for getting to the pier...any ideas?

We stayed at the Citadines Shinjuku and found it very convenient. The rooms are quite large by Japanese standards and it was an easy walk from Shinjuku station, although we took a cab when we had our luggage. We were there post cruise, so I can't give any information about getting to the port. We went straight from Yokohama to Kyoto by train which was easy. I would think it would be equally as easy to get to Yokohama from Tokyo.

You might also consider an AirBnB. I've had excellent experience in Japan with them. There's always last minute availability in all price ranges.

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Aloha, :D

If you are going during Japan's Golden week, many hotels will already be sold out.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2282.html

This is when many Japanese take vacations so they have reserved their accomodations well ahead of time.

Aloha, rak :D

It is possible that some hotels haven't opened bookings that far in advance. I've struck this problem in the past. Try again within 12 months of your trip.

We are sailing around Japan in April of next year and I am noting that most of the hotels we were interested in are already sold out! We were looking at larger hotels, on a shuttle or bus line from the airport, on a subway line to downtown, near the Ginza neighbourhood for shopping. Are there any smaller boutique hotels in this area that would be good to stay at? We also need options for getting to the pier...any ideas?

Choice of hotel can be different if you flying to Narita or Haneda. Haneda is much closer to city and in this case you can find number of hotels in Minato or Chuo area with easy transportation from Haneda using monorail.

I found the same thing booking just prior to Golden week for this April.

Many of the choices recommended to me near the Tokyo Station were fully booked a year out.

I suggest booking something you can be ok with, that has a reasonable cancellation policy, so you can keep looking if your choice opens up.

I absolutely love the Sakura Prince Tower in Shinagawa. It's less than a 5 minute walk from Shinagawa station. They also have a free shuttle that runs from the station every 20 minutes.

Shinagawa is centrally located on the JR line. The Narita express train and Shinkansen both stop at the station.

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Golden Week 2018 begins April 28 and lasts until May 6. I'm looking at staying at the Hotel Monterey Yokohama prior to the cruise from Tokyo to Alaska. There's a bus service that runs from Haneda to Yokohama with a stop near the hotel. As you say, many of the hotels are 'Sold Out' but that's just a way of saying they're not yet available for booking. I'll be checking a little closer in May and June to see whether I can get a good advance rate.

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We are sailing around Japan in April of next year and I am noting that most of the hotels we were interested in are already sold out! We were looking at larger hotels, on a shuttle or bus line from the airport, on a subway line to downtown, near the Ginza neighbourhood for shopping. Are there any smaller boutique hotels in this area that would be good to stay at? We also need options for getting to the pier...any ideas?

I'm going to Tokyo in April of this year, and I contacted a couple of hotels last summer who told me that they didn't accept reservations until 6 months before the date of the reservation.

I have reservations at Hotel Ryumeikan near Tokyo station, though I considered the Hotel Metropolitan Marunouchi (also near Tokyo Station). But I also considered staying in Shibuya (Shibuya Excell or Cerulean) or Shinjuku (Shinjuku Granbell).

You need to consider your budget and your tastes.....do you want a kind of Westernized corporate type of hotel, something that's a little more Japanese in its set up and appearance, or maybe something unique like a loft room or a Hello Kitty themed room.

Also.....will you be sailing from Tokyo itself, or from Yokohama? That may affect your choice as well.

Tokyo station hotel right above Tokyo train station offers a discounted rate to JR pass holders. If you do not see rate listed on their website email them directly. This is where the Narita Express train drops you off from Narita airport.

It is a block from where the sky us HOHO bus leaves and there are plenty of places you can walk to from there.

It is possible that some hotels haven't opened bookings that far in advance. I've struck this problem in the past. Try again within 12 months of your trip.

Yup - I was panicking when I thought our first choice hotel was sold out.

But as RAK noted here that it is golden week time for us and (b) more importantly it appears that it shows sold out because we are looking outside of the 12 month period.

The hotel web site has one of those block out calendars and it is slowly inching towards being open so watching, watching and then will jump on it...next week!!! Also you may want to check a number of sources ie. booking.com, Travelocity type sites as well as the hotel site and if the hotel belongs to a corporate. All these sites were telling me sold out at first and I didn't know why. Then I hit the corporate site and found the calendar and am a little more at ease.

Good luck....

I absolutely love the Sakura Prince Tower in Shinagawa. It's less than a 5 minute walk from Shinagawa station. They also have a free shuttle that runs from the station every 20 minutes.

 

Shinagawa is centrally located on the JR line. The Narita express train and Shinkansen both stop at the station.

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The Marriott you mentioned at Shinagawa station looks very nice. It came up with availability for using Marriott Rewards points. And had points availability while most other major chains (Hilton, Hyatt, etc) did not, for our stay in late Sept of 2017. We're using IHG free night certs and points. And InterContinental is an IHG brand.

We're staying at the InterContinental Strings, 5 nights for free on points, for the same reasons:

* Can take NRT Express train to the hotel

* 5 minute skywalk from the hotel to Shinagawa Station

* Shinagawa station is on the Yamanote subway line. The Circle line--can't get lost, just keep ridining. :-) So far, my research tells me that being at a hotel on the Yamanote subway line is a huge plus for efficient sight seeing.

* You can catch many bullet trains from Shinagawa station! Easy trips to Kyoto, etc.

Downside may be that the area around the hotel isn't sight-seeing worthy. But for my wife and I, the benefits of being

Hope this helps.

Tokyo station hotel right above Tokyo train station offers a discounted rate to JR pass holders. If you do not see rate listed on their website email them directly. This is where the Narita Express train drops you off from Narita airport.

It is a block from where the sky us HOHO bus leaves and there are plenty of places you can walk to from there.

And this was an excellent choice. We got the discount with our JR Pass by emailing hotel directly. Construction in front did not bother us. No noise from anything. Hotel is street level. Trains below.

Dog:)

The Marriott you mentioned at Shinagawa station looks very nice. It came up with availability for using Marriott Rewards points. And had points availability while most other major chains (Hilton, Hyatt, etc) did not, for our stay in late Sept of 2017. We're using IHG free night certs and points. And InterContinental is an IHG brand.

 

We're staying at the InterContinental Strings, 5 nights for free on points, for the same reasons:

 

 

 

* Can take NRT Express train to the hotel

 

* 5 minute skywalk from the hotel to Shinagawa Station

 

* Shinagawa station is on the Yamanote subway line. The Circle line--can't get lost, just keep ridining. :-) So far, my research tells me that being at a hotel on the Yamanote subway line is a huge plus for efficient sight seeing.

 

* You can catch many bullet trains from Shinagawa station! Easy trips to Kyoto, etc.

 

 

 

Downside may be that the area around the hotel isn't sight-seeing worthy. But for my wife and I, the benefits of being

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

You're correct in that the area around the hotel is very much a business district, but the proximity to a central station can't be beat.

The Yamamoto line is great. Its about 20 minutes to Shinjuku and you pass Harajuku and Shibuya on the way which are common sightseeing stops. If you use it in the opposite direction you have Ueno, Akihabara, and Tokyo. It's really convenient to any JR station.

Not asked for advice, but if you go out the central exit of the station and cross the street (towards Takanawa Wing) and turn left, you'll run into a tiny ramen shop. It's a counter with a bunch of stools and can have a line, but I highly recommend it. You can see everything and they hand make the gyoza right behind the counter. They have picture menus but they're known for their tantanmen style ramen.

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We stayed at the Hotel Metropolitan Marunouchi near Tokyo Station. Great hotel, great location and great people at the hotel.

Price was excellent.

Not asked for advice, but if you go out the central exit of the station and cross the street (towards Takanawa Wing) and turn left, you'll run into a tiny ramen shop. It's a counter with a bunch of stools and can have a line, but I highly recommend it. You can see everything and they hand make the gyoza right behind the counter. They have picture menus but they're known for their tantanmen style ramen.

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Advice appreciated and saved-off. :-) Absolutely looking for food around the station. Looking forward to real ramen (vs. what I ate as a poor college student), and love gyoza. If you have any more recommendations for affordable restaurants in that area (wife loves sushi, but not looking for high-end prices), that would be wonderful.

I made another points booking for our last two nights at the Prince Sakura in case we don't like the IC Strings; can't imagine why, and it's hard to argue with free--but one never knows which free is better.

Also booked on points for one night in Kyoto at the Ritz Carlton. Shame to stay only one night in Kyoto, but we're only going to be in Japan 5 nights total. We get in somewhat late on the first day/night, so the second day we're reserving for having found going round the Yamanote line and seeing sights at some of the stations you mentioned.

Advice appreciated and saved-off. :-) Absolutely looking for food around the station. Looking forward to real ramen (vs. what I ate as a poor college student), and love gyoza. If you have any more recommendations for affordable restaurants in that area (wife loves sushi, but not looking for high-end prices), that would be wonderful.

 

 

 

I made another points booking for our last two nights at the Prince Sakura in case we don't like the IC Strings; can't imagine why, and it's hard to argue with free--but one never knows which free is better.

 

 

 

Also booked on points for one night in Kyoto at the Ritz Carlton. Shame to stay only one night in Kyoto, but we're only going to be in Japan 5 nights total. We get in somewhat late on the first day/night, so the second day we're reserving for having found going round the Yamanote line and seeing sights at some of the stations you mentioned.

You should have plenty of time to see the highlights in Kyoto. It can even be done as a day trip.

You actually have to go out of your way a bit to find really high priced meals. Most places you'll stumble upon are really reasonable. I don't think I've even been to sushi near Shinagawa station, I usually end up at the Ramen shop I mention or the little ramen alley down the road sort of under the station.

There's a great sushi restaurant in Shibuya station (Shibuya Mark City). There's a whole restaurant cafe section on the 4th floor. Umegaoka sushi midori. There's pretty much always a line but there's a sign in screen with English prompts and you'll get a number. The line moves pretty quickly. They have picture menus and a few English menus. You can always ask for the osusume, which is the recommendation and they'll point something out or just bring you a chef special.

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Like poster 4774Papa I'd recommend the Hotel Metropolitan Marounuchi. We stayed there before and after a cruise (just back this week!) and its perfectly placed - the hotel overlook the Tokyo Central Station and you just wheel your suitcases through the station to the hotel. Which is great for connecting the Narita Express for both the airport and for Yokohama station.