Manisha

Hello everyone. I searched for Westin Tokyo on the forum and found many recent responses about the property itself (rooms, amenities, etc). I have a question about the area/neighborhood/location that the hotel is in.

According to the Starwood website, the hotel is in Shibuya. But the narita airport limousine website and some other websites list it in the Shinagawa area. Where is it? One of the reasons we are staying here is points and the other big one is that we had heard the Shibuya area is really nice to stay in.

Does anybody know anything about the area that this hotel is in? We are looking for a neighborhood with lots of nice restaurants, some shopping (shopping not too important).

We will be out and about all day long and come back to the hotel in the evenings. We are looking for a hotel that will allow us to walk out of the hotel and find some good restaurants, perhaps some lounges, etc. and take some generally pleasant walks. Any one know if Westin is the place for us?

emd

I think you are confused. The Westin Tokyo is not in Shibuya nor is it in Shinagawa. According to the Starwood website it is in Ebisu, and I can tell you that it is in fact in Ebisu as I have stayed at that hotel on 2 visits for total of 10 nights. Ebisu is on the western side of the Yamonate JR train loop around Tokyo (at almost 9 p.m. position on the loop).

I LOVE the Westin. It is one of the finest, perhaps the finest, hotel I have stayed in anywhere in the world, esp. if you have access to the club on the club level (whcih gives you either free wonderful buffet breakfast in the Cafe or breakfast in the Club, and evening appetizers and drinks, and a great view of western Tokyo and Tokyo Tower. The concierge, front desk, and bellman service is flawless. So is the "service on demand" phone line available in your room. The rooms are beautiful. I found not one thing wrong in the 10 days I've stayed there. It was as close to perfect as I have ever gotten in a hotel.

The Westin is a 7 min. walk from the JR Ebisu station. 2/3 of the walk is under cover of an indoor moving walkway, very clean and nice, esp. in bad weather. To get to the undercover walkway, you walk out of the hotel, corss the street, and walk through a very upscale business, shopping, and dining area called Ebisu place. Very convenient as there is a dept. store there w/food area in basement, several reasturants (in particular the famous Ebisu brewery, a working brewery restaurant, a restaurant directly across from the hotel that looks like a French chateau, a pastry place for breakfast, etc.), a post office (inside one of the office bldgs., very convenient for getting money from the ATM). We have seen many brides getting their pics taken in the common areas outside of Ebisu Place.

So you walk thru Ebisu place complex outside, then you go inside the moving walkway area and you are then inside the train station. In the train station is another small dept. store, many informal places to eat and nice deli places to take hot and cold food, some sit down restaurants also. All very nice. If you walk all the way through the train station (it is not very far) you come out on the other side and there is a neighborhood there w/more restaurants.

Ebisu is not a place like Shibuya which is a major hub and stays open very late at night w/lots of neon and corwds. Ebisu is a nice neighborhood, a bit mor elow key, but you will not have a problem finding restaurants there and some shopping. Personally, after a full day out in Tokyo, when we got back to the htoel, the area of Ebisu and the Westin itself were a haven.

And you are just a mile or one train stop away from Shibuya if you want more excitement at night.

emd

Nice pics of Ebisu Garden complex at the site below. You can see the French chateau restaurant I mentioend, and some of the outdoor spaces. Westin is the bldg on the left behind the chateau place.

www.japan-guide.com/e/e3028.html

emd

oh, and here is the Ebisu Place website. Keep in mind that are also all of the additional restaurants at the shopping complex inside the station also.

http://gardenplace.jp/english/

And if you search for "Ebisu" on this Tokyo food page, it brings up many of the restaurants in Ebisu area.

http://www.bento.com/search4.php

emd

I am trying to work and now all I can think about is the Westin Ebisu and how great it is.

emd's thought for the day:

Life should be more like the Westin Ebisu.

emd

Oh, and I just saw that you are using points. So did I, both times. You know if you stay 4 nights on points that the 5th night is absolutely free, no points at all. My advise is to use the extra points to get on club level and get that breakfast buffet in the very nice Cafe included (and a private concierge on the club level).

Manisha

emd - Thanks for your helpful comments. I love your thought for the day - lol!

These websites are really helpful. The Westi/Ebisu looks and sounds like the place for us!

emd

Good, glad to hear it. Now promise to let me know what you think of it when you get back. I am dying to go again. I love starting my trips there, and Tokyo is not even my favorite place.

Manisha

Will let you know how it was

mjs

I think you will have a good stay at the Westin Ebisu. It is one nice hotel and in my opinion a 5 star. If all other Westin's were as nice!

M88

Hi. Would appreciate it if those of you who stayed at the Westin Tokyo could recommend some nearby restaurants that you loved (particularly sushi, teppanyaki, udon, or good breakfast places). We are visiting in 2 weeks!

emb - your posts were helpful, thanks.

mjs

There are alot of restaurants nearby and the Westin concierge has a good list. EMD has described the hotel and area quite well. Most of the more "local' restaurants are around the train station. The Mitsukoshi department store also has an excellent food floor. Nice bakery 1/2 way to the train station for breakfast.

emd

We didn't really try many restaurants close to the hotel. We were on the club floor of the hotel both stays, and that included a great breakfast buffet in the restaurant in the lobby level. So we had a bog breakfast, and then often had a bowl of ramen for lunch and ate dinner whereever we were before we went back to the hotel in the evening. And the club level had appetizers and drinks in the evening in the club lounge. So we just didn't have a reason to eat that much in Ebisu.

But I thought we would, so I printed out the Ebisu restaurants from this page and took them w/me. This is a good Tokyo restaurant page, just fyi.

http://www.bento.com/ra-ebisu.html

And the concierge(s) at the Westin can help you also. They are very helpful and they have restaurant maps of the area.

There was a poster on here, alibi13, who stayed in Ebisu in another hotel. I checked his trip report for you and he and his wife ate in a lot of restaurants in the area but he didn't put the names of the restaurants in the trip report.

W9London

Dining options near Westin Tokyo:
For Japanese food, there are many restauarants on the top floors of Yebisu Garden Place tower. It's a shopping/office building right across from the hotel, before you get to the moving walkways. Also restaurants in the shopping mall next to the JR station.
There is a bakery called St. Germain that opens quite early. Good for breakfast.
Loved the beer place--converted brewery in the main complex.
I also liked pizza and pasta place across the street. Good food, reasonable price, but the portions were smallish side.

me98

My wife and I live in Yokohama, and have visited the Westin Hotel periodically (several times per year) over the past 9-years both for staying overnight, and principally for dinners. We have observed the constant increase in prices, particularly for the Dinner Buffets, and the constant downward slide in Customer Service. The Westin charges an outrageously (and foolishly) high $80/meal for Buffet-type food that is only slightly above average taste. The Wait-Staff are rude; it is impossible to get 'walk-up' entry into restaurant (they set-aside vast majority for reservations that never show up) and attempt to force timed-service on everyone with their restrictive seating times (e.g. 5:00pm-7:00pm, and then coerce you to leave; they coerce phone-in customers to schedule for after 8:30pm). The rooms are okay sized for Japan's typical ketchy/stingy accommodations, but hugely overpriced. Although this hotel is visually one of the prettiest in Tokyo, Foreign Travellers should avoid this Westin Hotel if they want anything like Value-4-Money. Customers leave this hotel feeling cheated and abused.

cats53

I agree with emd that the Westin Tokyo is quite nice. We've stayed there twice, both times on Starwood points, and have found the service exceptional. The rooms are good size. As has been mentioned, the Ebisu Garden area has several dining options (Japanese, Italian, sandwiches, McDonalds (!), etc). And access to the train station is easy. You can take the hotel elevator to the ground floor and walk directly into the Eibsu Garden covered walkway.

For alternative dining, if you turn to the right as you leave the hotel lobby and head up the street (away from Ebisu Garden) there are many other independent restaurant and shopping options in the neighborhood.

Enjoy your time in Tokyo and Japan.

Kathie

You pulled up a thread from 2006 to complain about a hotel's buffet?

hawaiiantraveler

I have stayed at the Westin Tokyo just recently in October '09 and have to agree with emd about this wonderful hotel. The service was top notch, the food was fabulous and we never experienced any of the inconveniences mentioned by the above thread written by me98. You can read our review in my trip report. All in all the Westin is a fantastic place to stay in Tokyo.

Aloha!