What is the best way to get from Haneda Airport to a large hotel in Shinjuku? There are many choices, and it is overwhelming. Any advice? We will have two medium suitcases (approx 22" x 18" x 10" or 56cm x 46cm x 25 cm), plus backpacks. It seems like it might be difficult to take the luggage on the monorail or other public transportation. We are scheduled to land at about 1700 local time. I would greatly appreciate any insight into the best way to get from Haneda to Shinjuku. I am not opposed to taking a taxi, even though I know it is more costly. Also, can a private car that can be arranged?

We usually stay in Ebisu which is a liitle further away from Haneda than Shinjuku and the taxi ride is not very long. Last time we stayed in Tokyo was about 5 years ago and the taxi ride was around $45. I have never arranged for a private car in Japan but I am sure your hotel can arrange this for you if you are staying at a hotel. Taking a taxi however is quite easy.

Which hotel?

The best way would be to take the limo bus. I used it in November to get from Haneda to Hyatt Regency in Shinjuku. It was maybe 10 bucks. You just buy a ticket and find your bus stop Actually, I found the bus stop and then the guy told me to go inside and buy a ticket at the machine. He (Nepalese with clea, fluent English) told me the color of the machine to use Machine was easy to find and use, choose your language.
Airport Limousine (airport-bus-alliance.com)

The bus goes to Shinjuku station and then a couple of hotels. If your hotel is not listed then maybe you can find a taxi stand near the bus drop off. Or, I suppose you could just take the bus to one of the hotels where it stops and get a taxi from there. The taxi part would be maybe $10 in that local Shinjuku area.

A taxi would be quiuker but $65 tio $80. You just have to find the taxi stand but you would want to have the name and address of the hotel written in Japanese and English (I emailed the concierge for that info for her hotel and two others, tho it is available on the web)

You could hire a car but that would be $100 to $140. I suppose all you have to do is look for the guy in the arrival hall who is holding a sign with your name on it.

You have 22" bag and a backpack, so you could take transit. This would be the most hassle, longest, and cheapest way.

i posted but maybe it is waiting on a moderator
answer is the limo bus is best wey. i can explain more if my post doesn't appear
Haneda to Ebisu drive is about 9 miles and to Shinjuku about 13 miles.

Why not take the "Keikyu Airport Line" train from Haneda airport to Shinagawa station, and then take a taxi from Shinagawa to your hotel? (Keikyu Shinagawa and JR Shinagawa stations are adjacent to each other.)

I have just looked into this recently, because now Delta flight is arriving at Haneda instead of Narita. From what I googled, Keikyu Airport Line is every 10 minutes, and the travel time is 13 minutes.

Thank you for this information, pjs.

Thank you for this information, mrwunrfl. We will be staying at the Tokyo Hilton; I doubt this will change your answer. I noted that the Tokyo Hilton is the last stop on the limo bus route.

Thank you for this information Reading54. I see I have a lot of options to choose from. I have traveled to Europe and never had issues, but Tokyo seems intimidating. I'm sure we will make it to the hotel one way or another.

The limo buses are a very good choice.

Ok, the Hilton. In that case the limo bus is the no-brainer choce, imo, balancing cost vs convenience. You buy a ticket and find the bus stand. After the bus leaves the airport it stops at Shinjuku station and then the Hilton is the second or third stop after that. No rail-taxi or bus-taxi connection to make. The driver loads your luggage and you board, sit, and you get off at the Hilton.

I've stayed at the Hilton a couple of times and used the limo bus. It is a 3-minute walk from the Hyatt Regency which I have come to prefer (mainly because of the points upgrade to club floor).

I need to make a correction in that Ebisu is closer to Haneda than Shinjuku. I also agree that the Limo bus is the best choice for going to your hotel. There is one about every 30 minutes. A taxi is faster as you don't have to wait for one and there are no stops but more expensive although not bad if there are several passengers. A taxi may be safer COVID wise. Everyone in Japan pretty much masks though.

For a taxi, I would definitely print out the name, address, phone for the Hilton. Email the hotel asking for that informatin to show the taxi driver. [email protected] might be the correct address. I had difficulty finding contact information for the concierge at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo (turns out it is [email protected], duh) I called the 800 number for Hyatt in the USA and said that I was trying to contact the HRT The agent connected me to the hotel, so it was a free phone call to Japan. When you get to the hotel the concierge should have a business card to give you to use. You don't touch the taxi doors and no tip. I think that I mentioned that the one concierge gave the info for all three hotels I was staying at on that trip.

I went to the airport bus link to check on the bus fare (1300 yen, sol 10 bucks or less) and noticed something useful.
the link: Airport Limousine (airport-bus-alliance.com)
look for the "Tick all" checkbox on the right, near the top. Uncheck that box and then check the boxes for the Hilton and Hyatt Regency. Click on the orange thing to filter. If the Hyatt bus departs sooner and you are impatient and it is not raining then you could take it instead of waiting the 25 minutes or so for the hilton bus (not a great option, but one to consider).

Tokyo Hilton is in Nishi-Shinjuku. Nishi means Wesr. The neighborhoold is full of office buildings and pretty dead at night. The hotel had a shuttle to Shinjuku station but am not sure if it is still running.

Tochomae is the subway station you would use and I think there is an underground passage from the Hilton to the station. There is an elevator from street level. It is across the street from the back side of the Hyatt Regency. To-cho-mae means something like government/capital - neighborhood - in front of (Tokyo Metropolitan Gcvernment building has an observation level (or two) where you can get a great view of the city - must do because it is maybe 4 minutes walk from your hotel).

When you want dinner you go out front of the hotel and the attendant will call up a cab. Tell the attendant that you want to go to "Kabuchicho" and "Gojira" (Godzilla) to be more specific. Five minutes and five bucks later the taxi should drop you off at a corner of a big avenue and side street. Walk up the side street and you will see several restaurant optiojns. Look up, straight ahead, and you should see Godzilla's head (it is animated on some schedule, roraring and breathing fire). When you get to the T cross street you should see a sushi place on the corner on the left. Very good, especially the tuna combo. Before that, on the left is an Osaka okonomiyaki place that is really good. Several other types of Japanese restaiurants there.At the T you are in front a building with a theater - go around to the back of that to get a taxi back.

Or you could walk to Kabukicho, but it is pretty easy to get lost. I gave my destination as Kabukicho-Gojira twice at the Hyatt and the attendant smiled and told the taxi driver where to go and the cabbies got it exactly right.

MJS- thanks for the reminder about COVID. My husband and I will be running the Tokyo Marathon, which has strict Covid protocols in place. We will be extremely risk averse until crossing the finish line on March 5. Just decided taxi is going to be the best choice when we arrive. Thanks for the heads up on that. Things are so "normal" in the US now, I didn't even think of it.

mrwunfrl- thanks for the info about going to the area with Godzilla and the good sushi place. Sounds like a lot of fun and not too difficult to find. I appreciate your input!

The area west of Shinjuku station is full of tall buildings and a few hotels. Other than the observatory in the Metro building and the Toilet museum there is not much of interest in this area. There are some restaurants and shops near the Shinjuku station west entrance and a department store right next door. There are probably some Lawson or 7 Eleven convenience stores for snacks and drinks near your hotel. I love these stores. The east side of Shinjuku is another world entirely with lots of shops, department stores, restaurant and bars. You can walk to East Shinjuku from your hotel in about 5-10 minutes. Just walk towards the Nish- Shinjuku train station (Not the Main station), turn right and walk under the train tracks. Highly recommend the Isetan department store food department which is in the basement. It is like a Japanese Harrods. Lots of fresh food for purchase. If you go in the early evenings all the fresh food like sushi will be marked down about a third. Otherwise there are tons of restaurants in the area. You can use the subway Tochomae/Oedo line or Shinjuku main station trains to get around Tokyo.

As an addendum, if you can fly ANA or JAL everyone is asked to mask on the flight except when eating which might give one a little extra margin of safety

We landed at Narita but took the limousine bus to our hotel in Tokyo, easy and not expensive.,