Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Need advice on accommodations in Japan

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Need advice on accommodations in Japan

Has anyone stay at any of these hotels in Tokyo? Any experience with them?

Park Hotel Tokyo, Minato - $400 cheaper than The Prince Park and Courtyard Marriott, any idea why?
The Prince Park Tower Tokyo Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Minato
Courtyard Marriott Tokyo Station - husband's preference but boring, location looks great
Nohga Hotel Ueno- thinking about reserving for our last night, Ueno area seems quiet just before we fly back home

For Hekone, I've reserved and canceled so many times. In the end I chose this below. Anyone stayed here? I was looking for a convenient location where I wouldn't have to also go on a bus:

Hotel Indigo Hakone Gora

For Kyoto:

Mitsui Garden Hotel Kyoto Sanjo Premier, Higashiiru (the washing machine is calling me)
The Royal Park Hotel Iconic Kyoto, Nakagyo - cheaper by $400 from the Mitsui

For Osaka:

The Westin Osaka (yes, another hubby choice). It's close to the train station so will be good for getting back to Tokyo
The Royal Park Hotel Iconic Osaka Midosuji.. the price is so much less than the Westin, almost half actually!

Courtyard Marriott Tokyo Station
It is a short walk to the station. There is close by subway station, just around the corner of the building. You have to take an elevator up to get to the lobby. My room was tiny, Creators Double, IIRC. What you see in their photos is what you will get. Check the "Room Details" to see the room sizes among other things.

There was some food in the lobby. I think it was breakfast, not much. Might have been at happy hour, with free alcohol drinks and some snacks.

There is a nice bar on the ground floor. It had a breakfast buffet in the morning which I loved. IDR if I paid for it but it was worth it if I did pay. Didn't see anything else of interest to me (like restaurant) in the area near the hotel other than the subway stop.

I used two free night award certs to stay there. It was good because I was taking the shinkansen to Kanazawa after I checked out. I wanted to go back there (mainly for that buffet breakfast and the location) and would have but they raised the number of points required, more than my certificates would cover. I see that they want over 70,000 JPY for a night in October now. There is nfw I would pay more than 20,000.

Westin Osaka
This is a nice hotel, not far from Osaka Station. It is close enough to walk to the station but far enough away that they have a shuttle. Don't want to arrive there after the shuttle stops running and you have to walk with luggage to the hotel like I did. I got lost and I think it was raining. My advice is to make sure you know where the shuttle stop is and/or how to walk there (it is not obvious and there was some kind of no-man's land to go through, but all paved and ok.

Had a wonderful room there. It is what you would expect for a Westin but somehow, I swung a corner suite. Got a sweet deal on that, probably points/certs were involved.

The hotel restaurant prices were too high, so I got some food at the combini across the street for breakfast. Otherwise, there is nothing in the neighborhood other than a locals bar a block or two away that had some food.

There is a small bar in the hotel. Very expensive drinks, of course, but it also sold cigars and had ashtrays. The cigar smoking probably went away after the pandemic arrived.

I would not stay there again if I actually had to pay money for it. There are other hotels that are across the street from the station (like the Hilton) or deeper in the city.

We also stayed at the Courtyard Marriott Tokyo Station, a few months before COVID arrived. I remember it exactly as Mrwunrfl describes it. Great location, nice buffet breakfast, some pretty boring snacks in the lobby in the afternoon were called something along the lines of "Happy hour treats". Teensy tiny rooms, even by Japanese standards.

Thanks to both of you! I've reserved Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo Premier Grand, The Royal Park Hotel Iconic Kyoto, Swissotel Nankai Osaka, Hotel Indigo Hekone and on our last night Nohga Hotel Ueno Tokyo. Will report back after our trip ;-). Now on to trying to figure out this train stuff.