Tokyo Hotel
 

For a two day trip to Tokyo (on the way to Taipei and Kyoto), we are looking for a hotel convenient to the Narita Express, around $200-$225/night and a decent sized room with a queen or king bed. What do you recommend?

Around Shinjuku, there are the Keio Plaza, Hilton and Century Hyatt. They seem generally the same. I'm leaning towards the Keio Plaza, as it seems recently renovated and includes breakfast.

There doesn't seem anything appropriate around Shinagawa. Le Meridien does not seem to have queen or king beds at a reasonable price. Neither does that Takanawa Prince (and the New Takanawa Prince seems shabby).

Tokyo station is a shorter ride from NRT, but nothing seems to fit what I'm looking for.

Any help would be appreciated.

There is a Four Seasons right in front of Tokyo station. Can't beat this for location. Should have King size bed. The area is recently re-developped, good restaurants nearby. Maybe a possibility if you can find discounted rates.
Keio Plaza--their website states standard room size as 25 m2. Century Hyatt 32.8m2.

The Four Seasons starts at about $500/night.

Keio Plaza room is 30 sqm with breakfast for about $200 + tax. I can't find a 25 sqm room on the web site http://www.keioplaza.com/index.html

This is for standard room.

http://www.keioplaza.co.jp/reserve/room05.html

Although not in the area you want, the Hotel New Otani was supurb! The airport limo drops you at the door (check for pickup)

If you do pick the Keio Plaza join the EIC Club for added benefits, see link

http://www.keioplaza.com/eic/members.html

The rooms at the Hyatt seemed a little bigger than at the Keio Plaza but location of the Keio is a little better. Both are nice hotels and I wouldn't hesitate to stay in either.

Aloha!

For Shinagawa I was going to suggest the excellent ANA Strings Hotel, but it is a bit over your price for the two radnom days I tried in OCt., at $270 for a queen. You might try your dates there though. Very nice hotel; I considered staying there instead of a Narita hotel the night before I departed on my last trip.

Have you tried the Hotel La Foret at Gotenyama Hills in Shinagawa? 15 min. walking distance to Shinagawa station or very short can ride. I looked at that one also.

La Foret has what they call "superior double" rooms that have king size beds and come in under your rate.
See pic and info here:
http://tinyurl.com/eq87x

That should be "cab" ride. Unless of course you can ride on your can!

I stayed fairly close at the Park Hotel Tokyo (by shimbashi) and was very happy. See the reviews on trip advisor...I found them to be accurate. We paid about $150 per night.

New Otani looks nice, but close proximity to NEX is a priority. I am planning to stay in the New Otani in Osaka.

I've filled out applications for the EIC and New Otani Clubs.

ANA Strings only has $360+ rooms for our nights.

Park Hotel seems nice, but 22-24 sqm is rather tight! I actually made a reservation there, but the Keio seems much nicer for not that much more money.

Thanks to all so far.

Any suggestions near Tokyo station?

You might consider the Dai Ichi Hotel. It is in the Shimbashi area, and is about 5-7 minutes by cab from the railroad station (where you catch the NEX).

Replying to my own Tokyo station question, the best alternatives near Tokyo station seem to be the Maronouchi Hotel and the Palace Hotel.

Trade-off is a larger room with breakfast at the Keio compared to easier access to Narita at these two hotels. Any suggestions for resolving this trade-off?

the alternative would be to use the limosine bus service to and from Narita with direct service to the Keio Plaza Hotel

http://www.shortenurl.com/1jplg

click on bus transportation link for info on service. The service is door to door and they handle your luggage for you. It's easier to do than train if you have luggage IMHO.

Aloha!

I worry about traffic with the bus. Our flight out is 3:40 pm on a Saturday (to Taipei), so maybe it won't be that bad. With the NEX I know the exact timing.

How much time would you leave for the NEX and how much for the bus?

The buses are quite reliable. Nowadays, the navigation systems are great. They tell the driver where the heavy traffic is, how to get around it, and how long the trip will take...I know this because I have one of these fabulous systems. The buses have similar devices, and are seldom behind schedule. Quite impressive I think.

For a 3:40 departure, you should be at the airport by 1:40, earlier is better as unless you are business/first class or and elite customer, lines can be quite long for check in.

Have you considered staying in Narita for the final night? Narita town is quite cute, you could spend the morning there, see the temple, shopping street, maybe Boso no Mura (Edo village museum).

With only a two day trip and departing at 3 pm, I would not stay at Narita the last night. I'd want to experience Tokyo that last night and you have plenty of time to get to the airport the day of departure. Also, I just wouldn't want to change hotels during such a short stay. And the hotels by the airport are not so great (unless the renovations that were supposed to happen at the Hilton this summer have been completed; it is sopposed to be the nicest hotel by the airport w/an airport shuttle but our room and beds were not great for a "last night" room in April '06).

The Narita Express is a 53 min. ride from Tokyo Station to Narita, according to hyperdia.com

The airport limo bus is 80-110 min. from Tokyo Station to Narita, per their website. There is a notice about timing at rush hours and holidays on their website.

See:

http://www.limousinebus.co.jp/e/time..._hujiya_h.html

Personally, I'd take the Narita Express to the airport. I take the limo bus to the hotel when I get to Tokyo for the reasons Hawaii gave you, but I have taken the Narita Express to the airport to depart due to the assurance of timing.

richarddd

The bus is so convenient because it's door to door. You walk out of your hotel door into the bus, next stop is the airport check in door. No hassle with getting to the train station,walking thru Tokyo station(which is huge by the way and the NEX is not that conveniently located for the first timer)all the time rolling your bags around with you. All in all its about the same time considering the time consumed catching and getting to the train station. It's all up to your preference.

Kim is right(as usual) about the navigation systems that the buses have, quite the high tech way to get around traffic. To me it's just a less stressful way of getting to and from Narita.

Let us know which way you decide and what happened. Either way you'll be OK.

Aloha!

Oh Hawaii, you reminded me. I have never taken the NEX from Tokyo Station. I have picked it up at Shinigawa, a MUCH smaller and much more use friendly station than Tokyo Station.

I had to make a transfer for another purpose at Tokyo station in April (first time I'd been in that station) and it did help to have a map of the station with me. But even then it took awhile to find our train and we got a bit confused about the elevators and where they were taking us.

oops, Shinagawa

We traveled by Shinkansen from Hiroshima and just followed the signs to NEX. I thought it was very clearly marked. However it did take the entire 30 minutes that it said it would take.