Can anyone recommend a hotel near the train station. We are returning from Kyoto and the next day taking the Narita Express to the airport. Thanks

Which station, Tokyo station or Shinagawa? Both will connect you to the Narita Express. Shinagawa is a much smaller station.

Where does the train from Kyoto come in? Whcich station would give me better access to sight seeing for the short layover we have? Do you have a recommendation for one station over the other & hotel? Thanks.

Shinkansen from Kyoto stops at Shinagawa and then Tokyo station. So you can get off and connect to Nartia express in the morning, or go on to Tokyo station and get on Narita Express there in the morning.

1) What time are you planning on leaving Kyoto? How much time will you really have to sightsee in Tokyo that day/night?

2) And will you have already been to Tokyo earlier in the trip and just returning there, or will this be your only evening on the whole trip in Tokyo?

Thanks. We will have spent 2 days in Tokyo at the beginning of the trip. We hope for a late afternoon and evening in Tokyo b3efore leaving for Narita. So my thought is to be as central as possible .

The Shinagawa Prince Hotel is across the street from JR Shinagawa station. So is the Takanawa Prince. There is a New Takanawa something or other hotel up the hill along with a couple more hotels. Those have free shuttles to the station. All of those hotels are served by the airport limo buses. These are tourist hotels (though the Takanawa Prince looked v. nice), so decent room at a decent price. Not a sightseeing destination, though, just convenient. I would get the Narita Express reserved seat tickets before leaving Kyoto or no later than arrival at Shinagawa.

Shinagawa Prince is the cheapest, though the rooms are very small. Aside from prince hotel chains, there's a Le Meridian also near Shinagawa.

Greecebound123, any budgets? Also lots of lugages? Agree Shinagawa is a good choice as Tokyo Stn is quite big and there aren't many good value hotels nearby. Though cab ride from Tokyo Stn to Ginza area hotels are short and not expensive. (Make sure you get out of Yaesu side of exit--closer side to the bullet train). Alternatively, take a cab from Tokyo Stn to Royal Park Hotel. This hotel is right next to City Air Terminal and they have a non-stop limousine bus to the airport.

Yokohama is another option. There is a hotel attached to the station and others nearby. Could do a bit of sightseeing there, have dinner, and go out at night. Maybe take in a Yokohama Bay Stars game. More to do in the area than Shinagawa.

BUT, this would mean getting off the shinkansen at Shin Yokohama station and taking the subway/train to Yokohama station. So, not as convenient as Shinagawa. The Narita Express departs from Yokohama station and goes via Shinagawa.

If they stay in Shinagawa, aren't they closer to the action in Tokyo than if they are in Yokohama?

Greece, what are you thinking of doing in Tokyo that night? What area?

Yes, and they're closer to the action in Tokyo if they stay in Tokyo instead of Shinagawa.

There is some action, sightseeing, to be done in Yokohama. Though it is a very large city it has a fairly compact area for sightseeing and going out at night.

Actually, I think it depends on whether you have something specific or some specific area in mind that you really want to do that late afternoon and evening Tokyo. Yokohama has MM21, the bay area, Chinatown, and even baseball depending on what time of year you go. That could be enough, after packing up and traveling from Kyoto, and knowing you have to get up to check out and get to the airport. But some people may just want another night in Tokyo.

It was just a suggestion for the OP to consider.

Greecebound123,

We also returned to Tokyo from Kyoto and then left the next day taking the Narita Express to the airport. Depending on what you want, I would highly recommend where we stayed.

We stayed at the Tokyu Stay Gotanda. Gotanda is one stop away from the Shinagawa station on the JR Yamanote line, so it was very easy to get there and make the change to the Narita Express. Gotanda is also a very small station so it was easy to navigate and Shinagawa Station was, for us, easier to navigate than Tokyo Station. I'm *still* intimidated by Tokyo Station, but then again, we only went there once. The hotel is about one block away from the station (you can see the hotel from the elevated platform) and there's an Asakusa Line station directly in front of the hotel.

Of course, the reason that the Gotanda Station is very small is because there's really nothing around there. So, if you're hoping to walk around the hotel to do some last minute sightseeing, this isn't the place for you. We didn't get to the hotel until quite late, so we didn't feel like going out, but there are certainly places you can go quite easily and quickly from Gotanda. We made a quick trip to Shinjuku (about 5 stops away) to go to the top of the Metropolitan Building in the morning before we left for the airport.

Regarding the hotel -- it was WONDERFUL! It was 16800 yen for a twin room, which included a decent breakfast. You're given "tickets" to get your free breakfast at the restaurant within the hotel. Besides this restaurant, there didn't seem to be many other places to eat other than a few fast food places close by.

The hotel was very clean, modern and secure. You needed your key card to get to the elevators and then again to operate the elevator. The room was surprisingly spacious - not as big as our room at the Conrad Hilton, but almost on a par with our room at the Granvia in Kyoto. The room included a combo washer/dryer and a kitchenette with sink, utensils, plates, pots & pans, an electric burner, microwave & refrigerator. (btw, the washer/dryer worked great! We bought a detergent packet from the front desk for a very reasonable price and washed all the dirty clothes we had with us before coming home). The room also had a safe, a DVD player and a computer with free internet service. I do notice that on their website now, it says that there is free internet connections, however, guests must provide their own computer. I would double-check on whether that applies to the Gotanda hotel since it wasn't that long ago (August) when we were there an a computer was provided in the room.

This doesn't apply to you since you only plan to be there for one night like we did, but for others who might like to consider this hotel (or other Tokyu Stay locations) for more nights, Tokyu Stay is an apartment hotel. As such, the room rate is dependent on the length of stay and there are some amenities that vary depending on the length of stay.

Hope this helps.

http://www.tokyustay.co.jp/e/index.html

That place looks great. Good find. They have locations all over Tokyo, some close to Tokyo station (not next to it, but close).

Thank you all. I looked at the tokyu Stay Hotels. It looks very nice. Can someone tell me what the location in The Ginza area is like (for the first few days of our trip prior to Kyoto).
Thank you again.

jlaughs -- what a great recommendation for a reasonable hotel in Tokyo! I'm very grateful as it looks wonderful. Will try it the next time I return to Tokyo.

Thanks again.

Greecebound,

Assume central Tokyo as a face of a clock. Shinagawa is 6 o'clock, Tokyo Stn is 3 o'clock. Ginza is around 4 o'clock, but just marginally outside of the circle. Gotanda would be 7 o'clock (I think it's 2 stops from Shinagawa on westbound Yamanote Line).

All good suggestions--really depends on your budget, as well as what time you'll be arriving in Tokyo area, and taking the NEX the next day.

Yokohama is a nice city, but transfer from the bullet train is not the most convenient, and most attractions are a few stops outside of YOkohama Stn (where you can catch NEX).

emd and others,

This is one of the "finds" that I wanted to share in the trip report that I never wrote. I hope that I've redeemed myself at least a *little*!

I want to mention that I just noticed on the Tokyu Stay website, in very small print, it states that PCTVs are provided in every room at Higashi-Ginza and Gotanda. Obviously that's why we had a "computer" provided in our room since we were at Gotanda.

Also, I took pictures of every room we stayed in during our trip, so if anyone is interested in seeing pictures of our Tokyu Stay room (or any other), I'll find a place to post them online.

We stayed at:
TOKYO -
Asakusa Plaza Hotel
Conrad Hilton Tokyo
Capsule Inn Akihabara
Tokyu Stay Gotanda

KYOTO -
Granvia Hotel
Yoshi-Ima (Kyoto ryokan)

OSAKA
Dotonbori Hotel