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Tokyo accommodations: The Keio Plaza Hotel

I stayed in Shinjuku the last time I visited Tokyo and found it pretty easy to get around from there (even with my mother, who doesn’t do public transportation particularly well). We debated about staying in a different area but in the end decided on Shinjuku again. Our primary criteria were a decent-sized room in which the three of us wouldn’t feel like we were on top of each other and high-speed (preferably free) Internet in the room. For various reasons, we need to keep in touch with things at home, including work, and we also like to be able to plan on the fly.

We checked out all of the usual suspects and ultimately settled on the Keio Plaza. I signed up for the free EIC membership and got a package deal with breakfast and use of the member club. While our room wasn’t “deluxe,” it was functional, comfortable and quiet. The hotel has a “super buffet” that all the tour groups and many guests use. Our breakfast, on the other hand, was a smaller affair in the lounge near the check in desk, overlooking the ponds outside the hotel, with seating around coffee tables. It doesn’t have the variety of the other buffet, but it was plenty sufficient and mostly very good. It also didn’t have the line out the door and hordes attacking the food. We much preferred this; a nice way to start the day.

We also made use of the lounge on the 34th floor of the south tower and often were the only ones there. The lounge has five massage chairs, which turned out to be one of the hits of the trip! That, and the nice view looking east. I could sit and watch those endless blinking red lights across Tokyo for hours.

It goes without saying that the service was great. Although it is a huge hotel, most of the time it didn’t feel that way. We never waited for an elevator. We never waited more than a minute or two for assistance from the front desk, cashier, bell desk, concierge, etc. I’d definitely stay here again.

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Getting around: Tokyo

For local transit, we purchased Suica cards, and these (or Pasmo) are definitely the way to go. Everything about it is easy (well, except the one occasion when I entered and left from the same station consecutively, for a reason that I will explain later). It is easy to buy, easy to use, easy to check the value and replenish, and easy to get a refund of balance and deposit when you’re done using it.

For as huge and complex as the train system in Tokyo is, it is remarkably easy to get around. Probably the hardest thing for us was finding certain landmarks in Shinjuku station (e.g., the East Central entrance or the JR service center or the food hall at Odakyu)—but it is the world’s busiest train station, after all. After four days, we had just discovered (and remembered) the most expeditious route from the hotel to the JR entrance. Also, in larger stations it can be difficult to figure out which exit to use; it helps to find the large yellow signs that list landmarks and exit numbers. Transfers are usually easy; the one exception for us was at Kanda, which was announced as a transfer point from the JR Chuo line to the Ginza subway line—but you actually had to go outside and several blocks down the street to do so.

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Getting around: JR Pass

We purchased seven-day JR passes via the JTB-USA site (extremely easy process; they were delivered in three days), and we visited the JR service center at Shinjuku station the morning after arrival to activate them (for a date several days later).

Using the JR passes is very easy. Just go to the manned entrances at the train stations. Most of the time, the attendants barely looked at them. In all, we used them for Tokyo-Kamakura-Tokyo, Tokyo-Kyoto, Kyoto-Himeji-Kyoto, Kyoto-Inari-Uji-Kyoto, Kyoto-Hiroshima-Miyajimaguchi-Hiroshima-Kyoto, and Kyoto-KIX trips, plus a few rides on the JR Yamanote line. These included five Shinkansen rides plus the Haruka Express. I haven’t done the math yet, but I think we more than broke even. We had little trouble with seat reservations, even though it was high season. One time, we didn’t get our first choice of train (Tokyo-Kyoto). I did do research in advance and was able to tell the agent exactly which train, by number, that we wanted (another nice thing about having a computer along and reliable Internet access). If you’re traveling by train in Japan, Hyperdia.com is your friend!

The hardest thing about using the JR passes was finding them in my purse every time we went in and out of a station.

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Kyoto accommodations: Hotel Granvia Kyoto

Last time, I stayed at the ANA Hotel, which is in the center of the city across from Nijo Castle. Getting places from there was doable, but it took some time and effort. Because we had a variety of things in mind for our time in Kyoto, including some trips by train, we decided to try staying at the Hotel Granvia, which is located in the Kyoto train station. It is not inexpensive—especially at this time of year—but the convenience was worth a lot to us. Staying at a train and bus terminus really did help us make the most of our time in the area.

As you might expect, the hotel was quite busy, but once above the lobby floor, we quite enjoyed it. Our room—a “superior” double with extra bed—was on the top floor with a view to the south. Like the Keio Plaza, the room was big enough that we didn’t feel squeezed. The bath—particularly the shower—was very nice (I was teetering on the edge of wanting to redo our shower at home; this shower may have pushed me over the edge). We were concerned about hearing train noise, and we could if we listened for it (particularly, that little musical sequence that signals arrivals and departures), but it didn’t bother us at all during the night. Perhaps our favorite room feature was the alarm clock. About a half hour before the alarm sounds, the lights next to the beds come on, very faintly at first and gradually get brighter—kind of like a sunrise. The Granvia Lounge was just down the hall from our room, offering a closer and quieter option for front desk and concierge services from 7am to 8pm.

Since we were staying in the station, with abundant dining options, we did not opt for a breakfast package. Instead, we hit the Vie de France or Mister Donut every morning.

Final note on accommodations: I know we would have enjoyed a more traditional ryokan experience, and we did consider it. But, for our needs on this specific trip, we were happy with our choices. Next time, though...

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Getting around Kyoto

Kyoto has several subway lines, which we did not use, and a fairly extensive bus network, which we did use regularly. After zipping around Tokyo on the trains, we found it does take some time to get around Kyoto by bus. For example, a Monday morning trip up to Kinkaku-ji took almost 50 minutes. The buses can get very crowded, as well, so don’t count out standing for long bus trips. For the days that we were visiting sights within the city, we typically purchased one-day bus passes for ¥500. Even then, we did a lot of walking between sights. Wear comfortable shoes here!

We splurged once on a cab to avoid a long, warm bus ride from Kinkaku-ji back to the station before heading to the airport on our last day—at about five times the cost of the bus ride there.

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Shipping luggage

After our first ride on the Tokyo subway, we decided it would be worth the $40 or so to have our three bags shipped to Kyoto. While we weren’t traveling with large bags (they’re at or just over airplane carry-on size), we weren’t sure how we’d manage to get ourselves and our luggage on the packed Yamanote line and down to Shinagawa Station.

The Keio Plaza arranged everything for us; we dropped the bags at the bell desk as we checked out, and the Granvia delivered them to our room the next day. Anticipating that we might do this, we packed a small, folding duffel to bring with us as an overnight bag.

Telephone

None of our mobile phones work in Japan (probably a good thing, as DD has been known to run up quite a bill for text messages while traveling). As I did for my first trip, I rented a phone from Rentafone Japan. We received the phone number and email in advance, and the phone was waiting for us when we arrived at the Keio Plaza. We mailed it back from the Granvia Kyoto using the included postage-paid envelope. This was primarily for emergency use, so that those at home could call us if needed. In the end, we never needed the phone. I used Skype for the few calls that we needed to make to the US.

Money

We use ATMs exclusively when traveling and almost never arrive at our destination with any local currency. So it was totally out of character for us to arrive in Japan with ¥113,000 and change. I won't bore you with the details other than to say it was one outcome of an ongoing elderly relative situation. Thanks to said relative's left-over cash from a trip many years ago, we pretty much had enough to meet our needs for this trip and never needed to visit the ATM. I recall from the last trip, though, that I did not have a problem finding a Citibank or a post-office ATM when I needed one.

We did go through some cash on this trip, though. I think we arrived home with a handful of one and ten yen coins after cobbling together the larger coins to purchase two drinks on the flight home from Osaka.

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Traveling during sakura season

My last trip to Japan was in late July, and I noticed a definite difference traveling in "high" season. Everything was much more crowded this time. Nevertheless, it is a special time to be traveling here, not only for the beauty of the trees, but to see all of the excitement that surrounds it—the hanami, the legions of photographers, the people intently studying the blossoms, the festivals, etc.

According to reports, the blossoms began early but were stalled by a cold spell the week before we arrived. In Tokyo, we were clearly a bit early. When we arrived in Kyoto (April 1), they were a bit closer. By the end of our trip, it appeared that they were about at peak in Hiroshima and around the Kansai region.

We must have 300-400 photos of just of the cherry trees!

Weather

We feel very fortunate to have had decent weather for most of our trip. It was a bit brisk on some days, but that’s okay—we’re from Chicago and can handle “brisk.” What we hoped to avoid was rain, and for the most part, we did. It only rained twice in our ten days—once during our ride from Tokyo to Kyoto (and it cleared off nicely by the time we got settled in) and one afternoon in the Kyoto area. Otherwise, we had a lot of nice blue skies; we actually got a little sunburned on this trip!

That's it for now. Back to work, but I will finish up over the next few days with some of our favorites and highlights.

LMGSONIC

Awesome report so far, ms_go!

hester

Great Report, thank you for the the last bit on Tokyo, Kyoto, telephone, money etc. We have never been to Kyoto and will be there in about ten days. I have been having some anxity over the train from Tokyo to Kyoto. Your pictures are wonderful!