Hi everyone,

Ahhh!! We still don't have a hotel room booked for our last night in Japan (8/8). I was going to book the Akasaka Prince on Priceline, but Priceline says that the hotel is fully booked for the night we need. So, I started looking at other hotels and other areas.

Our flight leaves at 5p, so I'm assuming that we need to leave Tokyo by around 1p (via JR NEX). This leaves us a *little* time to still do some last minute sightseeing/maybe shopping in Tokyo before we leave. We'll have all our luggage with us (2-26" & 2-21" suitcases). I was thinking that maybe Shinagawa might be a good area since I wanted to go and see the Sengakuji Temple in Shinagawa if we had time. I also like that the train to Narita stops at Shinagawa and we won't need to take any subways with all our luggage. But, since this temple wasn't a "must see", I wonder if it would be better to stay somewhere closer to Tokyo Station for access to a lot of different areas. If we stayed in Akasaka or Roppongi, how much might it cost to take a taxi to Tokyo Station with all our luggage?

Re. Shinagawa - does anyone know anything about the Takanawa Prince or the New Takanawa Prince? Any other recommendations for a place to stay in Shinagawa? At this point in our trip, I don't think we care as much about luxury as we do about price and comfort (good A/C mainly). Something in the $100-120 range would be great. Even up to $135 is okay, but probably not much higher.

Thanks!
Judy

I stayed at the Takanawa Prince courtesy of JAL. It is a big tourist hotel. There is a shuttle between the hotel and Shinagawa station. It is an uphill walk from the station to the hotel. The same description applies to the New TP.

This map shows the location of the hotels:
http://www.paperlantern.net/map/shinagawa.html

The map shows that the TP has two buildings. I stayed in #3 and had dinner in #2. There is a very nice garden area between the two buildings.

I got there on the airport limo bus. The Shinagawa Prince looked nice and it was well located - across the street from the station, as you can see from the map. The bus stopped at a couple of hotels and then got to Shinagawa Prince and stopped at the other hotesl, 5,1,2,3. Which means that if you board the bus at the TP then you probably won't have to wait thru many stops before the bus heads to the airport and your luggage would be first off.

But, you are planning to take the N'Ex. This gives you the option of staying in a couple of other areas like Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. The Holiday Inn Metropolitan is next to the station and is in your price range. I stayed there via priceline. It is a big tourist hotel and a bit worn, not as nice as the TP.

I recommend that you get your reserved seats for the N'Ex in advance (day before).

The Shinagawa Prince is the place to stay for your purposes, but I think it is probably over-budget.

Did you see all the rates I gave you for the Akasaka Prince hotel on your other post? There are loads of rooms available directly, and their lowest rate is only 2000 yen above the priceline rate that you can't buy anyway. You have to book in Japanese, but that's no problem, I can do it for you if you like and send you the confirmation e-mail.

Another option would be to stay in Narita itself. There is a nice temple in Narita, and Boso no Mura is an intersting Edo village museum my daughter and I enjoyed last year. There is a big shopping center called Aeon, which sells anything and everything at reasonable prices.

mrwunrfl and KimJapan, you have been so wonderful in always responding to my questions.

Because I really don't know what to expect at this point in our trip, it's really hard for me to make a decision. It's probably why I've procrastinated booking a room for our last night for so long.

1. Shinagawa seems like it might work best IF we do our last minute sightseeing in that area and leave (with all our luggage) from the Shinagawa Station for NRT (Yes, we plan to book seats on JR N'Ex in advance).

2. I'm interested in seeing Sengakuji Temple (47 samurai), but is it worth the visit? How long would it take if we check out of our hotel at 10a and don't leave until 1p? If it's only worth a 1-hour visit, then we still have 2 hours to go somewhere else.

3. If we decide that there are other areas of Tokyo that we want to visit (last minute) rather than Shinagawa, I'm assuming that staying around Tokyo Station would be preferable ??

4. Since we'll have all our luggage with us, what would be the best way for us to get to the train station to go to NRT? I was thinking taxi, but how much might it cost to go from Akasaka or Roppongi to Tokyo Station? Maybe it would be better to stay around Ginza?

5. If we decide to stay at the Akasaka Prince (thank you KimJapan), would it be best to leave our luggage there while we do our last minute sightseeing, come back for it and go to the train station? Or would it be better to store our luggage at Tokyo Station (would they have lockers big enough?), go and do our sightseeing and come back to claim our luggage before heading out of Tokyo Station for NRT?

mrwunrfl, was the Takanawa Prince decent? I've read okay reviews. The New Takanawa Prince sounds nicer EXCEPT that a couple of people wrote that the A/C didn't work well (something about it wouldn't go on unless the temperature was above 76 and didn't take into account the humidity and what it does to one's comfort level). Did the shuttle run regularly or would we need to make advance arrangements? Is the walk (in August) to the hotel unbearable?

Thank you!!! This one night is making me crazy!

You are making this much too complicated. Your flight is at 5:00 pm. You can go to the airport after an early lunch. Stay at the Akasaka Prince, as it seems to be what you want. To avoid disappointment go for one of the nicer rooms rather than the lowest grade I think. Take the limo bus to the airport. Keep you room until departure...they should have no trouble with that...when you check in they will ask you about check out. Tell them the time of your flight and they will get the right time bus tickets for you, departing right from the hotel. If by chance you cannot keep your room until after lunch, they will gladly hold your bags for you until it's time for the bus. Same is true if you stay somewhere else too, but if I were you I'd just reserve and be done with it.

http://www.limousinebus.co.jp/e/time...akasaka_h.html
is the link to the bus schedule from the Akasaka Prince to Narita.

Hi jlaughs,
Hotels: Shinagawa Prince is certainly more convenient than Takanawa Prince, but I found their rooms tend to be somewhat smaller. If you're staying at Akasaka Prince, they also have limousine buses from there, or you can take a quick taxi ride to ANA Hotel in Roppongi which seems to have more frequent and direct bus service to Narita. I probably won't consider staying in Narita if your flight is not until 5pm.

Sightseeing: I found Sengakuji Temple to be rather ordinary--somewhat "muted" for the place known for the famous 47 samurai saga. Probably half an hour is more than enough to take a stroll. There aren't much else for sightseeing around Shinagawa, but you can try Hamarikyu or Shibarikyu gardens both near Shimbashi station. Both are lovely Japanese gardens.

Luggage: There are limited number of coin lockers at Tokyo Station that are large enough to accomodate suitcases, and there's no guarantee you can find unoccupied ones. You can either ask the hotel to keep them till you're ready to head to Narita, or you can ask the hotel to forward them straight to the airport a day or two before.

Hi everyone,

I know it seems like I'm making this hard (and maybe I am). On the recommendation of JTB and a TA, we've arranged our our itinerary so that our JR pass covers our transportation back to NRT, so it seems like it wouldn't make sense for us to now take a limousine bus instead (except for the fact that it would probably be more convenient). I appreciate the suggestion and will certainly keep it in mind once we're there if we just don't want to hassle with getting our luggage to NRT on our own.

KimJapan, could you give me the link for the Japanese site for Akasaka Prince? I truly appreciate your offer to make the reservation for me and I may end up coming back to accept your offer, but my dad also reads Japanese and if he can go to the site, then it may be easier if he's able to make the reservation for us. If there are any choices that need to be made, he can ask me as he's inputting the info.

Thank you.

btw, I think staying somewhere near Tokyo Station and leaving our luggage at our hotel until we're ready to go to the train station for the trip to NRT seems like the best plan. Again, does anyone have any guess how much a taxi might cost to go from Akasaka to Tokyo Station? Would staying at a hotel in the Ginza area be better for easier access to Tokyo Station?

Thanks!! Judy

Taxi from Akasaka to Tokyo station would be around Y2000-2500 at most.
Ginza would certainly be closer to Tokyo Station, taxi fare about Y1000 or so.

Agree it would make most sense to keep the luggage at the hotel, do all your shopping/sight seeing, pick up luggage from the hotel and catch a taxi to Tokyo Stn.

Narita Express station is deep underground (don't worry, there will be lifts/escalators and you just follow signs in English). Getting to the platform can take 10-15 minutes depending on which side of the station the taxi driver drops you off. (I'd ask for Marunouchi, not Yaesu side).

http://www.princehotels.co.jp/akasaka/index.html

From here you will be able to access pricing and availability for each special rate plan, and make a reservation from there. It's quite simple, the only problem being I can't seem to find a way to access ALL the rate plans in one go. Instead, it seems to me that you can only check rates and availability for one plan at a time, which seems cumbersome and time consuming. But, it does work, and like I said, they have tons of availability, with nothing even showing as nearing sold out for August 8.

Thank you so much! I'm feeling much better now that we've, at least, decided on an area (more or less) to look for a hotel.

Any suggestions for a decent Ginza hotel for under $130? Again, we don't really care about luxury, numerous amenities or a great view. We just want a clean room with good A/C, decent beds and a private bathroom.

Thanks!!

(Still keeping the Akasaka Prince as a back-up!)

For clean with AC and decent beds you could try APA or Tokyu hotels. They, too, have their best rates only in Japanese for internet direct booking. Price will be similar to the Akasaka Prince prices but you will have a much smaller room.

KimJapan,

Are you familiar with Tokyu Stay Higashi-Ginza or Tokyu Stay Nihombashi?
http://www.tokyustay.co.jp/e

I can't tell whether or not either of these would be any more convenient to Tokyo Station than the Akasaka Prince.

Thanks,
Judy

I'm not familiar with them at all. They are not the same group as Tokyu Hotels, but a branch of the same company that has the Tokyu Hands stores (which are pretty good). One thing I noticed was that the rooms are miniscule, though.

KimJapan,

I would like to take you up on your offer after all. My dad says that he just isn't confident enough with his reading ability anymore to make a reservation for us.

What do you require in order to make a reservation for us at the Akasaka Prince? Please email me at my [email protected].

I am still trying to find a place to stay in the Ginza area closer to Tokyo Station, but since you mentioned that no credit card is required to make the reservation at Akasaka Prince, I'd feel better knowing that we have SOMEPLACE to stay.

Thanks,
Judy

You've got mail.

We just go back from our trip to Japan and stayed at the Akasaka Prince. I think Hotels.com has rooms available for 8/8 at 14,000 yen. I'm not sure how this compares to the other sites. But tax and service charges are on top of this. The hotel is very nice; convenient by subway to Tokyo Station and the Narita Express...

To answer the question: yes, the Takanawa Prince was decent. I wouldn't want to walk up the hill, tho, in August heat.