Tokyo Hotel Location Filter
December 19, 2013 1:39 PM Subscribe
Part of my honeymoon will be in Tokyo. We are narrowing our hotel choices (we are limited to these for point/free redemption ability), but wanted to get a sense of the pros and cons. We are seasoned travelers who will likely be seeing many different parts of the city and nearby towns (i.e. Kamakura). Have seen this thread but want to get a sense for a couple.
What are your thoughts on where to stay? Our criteria include a)ability to get in and out, b) 'interestingness' of area --is it a 24 hour district (this is good) and c) the IT honeymoon factor (i.e. the hotel experience).
Hotel A:
Super Luxury (Ritz Carlton)
Location: Ropponggi Hills
Very High floors (cons, takes a while to get to street?). One of the tallest buildings in Tokyo
Equivalent of double the 'cost' (uses more points)
Hotel B:
Still pretty luxury (Marriott)
Location: Shinagwa, near Katashinagwa train statoin
Not sure about hotel, (new) but get Marriott benefits.
We are not snobs when it comes to hotels (we've camped in tents, slept in cars and hostels in the last 2 years but have also stayed at JW Marriotts and Park Hyatts) and probably won't be spending much time other than sleeping and wink at the hotels.
We are doing all the main tourist things and the interesting ones we find on metafilter. I'm sure we will go out partying together one or two nights (clubbing one night, bar hopping another--we are very social). We also enjoy the experience of taking public transport (are there late night buses too in Tokyo?)
Hotel A:
Super Luxury (Ritz Carlton)
Location: Ropponggi Hills
Very High floors (cons, takes a while to get to street?). One of the tallest buildings in Tokyo
Equivalent of double the 'cost' (uses more points)
Hotel B:
Still pretty luxury (Marriott)
Location: Shinagwa, near Katashinagwa train statoin
Not sure about hotel, (new) but get Marriott benefits.
We are not snobs when it comes to hotels (we've camped in tents, slept in cars and hostels in the last 2 years but have also stayed at JW Marriotts and Park Hyatts) and probably won't be spending much time other than sleeping and wink at the hotels.
We are doing all the main tourist things and the interesting ones we find on metafilter. I'm sure we will go out partying together one or two nights (clubbing one night, bar hopping another--we are very social). We also enjoy the experience of taking public transport (are there late night buses too in Tokyo?)
Best answer: We also enjoy the experience of taking public transport (are there late night buses too in Tokyo?)
Public transportation shuts down pretty early. It depends on the stop, but very few bus stops will have service past 10 pm. The last trains at the major stations are sometime between midnight and 1 am, and then everything shuts down until sometime in the 5 am hour. When I am out late in Tokyo or another large Japanese city, I am generally walking or taking a cab.
Based on your stated plans, I think Roppongi Hills is the better choice for nightlife and being closer to city center.
You can use Hyperdia to check bus and train schedules.
posted by Tanizaki at 1:59 PM on December 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Public transportation shuts down pretty early. It depends on the stop, but very few bus stops will have service past 10 pm. The last trains at the major stations are sometime between midnight and 1 am, and then everything shuts down until sometime in the 5 am hour. When I am out late in Tokyo or another large Japanese city, I am generally walking or taking a cab.
Based on your stated plans, I think Roppongi Hills is the better choice for nightlife and being closer to city center.
You can use Hyperdia to check bus and train schedules.
posted by Tanizaki at 1:59 PM on December 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Hotel A. Not even close. Roppongi Hills itself is sort of lame but its close to lots of other not lame places.
Shinagawa is not so super close to the touristic areas.
(I actually think the spread between AirBnB and Hotels in Tokyo is such that you are crazy even to do a points redemption there IMO)
posted by JPD at 2:13 PM on December 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Shinagawa is not so super close to the touristic areas.
(I actually think the spread between AirBnB and Hotels in Tokyo is such that you are crazy even to do a points redemption there IMO)
posted by JPD at 2:13 PM on December 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Roppongi Hills area is far more interesting than Shinagawa although Shinagawa has way more convenient options of public transport (especially important for your Kamakura jaunt).
Personally, I'd prefer Shinagawa over Roppongi for sentimental reasons, as the former's where my very first Tokyo experience began and the gaijin ratio's much higher in the latter.
There's no 24-hour district in Tokyo but the action in Roppongi goes past midnight later than in most other areas.
posted by Rash at 4:17 PM on December 19, 2013
Personally, I'd prefer Shinagawa over Roppongi for sentimental reasons, as the former's where my very first Tokyo experience began and the gaijin ratio's much higher in the latter.
There's no 24-hour district in Tokyo but the action in Roppongi goes past midnight later than in most other areas.
posted by Rash at 4:17 PM on December 19, 2013
If you're going to Kamakura and aren't buying the J-Rail Pass, you can go to Shinjuku Station and buy a combined ticket for an Odakyu line train to Fujisawa and unlimited trips on the Enoden. See also the romance car.
posted by sukeban at 11:36 PM on December 19, 2013
posted by sukeban at 11:36 PM on December 19, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
Definitely look into how late trains and buses run; I'm not sure on that point.
posted by Jeanne at 1:55 PM on December 19, 2013