This is our third stay at this hotel. It's clean, it's safe, it's convenient. There's a free shuttle bus that runs to the train station in Shinjuku and it's located close to the subway station (Marunoichi Line). The friendly staff is courteous and the facility inside the hotel is great. There's a pool, tennis court, workout room, shops and restaurant on the lower floors of the hotel and on the second floor, and a business room with internet access. The only other places in Shinjuku I would consider other than this hotel is the Keio Plaza Hotel and the Hyatt, which I have stayed in and both are excellent hotels. However, I suppose I'm nitpicking but there are a couple things I do not like about this hotel:
1. The beds were uncomfortable for my liking. It's quite stiff and small.
2. We had the standard room. My wife and I stayed in the room with our son and after they added the extra bed in our room, it was quite cramped in our room.
3. The television in our room had approximately 15 channels of which most were in Japanese. The only English channels were CNN, BBC, Discovery Channel and Cartoon Network. The Pay Per View Channels were playing really old movies and expensive. I would have preffered having at least one business channel like Fox Business News or CNBC and Fox News over CNN or BBC.
4. Every service imaginable cost money at this hotel. Internet access in the business room was $4 per 15 minutes. Gym, pool, and tennis court all were expensive. Be prepared to be nickel and dimed to death.
5. They gave us a discount for breakfast. The standard price was 3500 yen per person but it's 3100 yen with the discount. In my previous stay at this hotel, I've had this breakfast and it was marginal. This price is outrageous considering that you can have a full blown breakfast next door at the Royal Host restaurant for about 1000 yen with a stack of pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and coffee. Everything in the hotel is outrageously expensive. During our 5 day stay there, we never ate or used any of their facilities because their charges were outrageous..
6. Since this is our 3rd stay at this hotel, we noticed that the interior of the hotel is starting to look dated. I remember when I first stayed at this hotel, it was alot nicer. Since we hardly stayed in the hotel during the day, it didn't really matter much but I'm starting to notice the difference between this hotel and the Hyatt Shinjuku more and more.
All my criticisms are minor so overall, I recommend this hotel. In addition for all travelors staying at this hotel, I recommend the following:
1. There's a 7-11 near the hotel so buy your munchies there since they have a great selection.
2. There's tons of great restaurant around the hotel so eat out. If you miss McDonalds, it's a 5 minute walk from the hotel. Most of the restaurants around the hotel is open until about 10PM. McDonald is open 24/7.
3. Take the subway if you can't read Japanese since most of station names are written in English and it's much faster and cheaper than taxi. I recommend you download the subway map from http://www.tokyometro.jp/global/en/index.html.
4. If you need internet access, go to the internet cafes in Shinjuku since it's alot cheaper and the coffee and food there are awesome.
5. Tipping is not required if you eat at restaurant around the hotel so you save 15% on all foods if you eat outside the hotel. Also, if you do eat at the restaurant in the hotel, they'll usually add the tip to your bill automatically so read your bill carefully.
We picked this hotel because we had a great deal thru our travel agency which included 5 days stay at the Hilton Shinjuku, roundtrip limousine bus service from Narita airport to the hotel, and a round trip ticket on Singapore Airlines from LA to Tokyo for approximately $1300US per person. In my opinion, I don't think there'a a better deal out there. We totally enjoyed our trip to Tokyo and it was worth every penny!.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
Absolutely!
I recommend this hotel for:
Young Singles, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Older Travellers, Great pool scene, Families with Small Children, Families with Teenagers, tourists
I do not recommend this hotel for:
An Amazing Honeymoon, A romantic getaway
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Museums / Cultural / Historical sites, Great food / Wine, Shopping