My standard hotel reviews include a breakdown by the following topics. Feel free to skip to whichever section you find most interesting.
- Highlights
- Lobby & Check-in
- Room
- Hotel Space / Ambiance
- Food & Drink
- Fitness
- Miscellaneous
Highlights: Park Hyatt Tokyo
Last day in Tokyo! This iconic hotel, where Lost in Translation was filmed, is located at the top of the landmark Shinjuku Park Tower and the second stop in my quest to visit all the Park Hyatt hotels. Highlights include the lovely “main floor” décor of garden ambiance and skylight, as well as the excellent service, spa, and fitness facilities. It also has a very convenient shuttle to Shinjuku Station, and a nice, reasonably-priced bakery on the ground floor.
Lobby & Check-in
Upon arriving at the Shinjuku Park Tower, you enter through the ground floor, take an elevator up to the main lobby floor (41F), and walk a very long and roundabout route to the actual check in. Fear not, however, as the excellent Japanese service is in full display – the attendant will walk you through the hotel to reception, sitting you at a smaller and intimate check in desk before handing you off to a reception agent. That agent will then receive your documents and escort you to your rooms, again walking you through all the features and amenities of the room.
One interesting thing of note is that the rooms operate by old-fashioned turn-key, rather than keycards! An interesting and unexpected twist, which means I cannot add it to my collection. How unfortunate.
Room
This was a standard room, as I don’t have Diamond or Globalist status with Hyatt. It did have a very nice bathroom, and I am a big fan of the full length mirrors which makes the bathroom look more expansive. We were on a decently high floor, with good views of government palaces and Tokyo.
Hotel Space / Ambiance
Park Hyatt Tokyo is located on the 39th to 52nd floors of Shinjuku Park Tower, and we saw a lot of couples and business travelers in the hotel and main lobby floors. It clearly caters to an upscale clientele, as both a tourist attraction for being the set of the film Lost In Translation and a top-of-the-line Hyatt hotel. Nightly rates were about 50,000 JPY for the night in question, which comes to about 450 USD. You can just feel the wealth and prosperity coming from the furnishings, other patrons, and service staff. While it is not the most expensive hotel, I felt it important to compare and contrast experiences at Park Hyatts around the world
However, the property did seem a bit dated, and not quite as “new” as some of the other properties that we stayed in.
Food & Drink
We did not enjoy much here, not having time to view the iconic New York bar on the top floor. We sampled some baked goods in the bakery on the ground floor on the way out to Shinjuku Station via the hotel’s shuttle, and the breads were quite delicious and reasonably priced.
Additionally, the hotel hosts an interesting happy hour, at the Peak Bar or Lounge. This includes unlimited cocktails and finger foods, for a price of 5,000 JPY ($45). A fair price for all you can snack & drink for several hours!
Fitness
The route to the pool and fitness center is also convoluted, requiring a special elevator from the spa & sauna floor. However, it is a bit different than previous gyms.. For example, Park Hyatt Tokyo has a pool separating the fitness machines on each side, with the entire center having high, high floor views of the city.
Additionally, we took a brief tour of the spa facilities, which include showers, saunas, relaxing day beds, and more. It seems like a very relaxing and luxurious experience to try someday. Makes sense, as the Japanese takes their spas and baths very seriously.
Miscellaneous
Park Hyatt Tokyo was a very enjoyable and pleasant experience, and something to check off my hotel bucket list. However, due to the cost (in points, of course) and the fact that the room and property were fine, rather than phenomenal, I most likely will not be returning. We used one of the lady’s Chase Free Night Certificates on this stay (the other being used at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo) and thus got our money’s worth. Despite it being for our anniversary, they did not include any additional amenities such as free drinks or breakfast for us, which has been done in the past. Instead, they took a cute picture of us in their “library” and presented it to us at check-out in a nice frame. This was a nice and unexpected touch, which we appreciated.
Also, the Park Hyatt Tokyo’s proximity to a major train station, Shinjuku, makes for easy transport to other parts of Tokyo or by rail to other Japanese cities. Having barely scratched the surface of what Tokyo has to offer, we made our way to Kyoto!
Stay tuned for the other hotel reviews of my amazing Japan trip! You’ll be able to find them all on my TravelUpdate page.
Featured Image is the beautiful skylight in the 41F atrium of the Park Hyatt Tokyo.
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