Tokyo Travels Part 21: Conrad Tokyo

When we stayed in Tokyo, we stayed in what would be considered a luxury business hotel. Rooms at the Conrad Tokyo regularly sell for $400+ per night. More importantly, they also sell for 50,000 Hilton Points a night.

Hilton Points (and their equivalent from Marriott, Starwood, and Holiday Inn) are the hotel version of frequent flier miles. I build up Hilton Points whenever I stay at a Hampton Inn, Embassy Suites, Homewood Suites, Doubletree Hotel, or any other property in the Hilton family. I cashed in a bunch of points for the trip to Tokyo so the room cost us nothing.

The hotel is on top of an office building. An express elevator takes you up to the hotel lobby and its high-end restaurants. The staff at the desk was awesome. They were friendly, and spoke excellent English. After checking in, we didn’t have to deal with them often except to get change for 10,000 Yen notes and ask for directions to the subway. When we checked out, they were even able to charge our bus tickets to the room (Note: even on a reward stay you still earn Hilton Points for incidentals).

It was a fantastic room, and fairly large by Tokyo standards. We had a king room with a great view of some neighboring office buildings, and a couch of sorts that ran the length of the windows.

That long couch was a fantastic place to stretch out at the end of the day, with a blanket and a reading light, and write about my thoughts and experiences while looking out at the city lights before crawling into the soft king bed to rest up for more adventures.

The bathroom had a deep soaking tube (which the GF loved (especially since it came with some neat rubber duckys)) and a separate shower.

The toilet had more electronic controls than many cars.

We also had access to the Executive Lounge, which meant we could start each day with complimentary snacks and coffee.

One thing we didn’t see was a housekeeping cart or an ice machine. Apparently all that equipment gets hidden in secret alcoves and closets. I’m not entirely sure how the staff conjured them into existence when they needed them, but they managed it.

Whenever we needed ice, we would have to call room service to deliver some. There was of course no charge, and the advantage is that I didn’t have to hear or figure out the machine in the hall. And since it’s Japan, we weren’t expected to tip the staff.

Guests at the Conrad also get to take home some little reminders of their stay.

The location was convenient. The hotel was across the street from the Hamarikyu Gardens, a short walk from the Shiodome and Shinbashi train station where we could catch the Japan Rail Green Line, a loop that runs around the city. Walking just a couple blocks more brought us to the heart of Ginza. To the south, we were just a 20-30 minute walk from the Tsukiji Fish Market. When I walked a few blocks the other way, I found a great collection of convenience stores which were always a great place to pick up a shockingly tasty dinner and beer.

In short, the Conrad was fantastic. If you have the cash or points it’s a fantastic place to stay. The room was awesome and the staff was friendly and fluent in English. I can strongly recommend the Conrad.

You can see more pictures from the hotel here.

You can find more pictures from my Japan trip here.

And you can find more posts about my trip here.