The Park Hyatt Tokyo is an absolute gem of a hotel.  The combination of service quality, room design, city views, and resort-like amenities put the Park Hyatt Tokyo in a league of its own.

Trip Report

1. Introduction and Trip Planning
2. Japan Airlines Economy From ORD to NRT
3. Westin Miyako Kyoto
4. Exploring Kyoto
5. Day trips from Kyoto
6. Park Hyatt Tokyo – Part I
7. Park Hyatt Tokyo – Part II
8. Exploring Tokyo
9. Final Thoughts

After an incredible five night stay in Kyoto, we took the bullet train back to Tokyo. After one quick transfer to another JR line, we arrived at Shinjuku station, the busiest train station in the world.  Seeing that many people going that many different directions was a landmark in and of itself.  We decided to walk the 15 minutes from the train station to the Park Hyatt Tokyo.  The hotel does have a shuttle that runs approximately every 20 minutes back and forth from Shinjuku station so that would have been a better option.  I did not have a map, but the hotel was easy to navigate to.  All we had to do was look up!

Views from the Park Hyatt lobby

The Park Hyatt sits on floors 39-52 at the very top of the Shinjuku Park Tower, one of the tallest buildings in Japan.  Let me start with the only negative of the stay.  From the train station, we inadvertently followed signs for the Park Hyatt into the office section of the Shinjuku Park Tower with our luggage.  There was little signage of how to find the hotel once in the office lobby.  Our confusing looks caught the attention of an incredibly friendly businesswoman leaving her office for the day.  She walked 10-15 minutes completely out of her way to escort us to where we needed to be, even offering to call a bellman to help us walk our luggage up the stairs to the Park Hyatt’s actual lobby.  The situation was not a great first impression of the Park Hyatt Tokyo however it served as an excellent example of the incredible friendliness of the Japanese culture we experienced throughout our journey.

Check in

Once we reached the separate entrance to the hotel, the bellman took our luggage and escorted us to the elevator.  He must have called up because when the elevator doors opened, we were greeted by name by a check in agent who escorted us past the lobby, library, restaurant and separate check in desks to a separate executive check in lounge.  He keyed open the door and walked us down a long hallway with artwork and books on display to a large private sitting area with spectacular views of the Tokyo skyline and classical jazz music playing in the background.  I like this place already.

Executive check in lounge entrance

Hallway

Sitting area

The check in agent confirmed we’d be staying for three nights in a Park Suite King room.  This was a relief because I had booked one suite night using the Hyatt Visa signup bonus (when applying as a Diamond) and padded the next two nights in a standard award room using 22,000 Hyatt points per night.  Without contacting the hotel, they seamlessly combined the two separate reservations into one and allowed us to ‘suite squat’ for the last two nights.  The check in agent then began discussing with us all the amenities the hotel had to offer and  specifically called out the Diamond benefits, which I always appreciate.  At this point he made a copy of my Hyatt Visa credit card and had me complete check in with a signature.  I did not expect what he said next…….

“Before I go, can I show you around your room?”  Wait, WHAT!!! This is OUR ROOM!! I was completely fooled.  I seriously thought this was some form of an executive check in lounge given its spaciousness and this being Tokyo after all.  He walked us around the corner and sure enough there was the bedroom and bathroom, though from the angle we were sitting on the couch none of this was visible for the entire check in conversation.

Bedroom around the corner

The agent proceeded to show us every nook and cranny of the 1000+ square foot oasis in the sky.  He then walked us over to the minibar area and let us know we had a few gifts from the GM waiting as well as the TheWeeklyFlyer.  TheWeeklyFlyer graciously pre-arranged a bottle of Veuve Champagne to be waiting in the room making the situation all the more surreal.  Thank you again!

In addition to the bubbles, the General Manager left a Banana Toffee Cake and a package of fine nuts in the room.  If that wasn’t enough, I handed the check in agent a Platinum certificate I had received from briefly dropping to Platinum and asked for the food and beverage amenity.  He wasn’t familiar with the Platinum certificates but said he’d check downstairs.  The check in agent promptly called back to the room 15 minutes later and offered us several different bottles of red and white wine from the room service menu to choose from!  We pulled out the room service menu and selected a red from their list which was on the menu for around 100USD.  This can’t be real!

Veuve Champagne courtesy TheWeeklyFlyer

Banana toffee cake and wine

The Room

The room was phenomenal. We were in room 4218, a Park King Suite. The initial long hallway split into a large sitting area in one direction and the large mirrored bathroom in the other.  The two would meet on the other side of the wall to a large separated bedroom.  The design of the room was sleek and tasteful.  Artwork was everywhere from framed paintings  illuminated on the walls to fine coffee table books illuminated on stands to a wide assortment of ducks scattered about the room (also illuminated).

Our suite faced towards Mount Fuji though we couldn’t make it out very well during our stay.  The views nonetheless were stunning.  We spent the entire first night with the lights out sipping champagne (and wine) enjoying the expansive city lights of Tokyo from our incredible vantage point.  Again, surreal.

The bedroom was clean and sleek with a comfortable  soft bed and very cool adjustable lighting.  The two bulbous side lamps were quite interesting.  Admittedly it was a little tough to stay asleep because I constantly wanted to get up and  check out the ever changing views over the city as the sun came up!

The bathroom was spacious with mirrors in every direction.  There was a separate areas for the jacuzzi tub, shower area, and Japanese toilet.  The bathroom featured Aesop bath products which I’ve never encountered before.  They have an incredibly strong smell which I didn’t like at first but the products  have ultimately become my favorites for personal use.  For the record, the Japanese toilet at the Park Hyatt was similar to the one at the Westin Kyoto but had a few extra scent and artificial noise-making features.  Now that’s the Park Hyatt difference for you!

Hallway after initial hallway with illuminated book

Massive bathroom

Three sets of Aesop bath products per night!

Sleeping on a cloud

From sitting area looking through bedroom to bathroom

Living area

Room views – Mount Fuji is out there somewhere!

The Bottom Line

Redeeming 3 nights at the Park Hyatt Tokyo pushed the limits in my own mind on what is achievable via the Points and Miles game.  It is still hard to fathom enjoying 1000 square feet to yourself atop one of the largest, most dense, and most expensive cities in the world and then signing a zero balance bill at check out!  A random check at Hyatt.com for the same room over the same weekend next year has the room costing approximately 6300USD all in for the 3 night stay.

In part II of the Park Hyatt Tokyo review I will cover the amenities of the hotel as well as what you can expect as a Hyatt Diamond member.  Also featured will be the Martini portion of this review at the world famous New York bar from Lost in Translation.