Also see: 

• Just Booked: Tokyo and Osaka, Japan in April for Cherry Blossoms
• Tokyo: Cherry Blossoms, Microbars, Amazing Food, Views, & Wanderings
• 7 Hilton Hotels Where 120,000 Hilton Points Are Worth $700+

To start, I wanna say, I loved this hotel! The location, ambiance, and staff were all wonderful. Getting out at the Shinjuku station and walking to the Hilton Tokyo with the lit-up neon lights is an experience I’ll never forget.

But first things first.

Landing at NRT

I’ll do a review of the flight over soon.

I was nervous about flying into NRT because it’s a solid 90 minutes from Tokyo no matter which method you choose to get to the city: train, bus, or taxi.

We landed around 5pm, so I figured the train was best to avoid rush hour traffic. The airport is incredibly well-signed. But once you get to the trains, you’re bombarded with a zillion options and routes. I looked at the JR lines, the Tokyo metro, and rapid transit to another station.

To sort through it all, we entered the options into the individual machines until we found the best routing and price. All told, it took 15 minutes to price out 3 or 4 train tickets. We paid a little more to get there a little faster. From NRT, the faster you go, the more it’ll cost. But even the most expensive ticket was only ~$40.

Arrival and check-in

• Link: Hilton Tokyo

I’m sure I looked a fright after a 13-hour trans-Pacific flight and a 90-minute train ride.

My first thought was, here we go with the language barrier.

The desk agent waved me over immediately and spoke in perfect, fluent English. She acknowledged my Diamond status and told me there were no upgrades available because the hotel was completely booked. I’d already looked online to confirm this.

But it was nice to have the upgrade benefit acknowledged. And honestly, I was just happy to be in Tokyo and didn’t plan on hanging out in the room much anyway.

I was assigned to room 3006, on the 30th floor.

She gave me a letter explaining the amenities. I could have free breakfast at my pick of three restaurants, and access to the Executive Lounge with free snacks all day, and cocktails in the evening (yes!).

I got the wifi info, and headed up up up to the 30th floor.

The room

First impression was “yeah, about what I expected.” The room wasn’t huge, but it had a king bed, a little desk and chair, and a few surfaces to set things down. In short: the usual.

Though not huge, it was very clean and quiet. The wifi was fast. I say this often, but that’s really all I ever want in a hotel room.

I particularly liked the bidet in the bathroom.

Also of note, I can’t stand when a shower has some slick minimalist design and water ends up pooling all over the floor.

This shower had a sparse design, which reeked of splashiness, but there was a drain in the floor. The floor was a little wet post-shower, but no big puddle. #thankgods

The pajamas and slippers were a nice touch.

It would’ve been nice if there was more fridge space for non-minibar stuff. Like, what if I wanted to put my own bottles of water in there?

But what really made me love this hotel was everything else. So let’s get to it.

The hotel

There are lots of restaurants within the hotel, including a traditional Japanese restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, and your typical grill. There was also an English-style bar called St. George’s. And a lounge on the 2nd floor with live piano in the evenings.

As I finished my drink, I noticed all the details of the lounge. It was put together so well, with so many special touches. Afterward, I walked around and looked into each restaurant, walked down the grand spiral staircase, and took it all in.

There was an attendant hailing cabs. The front desk agents checking peeps in and out.

The staircase was polished perfectly. The carpets swept and clean.

That should be the norm of course, but, I got the feeling this hotel was particularly well-managed. The bartenders and servers were attentive. And the overall ambiance felt very upscale.

There’s also a subway station attached to the hotel via an underground passageway. You don’t even have to walk outside to get on the train.

I loved the hotel’s location, just away from the bustling main streets of Shinjuku, but easy walking distance to tons of restaurants and shops.

In fact, we walked from the hotel down to Shibuya and back through Harajuku (yes, my feet were killing me).

Breakfast and snacks

My favorite part!

Because we had our pick of 3 restaurants for free breakfast, and access to the Executive Lounge, we started off each day with full tummies, and started the evenings with sangria and cocktails.

Here’s breaky on the 2nd floor:

Breaky on the 1st floor was much the same, except with an omelette station and a few extra items.

But the real ticket was in the Executive Lounge.

They had a nice spread up there, too. All the trimmings. They really went all-out.

And again, with the extreme attention to detail.

The food selection there was great. And most importantly, they had…

…mimosas! (Thanks for scrolling down through 4 pics to finish reading that sentence. Mimosas, though! #gamechanger)

The Executive Lounge was never overly crowded, even during breakfast.

For the cocktail hour, they had a decent selection of self-pour liquors, wine, and sake.

A good Executive Lounge really is a huge perk. To have snacks throughout the day, drinks in the evening, not to mention a full daily breakfast, adds a LOT of value to the room rate.

They also had this INSANE “Strawberry Brunch” each day I was there. Everything was strawberries: strawberry lattes, strawberry Madeleines, strawberry pastries… so many strawberries.

Bottom line

I booked this hotel through Citi Travel Concierge and paid for the stay with my Citi Prestige card. Because I booked 4 nights, I’ll get the 4th night free as a statement credit. When I do, I’ll be sure to add it to the Citi Prestige by the Numbers page.

Coming back to the Hilton Tokyo each evening was a delight. The location is perfect. And I quickly grew to love the special touches I found everywhere. The staff were always on point. And the room was just enough for my visit.

The Executive Lounge and free breakfast were especially great value-added perks. I’d stay here again in a second.

I must say, this is one of my favorite hotels I’ve ever stayed at.

If you’ve stayed here, let me know how your experience compares!

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