Hotel Review: Hilton Tokyo Shinjuku

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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.

Hilton Tokyo review

Entrance of the Hilton Tokyo

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

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.

My room, 3006

My room, 3006

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!).

Hallways of the Hilton Tokyo

Hallways of the Hilton Tokyo

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.

View upon walking in

View upon walking in

Bed

Bed

Desk

Desk

Chair

Chair

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.

View from the room

View from the window

Bathroom

Bathroom

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Peter Thomas Roth toiletries

Shower

Shower

Bidet!

Bidet!

Harro!

Harro!

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

View from the window

View from the window

Minibar

Minibar

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Hangers, slippers, iron, hair dryer, safe, extra pillow

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PJs

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.

Having a bevvie

Having a bevvie

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.

No lucky 13

No lucky 13

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.

View from the 2nd floor lounge

View from the 2nd floor lounge

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:

Second floor breakfast spread

Second floor breakfast spread – breads and pastries

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Cold cuts, cheese, fruits and veggies, juices and smoothies

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Traditional Japanese breakfast spread, including fish cakes, miso soup, and salmon

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…

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Executive Lounge breakfast spread – fruits, salad, apples

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Cereal, muesli, bananas

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Eggs, sausage, muffins, pastries

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My breakfast selections

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

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Afternoon snacks

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Executive Lounge seating

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.

Strawberry Brunch

Strawberry Brunch

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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About Harlan

Just a dude living in Memphis, traveling, and working toward financial independence.

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  1. Hey Harlan!

    I stayed at Hilton Tokyo last year and loved it as well. Very good location, convenient, and nice neighborhood. I also enjoyed the breakfast and lounge experience =]
    If I have a chance I will also return to the hotel when I can. I’m heading over in October so maybe then =]

    • Ah, good to hear! That means a lot, as you’re way more familiar with Tokyo than I am.

      Do you visit Japan often? I’m jel-jel you get a go back so soon! I bet October is a beautiful time to visit, especially the countryside.

      • I visit as often as I can. Last year I went about 5 times. It’s kinda the only place I go 😛 Other people travel the world but I have the places I like and I continue to go there. It makes it easy for me to know exactly what redemptions I’m looking for in each award program.

        And I stayed in the Conrad as well and I gotta say that was probably my favorite hotel. So, it’s good to know Hilton really delivers when it comes to Tokyo =]

  2. I didn’t see al the breakfast options and the service when I was there was awful, didn’t care for the location either. I would love to try the Conrad one day!

    • Yeah Hilton Conrad is one of Hilton’s aspirational properties. I wanted to stay there, but nothing was available with points and paid rates were astronomical! One day, though!

  3. I’m going in a few months. So, I’m glad to have your review and looking forward to my stay. Any idea which perks come with gold status?

    • Gold status… def free breakfast, possible room upgrade. They *may* give you access to the Executive Lounge – gently nudge if they don’t. Gold status will go a long way here even if you only get free breakfast.

      I loved this hotel, hope you do too!

      • Thanks for the details. I’ll keep my fingers crossed about Executive Lounge.
        I agree with you that it would significantly increase the value of the stay.
        I’m looking forward to the rest of your stories about the trip. It will be the first trip to Asia for my wife, my son, and me. Thanks for sharing.

        • Fingers crossed for you. It was my first time, too. You will LOVE it and have such a good time! Definitely walk through the parks and visit Harajuku. And be sure to get some fresh sushi!

          Also, the super-nice dinner places often have lunch deals – the same food is almost half the cost at lunch than at dinner. So you can save a lot on a nice meal by planning a pre-fixe lunch.

          Will you visit Osaka too? That’s next on my list to post!

  4. Just stayed there for 2 nights on points, 50000 points per night and it would have cost close to $400 per night in mid April. They upgraded me to “deluxe” room with my gold status, which means separate shower and bathtub Japanese style. The breakfast spread was amazing with the omelette station! I only ate at the first floor restaurant as there’s a big group staying there eating at the second floor one. Shuttle Service to shinjuku station was nice as my feet were so sore from all the walking! Definitely would stay there again!

  5. Great info. Headed there soon so it really helped. Headed to Osaka also hopefully your review of Osaka is on the Hilton also?

    • Oh man, fingers crossed for you! I’ve gotten upgrades with Hilton Gold in London and a couple of other cities – or at least given lounge access. Remember, it never hurts to ask!

      I can’t wait to hear what you think of this hotel – and Tokyo! 🙂

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