Review: Park Hyatt Tokyo Park Suite

I had the opportunity to travel to Tokyo for 3 days for funded Temporary Duty, to complete my Emergency Medicine Board Exam. It’s always been on my travel bucket list to stay in the Park Hyatt Tokyo, so I wanted to check and see if I could. It is the number 4 out of 747 hotels in Tokyo according to Tripadvisor. I knew that the per diem, $349 all-in, at that time wouldn’t cover the total cost of a room, which for a gov’t rate for 2 adults and 1 child was $609. (of note, my family’s travel wasn’t funded, but I flew them up OKA – HND using British Airways Avios, transferred in from my Amex Membership rewards, and booked them on Japan Airlines, which along with BA is part of Oneworld).

 

I did have a bunch of Hyatt Gold Passport points, from my previous paid stays in both the Hyatt Regency Bethesda and the Hyatt Regency Naha Okinawa (both reviews are in upcoming posts). Also, I had Chase Ultimate Rewards, which can be transferred 1:1 into Hyatt. I looked at the amount of points needed per night, and saw it was 30k Hyatt points per night, as it’s a category 7 hotel, their highest tier. I didn’t want to go out of my own pocket totally, as it was paid travel, so I checked out to see if they had any nights available with cash + points, and indeed, all three nights were available. For a category 7 Hyatt, it’s cash + points rate is 15k points + $300 per night, so 45k points and $900 for three nights…not cheap, but to me totally worth it.

 

I had made Hyatt Diamond status, it’s highest level, from a status match challenge earlier in the year, which gave me 4 suite upgrades on paid stays, including cash + points stays, during a year. I still had 3 left at the time, so decided to see if they had availability. I called 1-800-228-3360 and sure enough, they had suite upgrades available on those dates!

 

We arrived by taxi and immediately got a taste of their legendary customer service. They greeted me by name and refused to let us take our own bags; they insisted on their bellboy taking it up. Their hotel is on the 41st – 49th floors, and the check-in lounge is through their world-renowned foyer, the Peak Lounge, which was famously featured in the movie “Lost in Translation”.

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The views are absolutely amazing…especially looking West at sunset and seeing Mount Fuji!

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We were confirmed to have a Park Suite on the corner facing NorthEast, and were handed a metal key on a metal keychain for the door, which honestly I was worried about losing…I think I would’ve rather had a cheap plastic card!

 

We walked in, and all three of us simultaneously just said “WOW!”. The space was huge, with a large sitting room with a table and 4 chairs, couches, large TV, a Nespresso Machine (YES!), a ton of bottled water, and furnished with all these cool Japanese art books, which my wife loved.

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They also provided a handwritten note, which I think is really touching.

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The bedroom had two full beds and a large TV as well. We always request two beds when we can because I like it really cool when sleeping and my wife prefers it really warm.

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The bathroom was huge, with separate shower and bath, a Toto washlet, and furnished with Aesop products, which people way more sophisticated than me rate very highly!

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I think we spent the first several hours just checking out the suite and gawking at the views until Happy Hour started at the lobby bar, which ran from 5-9, and was complimentary for Diamond members. There was beer, wine, spirits, and finger foods, which were really quite good.

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Also complimentary for Diamond guests is breakfast, which is a huge breakfast buffet spread in their restaurant Girandole, and is one of the better hotel breakfasts I’ve ever had (the best, incidentally, was at the Shangri-La Abu Dhabi).

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Other highlights of the stay were the large and well-appointed gym, which is on the top floor and overlooks everything, and my personal favorite, and steam, sauna, and hot tub rooms, which was freaking phenomenal (obviously I couldn’t take pictures, as it’s filled with naked people…the steam room, not the gym haha).

 

This was definitely one of my and my families favorite hotel stays ever. Huge compliments to the staff, who were overwhelmingly accommodating. For instance, we were taking a self-guided walking tour around Tokyo, and wanted a stroller in case our son became lazy and didn’t want to walk; they totally hooked us up, and gave us an umbrella just in case! I would love to stay here again if I get the chance. Definitely check it out if you can!

 

Also, for eating, I highly recommend Cedros and Kaikaya, both in Shibuya and easy to get to either by train or bus. Here are some pics from Kaikaya.

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6 Comments

  1. Glenn, I think you should make a posting about using your Amex points to British Airways Avios transfer so you could redeem on Japan Airlines for domestic travel in Japan. Great review of the hotel by the way. Perhaps also you could write a post about the area around the hotel since you live in Japan as an expat your perspective might be interesting. It looks to me as well that he really lucked out on the weather as you can see clearly all the way to Fuji. Was it during Golden Week that you were there?

  2. Went to Tokyo 2 years ago and loved it. We also went to Kyoto and stayed at the Hyatt there. If you make the trip to that Hyatt go half a block to see the temple of 1000 statues – definately memorable. BTW, my spouse is an ED physician as well. Although he’s done it long enough he’s ready to retire 🙂

  3. @Willy – Sorry, BG Goddard and I should make separate logins, but we’ve just never gotten around to it. Yes I stayed there and wrote it. It was not during golden week, it was in mid-October. We didn’t get to see the area around the hotel a lot…well, I didn’t, as I was studying for my board exam mostly. My wife and son got out more than I did. I will say that Shinjuku Central park was nice, and the nearby Yoyogi Park is gorgeous. I think writing a post about transferring points is a good idea.

  4. @sw – Tokyo is amazing isn’t it? We still haven’t checked out Kyoto yet, but are definitely going to! Still slogging it out in the trenches of the ER huh? Good for him!

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