Introduction
Tale of Two Lounges - Dulles Airport
Onward to Tokyo - First Class United & ANA Dreamliner
Castle in the Clouds - Park Hyatt Tokyo
Day Trip to Kamakura
Tokyo Hilton
A Blast From the Past - American First Class
Tale of Two Lounges - Narita Airport
The Joan Rivers Hotel - W Chicago Lakeside
Wrap-Up of Trip
After landing at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, I took a tram to the center of Tokyo and then the subway to the Shinjuku station. From the Shinjuku station, I walked the 1/2 mile to the Park Hyatt. I don't recommend walking with your luggage, it is not easy. The main entrance is not on the main street, but on a side street.
I entered from the main street and was pointed up a set of stairs to get the "main entrance."
Recommendation, if you are walking, go on the side street and directly to the main entrance:
The check area is on the 41st floor of the building, so a long elevator ride waits for you. The ride takes about a minute. The elevator drops you off at the entrance of The Peak Bar. During the day, the glass ceiling allows in tons of light.
At night, this area becomes a very swanky bar. The views at night are stunning. No other buildings views compare and I went to almost everyone.
The desks to check-in can be found after a short walk pass the Girandole Restaurant and the library:
Quick Tip: At the corner of the library is a bank of windows. This bank of windows provides one of the best views of Mount Fuji, if you don't have a room with a mountain view like I did. The best time to see the mountain is between 11am and 2pm due to fog. None of the days I was there produced a great view, but the staff told me to keep trying. This is the best I got:
10 days prior, I emailed the hotel and asked for a very early check-in ie 8am. The response was that they would try their best, but at the very least they could hold my bags. Therefore, my expectations were low to getting my room and taking a nap. So, I was pleasantly surprised, when she told me my room would be ready in 5 minutes.
The women that checked me in, also, brought me to my room. She led me to a Park King room. I have never stayed at a 5 Star hotel before this stay. Therefore, this room, the most basic of basic for the hotel, blew my mind away. I will sound like a school kid in a candy shop, sorry.
When you entered the room, a longish hallway takes you to the rest of the room.
Every time housekeeping came to my room, they left me two bottles of water. At one point, I had 7 unopened bottles, but this became a gift, as I could not find a bottle water I liked to drink other than the one they provided.
The room had a large desk, which I used often to blog or write notes to people.
The room took my breath away. So much so that I did not notice that my suitcase was missing for over 20 minutes. Talk about service, they put my suitcase in the closest and hung up my clothes:
The toilet was separated from the rest of the bathroom by the a frosted glass door.
The hotel does not have a check-in desk, per say. Instead, they have multiple check-in desks. When I arrived to this area, a young women greeted me, brought me to her desk, pulled out my chair and offered me a cold bottle of water. Service with a smile.
10 days prior, I emailed the hotel and asked for a very early check-in ie 8am. The response was that they would try their best, but at the very least they could hold my bags. Therefore, my expectations were low to getting my room and taking a nap. So, I was pleasantly surprised, when she told me my room would be ready in 5 minutes.
The women that checked me in, also, brought me to my room. She led me to a Park King room. I have never stayed at a 5 Star hotel before this stay. Therefore, this room, the most basic of basic for the hotel, blew my mind away. I will sound like a school kid in a candy shop, sorry.
When you entered the room, a longish hallway takes you to the rest of the room.
The bed was typically Japanese style, low to the ground. The bed was so comfortable. Each night I put my head to the pillow, I went into dream land within minutes. The sheets were butter soft.
In front of the bed was a large entertainment unit that held the TV, a little library and the mini bar.
The mini bar was stacked. All of it was out of my price range, but I did open it a few times and dream of eating and drinking it all.
The liquor cabinet was AMAZING. Again, outside of my price range, but I took note of what they had and that became my shopping list at the duty free shop on my way out of the country.
Every time housekeeping came to my room, they left me two bottles of water. At one point, I had 7 unopened bottles, but this became a gift, as I could not find a bottle water I liked to drink other than the one they provided.
The room had a large desk, which I used often to blog or write notes to people.
Directly behind the desk was a large window. As a typically guy, I did not let the employee show me how to use all the buttons in the room. This resulted in me spending 10 minutes trying to get the automated shades opened. When I did, I had a beautiful view of the city.
The room took my breath away. So much so that I did not notice that my suitcase was missing for over 20 minutes. Talk about service, they put my suitcase in the closest and hung up my clothes:
The last piece of my room was the bathroom, which was huge. I think it was as big as my college dorm room freshman year.
The number one question, I got from friends and family was about the toilet. Yes, it had many buttons, had a bidet,and was heated. The heated portion was the thing that bothered me the most; sometimes it was to hot. I actually prefer a cold toilet. TMI?
The bathroom had every last amenity that you could need from Q-tips, razors and shaving creams and even combs and brushes. I wanted to test to see if they would refill the amenities, so I took a razor and shaving cream and hid them in my suitcase. Sure enough, the entire basket of times was refilled later that night.
The last thing I will say about the bathroom is the shower. It had two heads and was amazing. I took a shower right when I got in the room and feel asleep. I have decided my future home will have one of these set-ups, one day even if I have to order it from the Japan.
The hotel is fabulous. Many others have talked about the other aspects of the hotel, so I won't go into much detail. The only part I want to write about is the pool/gym. It is located on the 47th floor and offers stunning views of the city. You aren't allowed to take pictures of the place, so I had to take these sneakily:
The pool is infamous from the movie Lost in Translation. Bill Murphy's character goes up to the pool, late at night, and back floats looking at the ceiling. I had to copy this scene, its iconic. While floating in the pool, by myself, I had plenty of time to look at the cool looking ceiling.
My stay at the Park Hyatt Tokyo made me speechless. This could be the reason why this post took to so long to write ie 3 months, I'm sorry. Words can't describe how they treated me at this hotel: white glove high class service. They did not care that I paid for the two nights with free night certificates. The staff was superior.
Again, I got the two free night certificates from the Chase Hyatt Vise. The credit card gives you two nights at any Hyatt in the world for applying. The offer with the $100 statement credit is not avalible, but it has popped up at $50 once in a while. Follow these directions to see if you can grab the statement credit in addition to the free nights. I could never afford this place on my own nor would I ever pay the cash rate, but this wonderful credit card allowed me to experience heaven once.
The title of this post comes from three places: one the Musical Les Miseable. Throughout my staff, I could remember signing the song, Castle in the Clouds, in my head. The second place is the Japanese Anime movie, Castle in the Sky, which is about the destruction of humanity and two young persons traveling to a castle in the sky. The final reference was one morning, I woke up and look outside and my entire view was of fog. I felt like I was in a mini castle in the clouds.
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