Peninsula Hotels are one of the most luxurious hotels in the world, in fact, Peninsula Tokyo won the Best Hotel in Tokyo in 2017. Unfortunately, how that happened remains a mystery to me...

The hotel is located on top of Hibiya metro station. There is a hotel entry from within the station although due to COVID, the entrance is closed and only the main hotel entrance is opened where there's a temperature scanner which is now a familiar sight these days.

The outside of the entrance very nice and grand but once you step in, you're greeted by people eating at the first floor cafe, talking loudly and cutlery clinging which can make it quite noisy. The eating area is separated to the sides with the walking path straight down the middle so you are walking past people eating to get to the back little area that is the front desk.

I'm no design expert but imagine you arrive in their famous Rolls Royce pick up but then the first thing you see when you enter the hotel is a whole room full of people eating and you have to walk past them just to get to the check in counter. The feeling of luxury and exclusivity disappears in an instant.

The Room

Now for the worst part of this stay: the room. The hotel is not cheap by any means (and if you think it's cheap then congratulations for leaving the financial rat race), and with the price comes expectations. Having said that, I don't have particularly high expectations however, I do expect to have a good night's sleep.

The room is big with a walk-in changing and makeup area. There's a little door where they deliver little things like newspaper without having for you to open the door.

The toilet and bathroom area is nice and the bath is quite big for Japanese standards. You get the usual toiletries and amenities including bath salt.

Now I'm not a very light sleeper but I just could not get any decent sleep here. Even though I was on the 20th floor I could still hear the constant sound of the trains. Trains stop maybe around 12.30am? That's the last time remember hearing the trains. Even business hotels like Toyoko Inn have better sound proofing and they are usually right next to the train stations.

You can just see the train tracks between the buildings and even at this height, it was very noticeable. However, what's worse is the constant humming noise within the room. They need to get some acoustics expert in to look at this because the humming noise gets right into your head. I could not sleep at all because of this and moved around the room during the night and noticed some areas the noise was not as audible but unfortunately the left side of the bed was very loud. My partner was asleep so I thought it was just me and I was going crazy but the next morning when I told her about it, I noticed that the noise was not audible on the right side of the bed. She also noticed the noise when she switched to the left side. I even turned off the air condition thinking it was that but didn't solve the issue. Sitting in the toilet was actually the most quiet area in the entire room. I could have called someone up to get them to look at it but my partner was sound asleep, it was well past midnight and I didn't think they would be able to solve it anyway given that the next morning it was still there.

They also made some effort into providing a minimalist approach by hiding things in the room like the TV and coffee machine but the bed side charger is in a drawer so you need to open the drawer to charge your phone. Not sure why they can't just put in a power point or the wireless charger on the top. Also one of the wireless chargers wasn't working.

The one nice touch is that the controls have sensors so when your hand is close by, the controls light up so even in the dark you can control the air conditioning etc.

Breakfast

We had breakfast in our room having one of each of the Western and Eastern set menu. The volume is on the small side and if you're a big eater in the morning, it won't fill you enough. The menu included a lot of small portions as you can see from the photo, the Bok Choy was literal one leaf. The only big serving was the coffee in that big cup which is probably two cups of coffee.

Conclusion

Service was nice. Everyone was smiling and helpful as expected but overall the rooms need a huge improvement in sound proofing in order to provide a decent sleeping environment which is the main objective of a luxury hotel for me. Overall, I can't recommend this amazing hotel because there are so many hotels in Tokyo and definitely ones where you can get a much better sleep. I can only assume that not all rooms are this noisy with the humming sound and the train noise but I'm not willing to fork out this amount for another night to find out. If you catch JR, Peninsula is closest to Yurakucho station but with Andaz and Conrad both at the next station on the Yamanote line at Shimbashi station (see reviews), I would give this hotel a pass.

Pullman Hotels are part of the Accor hotel chain and on the upper end of the scale. They generally offer a nice cosy and functional room nothing over the top and nothing to make the experience feel cheap.

The hotel is only 9 stories tall and have 143 rooms and was opened in 2018 so it's still a fairly new hotel. It's got an Executive Lounge, restaurant and bar but opening hours are shortened and the bars are closed due to COVID. You best check the website for more details if you do wish to use the on site facilities. In the current situation, if you are a ALL member that gets a welcome drink, because the bar is closed, you will get a menu when you check-in and you need to call the front desk and place your order. They will then bring the drink up to your room.

Location and Facilities

The hotel is next to Tamachi station and also Mita station if coming by metro. It's only two stops from Shinagawa so if you are going south of Tokyo by bullet train early in the morning the next day, this is a convenient hotel for that.

I stayed here as the next morning I was catching a bullet train from Ueno and even that was less than 20 minutes away from Tamachi. There are new shops and office building next door with quite a few places to eat and the restaurants in the opposite building are quite good.

As you can see, it's quite a small hotel with facilities on the top floor and the restaurant on the first floor.

The gym is not big but given the number of rooms at the hotel, it's got decent equipment (this is about half of the entire gym).

The Room

Again, Pullman offers a nice stylish rooms which gives you exactly what you need for a comfortable stay. This hotel being only 9 stories with guest rooms between levels 3 and 8, there's not much of a view and it's next to the train station.

Rooms are reasonably sized with enough space to open up your suitcase unlike business hotels where space is limited even for walking around the room. Room amenities are what you would expect with hotels of this calibre including a coffee machine. There's a small sofa and desk by the window which is only useful if you need to do some work for a short time. It's not very practical if you need to do something for a long time. Even though my room is on the 6th floor and next to the train station, I could not hear the trains to interfere with my sleep unlike the Peninsula Tokyo which has horrible sound proofing (you can read the review on this site as well).

You also get the standard toiletries and can request from the front desk mouthwash and a small cosmetic pack which includes face lotion.

The hotel has removed the small mini bottles for the body soap, shampoo and conditioner which is much better for the environment but it kind of cheapens the feel just a little bit. I guess we'll get used to it and it does have a good cause then why not. The body lotion is still in a mini bottle you can take with you.

Conclusion

Staff are all helpful and responsive and the Pullman is perfect if you want a good functional hotel that is close to the train station with easy access to other stations where the bullet train stops. It's stylish and big enough so you don't feel like you're staying at a business hotel and have all the amenities you would expect.

The Kyukaruizawa Kikyo, Curio Collection by Hilton is the only Curio Collection hotel in Japan right now and is in Karuizawa which is an hour from Tokyo by bullet train. The Curio Collection by Hilton is a collection of hotels that retain their own branding but is part of the Hilton chain as well thereby earning points, status and being able to make reservations via Hilton. As such, you won't see much Hilton branding outside and inside the hotel except for a few signs to join the Hilton Honours program.

Location

The hotel is about a 20 minutes walk from Karuizawa station when you get off the bullet train. However, why walk when the hotel offers free shuttle between the station and the hotel all in nice Mercedes cars. As such, you need to call / email in advance to let them know to pick you up at the station and just go to the front desk when you are going to the station. They have a number of cars and you don't share it with any other group so if there are a lot of people coming and going, you might need to wait a few minutes but it's only about a 5 minutes ride between the station and hotel so you don't need to wait that long.

The drivers are very professional helping with your luggage and shuttling you between the two destinations. They are also very thoughtful as on the final trip to the station, the driver asked our departure time for the bullet train and we told them we still had a few hours and would walk around the outlet shopping mall next to the station, he dropped us off next to the lockers at the station. Attention to detail.

Speaking of the Outlet, it's located literally next to the station and it's quite big with some well known designer brands. If you go through the shops leisurely, it'll definitely take you more than a day to finish going around. There's a lot of green around so even if you are not interested in shopping, you can have a nice relaxing stroll around.

The Hotel

The hotel has only 50 rooms and I saw more staff than guests during my stay. It's got a small gym, spa treatment and a traditional Japanese public bath but it doesn't have a swimming pool. The lobby is very spacious and has a nice home feel to it, elegant but nothing over the top. There's a very small shop area to the right of the check-in desk that sells local goods and amenities that are offered in the public bath area like the body soap and shampoo.

There's a small courtyard that also leads to the Wedding Chapel and there's four function rooms for you to hold your banquet afterwards.

The Room

The Premium room is 56m² and it's basically a small suite with a lounge area and bedroom area separated by sliding doors. The room is very big for Japanese hotel standards but then this isn't your typical hotel.

It's very stylish and blends in well with the environment it's in being in the countryside in Karuizawa and provides a very nice at home feel.

The long table allows you to comfortably get some work done if you really wanted to and also opens up to a mirror for the ladies to do their makeup. As a Curio Collection hotel that keeps its own branding, they've put the hotel logo on the amenities like a jigsaw puzzle which is original.

Food

The hotel has a restaurant on the first floor at the lobby and also a lounge. It's kind of separated between the two with the left side being the restaurant and the right side being the lounge and I assume when the lounge is not opened, the whole area is used as a restaurant for example during lunch time.

It seems like that there are no Executive rooms or rooms you can book with lounge access so you can use the lounge either for free as a Diamond member or pay for entry. It's opened only between 17:00 and 20:00 and if you pay, it's 3000 yen excluding tax and service charges. Of course, if you can get in for free, it's obviously worth it but even if you have to pay, you won't be disappointed. You can choose as much as you want from the drinks and food menu including beer and champagne.

You start off with a plate of all the food on the menu and then you can order what ever combination you want

or just the one you want and as many as you want.

There wasn't many using the lounge with just us and one other couple and there were more people using the restaurant instead. The girl at the lounge was very professional and came to take our order when she noticed our food or drinks were finished. She came just at the right time, not too early and not too late.

Given the current situation, we decided to have breakfast in our room instead of the restaurant and if you want to do that, you need to let the front desk know by 9pm the night before.

The breakfast includes local ingredients and it was absolutely amazing. It was probably the best hotel breakfast I've ever had and you won't be short on liquids either with a glass of milk, apple juice, fruit juice and a choice of tea or coffee. And just when you thought you couldn't fit any more, just remember there are complimentary fruit tarts in the fridge. Speaking of which, all snacks and drinks in the minibar are completely free so feel free to raid it all.

Conclusion

This is an absolutely fabulous hotel. The people are very attentive and helpful and always greet you with a smile and the room and food are perfect. It's located very well within walking distance of the station and about 5 minutes from the famous "en boca" pizza restaurant on the main road. You can do as much shopping as you want at the outlet and not worry about having to carry everything back to the hotel as the car service is very quick and easy, it's like having your own chauffeur between the station and hotel.

If there was one problem with this hotel, it's probably the price. Even in low season, the most basic room is around 45,000 yen inclusive of taxes and surcharges and during peak season like in the summer, that can go beyond 90,000 yen a night. It's about the same price as the higher end hotel chains in the city. But as the saying goes, if it's a problem that can be solved with money, it's not a problem at all. This hotel is perfect and I highly recommend it for your stay in Karuizawa.

Conrad is on the higher end within the Hilton Hotels chain of brands. While the Conrad Osaka is relatively new, Tokyo is 15 years old but if you are just at the lobby and the restaurants, you won't notice it. The entry to the hotel is a small entrance where once inside, you'll take an elevator up to the lobby where a different set of lifts take you to your room.

Location

Like Andaz, Conrad is located near Shimbashi station but on the other side and close to the bay and next to Hamarikyu Gardens which is quite a big garden for those who enjoy a nice stroll.

There are many lines that take you to Shimbashi station such as JR, Metro and Yurikamome which runs through to Odaiba, a major tourist spot. The hotel is next to Caretta Shiodome shopping centre so there's plenty to do and many restaurant choices.

The Hotel

There's an Executive Lounge here so if you booked an Executive room, are a Diamond member or lucky enough to be upgraded to an Executive room, you can use the lounge for free. If you've used Hilton and Conrad lounges before, you would be familiar and it's the standard affair here, with breakfast, afternoon tea and cocktail time. Not sure if it's because of COVID but there wasn't a lot of selection at cocktail time, normally it would be enough to fill me up for dinner, so I went down to the mall next door for some more snacks afterwards.

There's also a gym and pool on the 29th floor. There wasn't many people early in the morning but it did get a little busy towards the end as we were leaving about 10am.

The Room

Got the Bay View room and as expected you can see Odaiba and Rainbow bridge when weather permits. It's reasonably big with a sofa along the window for you to enjoy the view. As a Diamond, I did try and ask politely to see if they can upgrade to a suite but they said it was all full and it was busy...even though I checked there were at least 3 suites available to reserve. I guess I'm not their target market to try and woo me for future business.

All the blinds including the bathroom blind are controlled via switches. The switch for the bathroom is inside the bathroom so you don't have to worry about your friends peeking. There is also a shower if you don't feel like a bath.

The room still looks relatively new and clean however, there are signs of wear where it matters the most I think. At first, I couldn't find the controls for the blinds and didn't want to touch the switches without knowing what they were but finally took the plunge. The two big dials are for the outside and inside curtains. As you can see, the English and Japanese are totally unreadable. The main light controls near the door was also the same.

And of course, you get the famous Conrad bear and Duck.

Food

Breakfast was buffet style plus one dish from the menu with a decent selection of Western and Eastern style. I don't think you'll go hungry with the choice and amounts available.

There's two sides to the restaurant and it's quite spacious with a nice view.

At the time of my stay, they were doing a collaboration with Jimmy Choo for afternoon tea so I thought I'll give it a go. It's at the restaurant next to the lobby and even though it was full, it wasn't noisy at all since it's got a very high ceiling.

The afternoon tea itself was ok but I probably wouldn't try it again. It's a bit on the expensive side with the cheapest plan being 6500 yen and some were too sweet. With all you can drink for 90 minutes, staff were very nice and observant and once drinks ran out, they came and asked for our next order.

Conclusion

This is a very nice hotel with good facilities and service and would recommend it with its familiar feel and service as expected on Conrad. The food are nice even though the lounge was a bit lacking in variety. On the outside, it's still a very modern hotel but after 15 years, it does show its age a bit with the controls in the room being unreadable. Service at the lounge and the restaurant is very good and all staff are helpful and willing to help with a smile. A little disappointed they didn't give me a suite to try given there were so many available but it's not like I was entitled to it so can't really complain. I guess they could have tried to wow me for this one night stay but without it, this is just one of the hotels on my list to stay in Tokyo rather than the hotel to stay.

Andaz Tokyo, which is part of the Hyatt chain, is a boutique hotel with a relatively small number of rooms at 164. It's located near Shimbashi station about a 10 minute walk or next to Toranomon station on the Ginza line. It's part of the Toranomon Hills Mori Tower skyscrapper complex so there's no grand entrance or anything like that but it does have its own little door entering from the street.

The Hotel

After entering the building, there's the pastry shop and a casual dining cafe which both belong to Andaz so you can charge the costs back to your room. Going past the shops will lead you to the little area with the elevators that take you straight up to level 51 lobby for check-in.

Origami is the theme of the hotel and everywhere from the lobby to the room has decorations inspired by origami.

You are ushered into the lounge area for your check-in where you can also rest during your stay for some drinks

The Room

Just in case if you're like my friend who was wondering where the room numbers are written when looking for my room, it's on the bottom next to the room.

From 51, you take the elevators next to the lounge area down. I got a twin with bay view and the room is quite big for Japanese standards. You get a little changing area as soon as you enter the room which connects to the bathroom. Toilet is separate to the bath but it's a see through glass door into the bath so unless you're close, friends would have to wait to use the toilet if staying together.

The artistic origami theme continues in the room with the walls in rectangle patterns like the traditional Japanese shoji. There's some other artistic touches like a transparent lamp by the doorway which is also where the room safe is located. The main section of the room is relatively small though with a long table by the window. As with more and more modern luxury hotels, the blinds are controlled by a switch next to the bed

As the bay view room, you can see Odaiba and the rainbow bridge from the room.

Food

The hotel is not short of places to eat although due to COVID, some places are closed or have shorten hours. It's best you check the hotel website for further details. Being located near Shimbashi though, there's plenty of places to eat if you want to try more local cuisines.

I received some welcome treats which were quite tasty and if you want more, are available to purchase at the pastry shop on the first floor. And after you've had these, everything in the minibar except for alcohol are all free so you can raid the snacks and drinks inside.

 I had a lunch menu at the restaurant on the ground floor where it's casual dining serving burgers. It was good and very reasonably priced at 2500 yen including salad, burger, fries and dessert. Breakfast is at the restaurant next to the lounge / check-in area and is buffet style plus one dish you can order off the menu.

Surprisingly, there's not a lot of choice at the buffet with Western and Eastern choices but even other less luxury hotels like Hilton have more choices. However, Andaz went for quality not quantity as the food were all very good including the menu dish.

Finally, having a sweet tooth, I had to try the pastry shop downstairs and it did not disappoint. It's a relatively small shop though, maybe enough seats for 20 people so if you prefer to stay away from people during these times, you can buy it as takeaway. If you really want value though, I wouldn't recommend the coffee as there's a Starbucks next door and the coffee here was over 800 yen.

Conclusion

Overall, this is a great hotel. It's located close to Shimbashi station and also within walking distance to Hibiya. The staff were very helpful and helped resolved an issue for me during check-in.The rooms are nice, quiet and modern and the food were very good. I would recommend trying this hotel if you don't have a favourite one in Tokyo and are looking for one close to the station with a decent choice of local restaurants around.

Thought I'll share some updates on what the 'new normal' lounge experience is like at Hilton. Stayed at Hilton Tokyo Bay recently and as most people will know, the lounge is still closed due to the ongoing world affair. So instead of the "normal" lounge experience, currently they have partitioned a part of the main restaurant area as a make shift lounge.

The "Lounge"

The offerings available during the day are still the same with coffee / tea / nibbles.

Including the offering of alcohol during cocktail time in the evening.

Cocktail / dinner time is also the same buffet style. There's disposable gloves and your own tongs

There's an acrylic panel kind of covering the top of the food

and social distance markings everywhere including the lifts.

Breakfast is the same as before and again with the same countermeasures as above.

They had those Hilton CleanStay labels everywhere around the room and other rooms also had the CleanStay door sticker.

Besides that, not much else has changed. They upgraded the lifts now so that you need to tap the key to use it. And if you have Park View, you'll see lots of construction work as it appears Disney Sea is expanding. Not that it'll get in the way of seeing the fireworks, for now anyway.

And for anyone interested, a new Toy Story theme hotel is being built next door.

Conclusion

Overall, not much has changed except now you have your own tongs and disposable gloves to use for the buffet and required to wear a mask (although they don't strictly enforce this). Not sure when this setup will be in place until but given the current situation, it'll probably be at least until the end of 2021 before it goes back to what it was before (if it even does). You can still definitely enjoy the overall experience even though it has changed a bit and it's perfect for a staycation weekend getaway to relax.

To get the bad news out of the way, this card is one of the most expensive card in the Australian market with an annual fee of $1,450. However having said that, if you can make use of the benefits that come with this card, it actually represents amazing value and you might effectively end up not even having to pay the annual fee. So time for the good news.

The Points

The card earns 2.25 points per $1 in general. "In general" because it only earns 1 point per $1 with government bodies like paying your ATO bill. This equates to an effective 1.125 airline miles per $1 as the transfer rate is generally 2:1. You can transfer to 10 airlines which are:

- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- THAI Royal Orchid Plus
- Malaysia Airlines Enrich
- Air New Zealand Airpoints
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Besides airlines, you can also transfer to hotels (Hilton and Marriott) but that's not recommended as the redemption value makes it not worth it compared to airlines unless you only need to top-up your hotel account.  You can of course also use the points to pay for purchases or redeem for other goods on the Amex Membership Rewards website but that provides even less value so it's best to save your points for airlines.

This card is also a rare breed when it comes to Qantas points because you are earning Amex points which you can transfer to Qantas when you want rather than a direct earn and sweep to your Qantas account every month. Qantas from time to time have transfer bonuses (transfer x amount of points for a x% bonus) so you will be able to make use of that while other direct Qantas earn cards cannot.

The Benefits

Besides the obvious benefit of earning points, the card has an array of benefits. The card allows for four supplementary card holders for free so to make full use of the benefits that come with this card, it's best to apply for the supplementary cards. As this is a Charge card, you have to pay off the entire outstanding amount every month...which is why this also comes with a complimentary credit card - the American Platinum Reserve. This is a free card as long as you hold the Platinum Charge card and also gives you four supplementary cards for free.

The Charge card also comes with an Australian Financial Review online subscription for all card holders so supplementary card holders can have their own account.

Further, you are eligible for all the cash backs that Amex have from time to time saving you more from your annual fee.

Offers can easily add up to a few hundred dollars saved especially when you include supplementary card holders.

However, the best benefits are the travel focus benefits that the card has.

The Travel Benefits

The card provides hotel statuses for Radisson, Marriott, Shangri-La and Hilton. Of the bunch, Hilton is likely the best of the bunch as you get instant Hilton Gold. Hilton Gold gives you room upgrades (when available) but best of all, free breakfast. With 2nd guest staying for free, this means you and your guest can have a free breakfast for every night you stay. You also get complimentary Accor Plus membership which if purchased separately costs $399. The membership gives you Silver status within the Accor ALL program and up to 50% off dining at participating hotel restaurants. Best of all, it comes with one free night to use across the Accor chain including Sofitel, Pullman and Swisstol.

Besides hotels, the Platinum card also gives you access to airport lounges via Priority Pass. The main cardholder and one supplementary card holder gets membership which allows unlimited access and allows you to bring an additional guest. So a family of four can enter the lounge for free. On the downside, the Priority Pass membership provided by American Express does not allow 'non lounge experiences' meaning you can't use the Priority Pass at restaurants. Well, you can still use it but you'll have to pay the full price rather than it being free. By showing the Platinum card itself, you also get access to Centurion American Express lounges, Plaza Premium lounges, Delta Airline lounges (when travelling with Delta) and Virgin Australia lounges (when travelling domestic with Virgin - although what's going to happen now is still uncertain given Virgin's future).

The Charge card has a $450 Travel credit to use on Amex own travel website https://travel.americanexpress.com.au/apps/shopping/#/search/air which is best used for airfares as it’s the same price as booking directly with the airline, saves you on the credit card fees charged by airlines and you get points and status whereas if book hotels, the hotels don’t usually acknowledge your status unless you book direct through the hotel website. On top of this, the Platinum Reserve gives you another $400 Travel credit to use so if you can make use of the travel credits, that's already $850 in value that you would've used for airline tickets / hotels. The disadvantage of the travel credit is that it cannot be combined so if you are travelling with your partner, you have to purchase the tickets separately and then call the airline to 'combine' the bookings so you can sit together or if your ticket has seat selection, do that yourself online. Another advantage of purchasing airline tickets with American Express is the Platinum International Airline Program which provides a discount compared to booking directly with the airline for First and Business class tickets. Although it is advertised for only First and Business class, I've had times where Premium Economy and even Economy was cheaper than booking direct with the airline.

And finally, the travel insurance is quite decent. Some cards cover you just by holding the card while some require a prepayment of a certain amount. The Platinum Charge requires you to pay the return ticket with the card or you are also covered when you use Frequent flyer points. It also covers you if you can show that the airline does not accept American Express as a payment option. Although with all travel insurances, it's best to read the fine print to make sure that it's suitable for your situation and covers your trip.

Value Proposition

As first stated, the card costs $1,450. Some might like it just for a shiny metal card (a bit bulkier and heavier than plastic cards). However, if you can make use of the benefits, the annual fee is effectively free. As written above, the travel credits that come with the Charge and Reserve card is $850 so make use of that and you'll have an annual fee of $600. A free night at an Accor hotel such as Sofitel can easily go up to $300 so stay a night at a fancy Accor hotel and your annual fee now becomes $300.

If you don't have any lounge access with your airline, a lounge visit I value at around $20 per person as that's around the cost of a meal at the airport. So two people for $40, round trip $80. Now your annual fee is down to $220. Stay for a few nights at a Hilton hotel and save another $20 per person on breakfast and you're almost break even. Finally, making use of the cash backs such as the random offers that appear in your account or the annual Shop Small promotions and American Express is literally paying you to use the card. This is not including all the other things like Australian Financial Review membership and travel insurance.

Conclusion

Overall, whether you can get value out of this card is obviously based on your lifestyle and whether you can maximise the benefits. This is a very travel centric card so right now, it might not be the best time to be holding this card. However, as part of American Express response to the current worldwide climate of zero travelling, it has provided card holders with a spend $400 and get $400 back at supermarkets as well as double points earn and redemption promotion (which effectively equates to 4.5% off your purchase). Hopefully they will continue to roll out promotions to help soften the annual fee until travelling is resumed.

If you have found this write-up useful and want to contribute back, feel free to use this referral link which gives you additional sign on bonus points compared to applying directly via their website.

There has been no shortages of hotels in the Yokohama area as more and more hotels are built in anticipation for the influx of tourists bound for the Tokyo Olympics. Unfortunately, that's been put on hold but hotels are not holding back and so I got to stay at one of the newest hotels in the IHG family one month after it opened in November 2019; Intercontinental Yokohama Pier 8.

Location

The Intercontinental Yokohama Pier 8 is part of the Cruise Terminal Complex "Yokohama Hammerhead". If you are familiar with Cup Noodle museum, then it's right behind it. It's also a short 10 minute walk from the other Intercontinental: Yokohama Grand. The closest stations for both these hotels is the Minatomirai station on the Minatomirai line. If you are coming by JR, the closet station is Sakuragi-cho on the Keihin-Touhoku line and from there about a 15 to 20 minute walk to Yokohama Grand and a further 10 minutes to Pier 8. From the Hammerhead, you can clearly see the iconic fin shaped Intercontinental Yokohama Grand.

It's in a good location with shops and restaurants in Yokohama Hammerhead, Marine & Walk and the famous Red Brick warehouse.

The Hotel

The hotel has 173 rooms spread across 3 levels and there are generally 3 types of rooms: City View, Bay View and Garden View. As the staff saw me dragging my suitcase along towards the hotel, they came rushing towards me, asking me for my name and helping me with my suitcase.

When you first step into the hotel, you're greeted by an architectural wonder...the staircase. Unfortunately, you can't actually use the staircase as that's for staff.There's an elevator on the right hand side and even though it's just one floor up to reception, they request you to use the elevator although the staff will carry your suitcase up the stair (or at least in my case as I only had a small carry one suitcase).

As you can see from the previous photo above of the Yokohama Hammerhead, it's a short rectangle building with an open area in the middle of the building from level 3. The "outside" rooms are the City and Bay View rooms while the "inside" rooms are the Garden View rooms. The names are pretty self explanatory and the reason there's an open area from level 3? Yep, it's where the garden is.

Tip: If you are after a room with a view, do not get the garden view unless you are really into gardens. As you can see from the photo below, when you open up the curtains, you can pretty much see everyone walking in the corridor and the gym (if you're on the opposite side of the gym) and everyone can see you.

The Room

As an Intercontinental Ambassador, I get upgraded one room grade up so booked one night City View and one night Bay View wanting to try the Bay and Garden view. Instead they upgraded me both nights to the Garden View room which is the largest of the three at 60m² while the other two are 46m² which are still very large for Japanese hotel standards. I guess I could have asked them to "downgrade" me to the Bay View but staying in the biggest room (apart from the suite) at a brand new hotel, I couldn't complain. There's everything you would expect from an Intercontinental room, the amenities, nice water pressure from the shower, comfortable bed and all the goodies of the mini bar. The photos doesn't do it justice to show how big the room actually is.

Two sinks so you and whoever is staying with you don't need to fight for it.

And if you are not comfortable being naked in front of your room mate, I suggest not to take a bath.

Facilities

The hotel is equipped with a small gym, sauna and 2 restaurants; one on level 2 next to reception and a sushi restaurant on level 3. There's plenty of restaurants around the hotel so I didn't try the sushi restaurant but I did hear that it needs to be reserved so double check if you are really eager to try it during your stay.

There's also a rooftop garden where you have a great view overlooking the bay and can just sit and relax in the sun.

I had afternoon tea at the restaurant next to reception and had the seasonal Christmas special which was very nice taste and presentation wise.

Conclusion

Overall, this is an amazing hotel. I have stayed previously at hotels that just opened and you can tell that it's new not by the hotel, but by the staff who don't seem to know what they are doing but I had no trouble here. The staff were very well trained, polite, always smiling and there when you need any help and things moved like clockwork. It's a little bit of a walk from the closest station and they don't have any shuttle buses instead if you don't want to walk, you can catch the public bus which stops right opposite the hotel from Sakuragi-cho Station. I would definitely recommend trying this hotel as it's conveniently located around some major tourist spots and there are plenty of great restaurants around so you'll be spoiled for choice. And if you ever run out of things to do, there's a cinema and Hot spring about a 10 minute walk away.

World Heritage in Indonesia

Have you ever been to Indonesia before? then I'd like to introduce you about the famous region in Java Island, it's called "Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta aka. DIY or Jogja"

It takes around 8 hours using the interlocal train in Indonesia if you come from Jakarta and It takes 45 minutes~1 hour using an airplane, well as you know that Indonesia has many kinds of temples so first of all you can find World Heritage here... yeah it's Borobudur Temple but it's kinda hard to get to the place because it's still around the jungle, it takes 1 hour 30 minutes from Tugu Jogja using a private car, Borobudur location is in Magelang city it's near to Jogja. Back then Borobudur Temple was covered by big trees so local residents thought it was a jungle. 

Right after you get in the place you should buy a ticket to enter the temple, for domestic ticket is 40.000 Rupiahs ( USD 2.71) each ticket and International ticket is 350.000 Rupiahs ( USD 23.72 ) if you're lucky you can see the cultural celebration about Javanese Culture so make sure to check on the date before going. You can also see beautiful reliefs on the temple wall not only that if you reach the top of the temple you will see a wonderful view up there so don't think twice to visit Borobudur Temple, you will not regret it.  

Taman Sari Keraton

Move forward from World Heritage, there're so many old palaces in Jogja as you know the one of the palace is Taman Sari known as "The Fragrant Garden" earlier. You can get there easily by Delman or Becak motor traditional transportation in Central Java, what a good thing is you can bargain the price of the traditional transportation in Jogja.

The ticket price is quite cheap only 5.000 Rupiahs ( USD 0.34) for domestic and 12.000 Rupiahs (USD 0.81) for International you can enter the palace and see how the old palace inside, not only The Water Castle but also you can visit the secret Underground of the Castle but before you get into the location you need to walk through the cavern, at the end of the cave hallway you will see a magnificent view of stairs there.

Beaches in DIY

So after the road tour, don't forget to stop by the beach, Indonesia is familiar with many beautiful beaches you can see the sunrise and sunset as you want for example there's an extreme beach in the South of Jogja "Timang beach", you can challenge your adrenaline walking cross the bridge from cliff to the Bukit Karang. For each ticket is 10.000 Rupiahs (USD 0.68) only to enter the beach but if you want to try the extreme Gondola you can pay 200.000 Rupiahs (USD 13.53) to feel thrilled of tension above the sea.

Next is Parangtritis beach, it's the most famous beach in Jogja because it has a mystical story or usually people call it Urban Legend regardless of it you can enjoy the view and swim there but be careful of the billow, For each ticket is 10.000 Rupiahs ( USD 0.68) if you come using a private car it's already including it, isn't it sooo cheap?? you can buy a handmade key chain and clothes cheaply there! what a nice and good budget for backpacker 

Last but no least Teras Kaca Beach also known as Nguluran Beach is also located in the south of Jogja, what a unique is that the beach has teras kaca ( glass terrace ), each ticket to enter this beach is around 10.000 Rupiahs~30.000 Rupiahs ( USD 0.68 ~ USD 2.03 )

For beach lovers, don't you think it's a nice price to see a beautiful view above the sea so.. what do you waiting for

Malioboro Market

Don't you think it won't be complete if you're not visiting the market? Yeahh before going back home you should drop in the big market in Jogja. Malioboro is a popular big market in Jogja Region, you can buy handmade Javanese clothes, Batik, Sandal, Javanese antique furniture. Of course you can bargain the price not only that you can find Javanese street food along the edge of the road.

The good thing is it'll be very crowded at night, you'll see Javanese traditional music and dance there at night, isn't it interesting to enjoy the night while watching street musician

People are friendly,  if you're lost you can ask them easily so don't hesitate to visit the Special Region of Yogyakarta ^^