Shinjuku's best hotel?
I had 5 days in Tokyo on this trip, and having stayed at a few other high end hotels here, I really wanted to check this property out because I loved the Park Hyatts in Sydney, Beijing, Shanghai, and Paris. I'm a Gold Passport Diamond, but because I don't have the Hyatt Card from Chase, I rely on points earned either by stays or via two other Chase cards I currently have in my wallet. A night here will run you 30,000 HGP points, but even at a $0.02 redemption rate, that sounds a lot better to me than spending $650/night! What makes the redemption even sweeter is that the diamond upgrades at Hyatt properties are great, though on this particular stay the only suite they had was a smoking room, so I opted to downgrade to a Park Deluxe King which was still great.
What's awesome:
- diamond upgrade got me a great room with a view of Mt Fuji; spacious and interesting floorplan
- great breakfast spread (which is free as a Gold Passport Diamond)
- the novelty of the New York Bar
- Aesop amenities, of which I am a big fan
What's not:
- don't think anything stood out to me as a negative, aside from maybe the location? if you have stayed here and can think of a good negative, please post a comment!
How to Book the Park Hyatt Tokyo on Points
The go-to cards for Hyatt are all from Chase, as they've got the Hyatt-branded credit card, and Ultimate Rewards also happens to be the only points program that lets you transfer points over to Hyatt Gold Passport. My three Chase cards are the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserved, and the Freedom Unlimited (used to use the Freedom before the unlimited came out). The Freedom Unlimited is great for everyday spend, and the Sapphire Preferred has 2x category bonuses for dining and travel, and most importantly for me, no foreign transaction fees. The Sapphire Reserve ups the ante with the 3x bonus on dining and travel, so the Preferred almost obsolete at this point. This combo allows me to rack up Ultimate Rewards points pretty quickly...
The Gallery:
The Bottom Line:
At a 10 minute walk from Shinjuku station, the Park Hyatt Tokyo is an excellent hotel in a convenient location. Of course the novelty of staying here after seeing Lost In Translation is fun, but this hotel is so much more than that. Having stayed here, the Grand Hyatt (2x), The Peninsula, and the Andaz, I can say that this hotel ranks among the best even if the location feels a bit business-y.
Did I miss anything?
If you've stayed here we want to hear from you! Let us know what you thought of the hotel in the comments below.
