Review: Royal Park Hotel, Tokyo

This was my first time in Japan. I got to spend three days in Tokyo. I stayed the first night in the Royal Park Hotel in Nihonbashi. The next two nights were at the Tokyo Hilton in Shinjuku (awesome!), which I shall review in a later post.   

Location

The Royal Park is a very nice hotel. It is conveniently located right next to the Tokyo City Air Terminal (TCAT). It is actually attached to the TCAT via a over street walkway. So, getting to it from Narita or Haneda is very convenient. I took the Airport Limousine from Narita. It was a long 50 minute ride. However, once I got there, the hotel was easy to walk over to.

Rooms

They did not have the room with a king size bed as I had requested. So, they upgraded me to a ‘large’ room with a twin bed. The large room was not that large… (See attached pictures), but was a corner room with a decent view and a corner sitting area. The bathroom was really tiny. So was the TV and room safe. In fact, the safe was so small that my 13” MacBook Air would not fit in it. That is small! The bathroom was small but had the typical automated potty one sees in Japan.

There was an option to pay a fee and get an ‘executive package’. That gets an upgrade to a room on the executive floor, free breakfast and access to the executive lounge. As I was staying just for one night, I declined that, so I cannot comment on its value.

One thing I personally did not like was the lack of an iron and ironing board in the room. I had to call room service to have it delivered. This to me is just a waste of time, if like me you like to be well dressed for every meeting. When I did ask for an iron, it was delivered fairly quickly. What I got however was a nice iron, but with a tiny ironing board. The type one has to seat on a table, as it has short legs.

Dining

There are several restaurants in the hotel – that cost an arm and a leg – 700 Yen for coffee!! But the TCAT and the streets around have tons of restaurants for multiple cuisines, at decent prices.

There is also a beautiful restaurant on the top floor, with a view that was awesome. You could see the Tokyo lights from large windows. It was however closed when I went up for food, as it was Sunday and they closed early.

Lobby

The lobby was large and spacious, with multiple restaurants and a open floor lounge. The main central area of the lobby was multi-story high, with a massive chandler on the top (pictured, from the 3rd floor).

Train/Subway

Other than the TCAT located next door, the hotel has a subway station right below, that can be accessed from the basement of the hotel. So, from an accessibility point of view, it cannot be beat.

Conclusion

The hotel is nice, but is dated. It feels like something from yesteryears that decided not to come in to the 21st century. The decor is old, however not worn out. The TV is flat screen, but tiny. The service is good, but not outstanding. The people are polite, but not the type who would go out of the way to assist you. The Tokyo Hilton where I stayed for the next two nights was much better.

Have you stayed at the Royal Park hotel before? Share your views. What hotel do you like to stay in, when in Tokyo?