Our first time in Japan – and thus our first time in Tokyo. My wife and I wanted to have a reliable and comfortable option for this very special occasion and thus went for the likely most posh option Hilton Hotels offer in the capital city: the Conrad Tokyo. Let’s have a look together whether we enjoyed it or not.

 

Conrad Tokyo – Location

The hotel is located on the Northeast part of Minato City, a very central borough of Tokyo. The hotel does feature parking facilities, but I would rather recommend to use public transport as a tourist (apart from that getting a Japanese driving permit is a bit of tricky for foreigners). Together with another hotel, Conrad Tokyo is located in the Pedi Shiodome commercial tower. There are also some helpful facilities, like a Family Mart and some cafes and restaurants. The closest public transport is Shiodome Station, connecting to the Oedo and the Yurikamome Line.

Especially if you have luggage, this is the much better point to navigate to, compared to Shimbashi, which offers much more options like JR rail connections and multiple metro lines. The downside of Shimbashi is simply a walking distance of more than ten minutes. On the way to Shimbashi station, though, you pass a lot of shops and restuarants. The nearby commercial buildings like Shiodome City Center offer some excellent food options as well. The hotel information you receive guides you to Shimbashi, which is definitely the worse option in our point of view. In both cases, the directions to the hotel are very clearly stated. Signs are in Japanese and English (like practically anywhere in Tokyo), so that navigation is easy, even though the route is an underground labyrinth.

 

Conrad Tokyo – Atmosphere

The hotel comes with a lovely atmosphere. It feels relaxed, not too starched. The design and layout is generous, but still decent and not too posh. Even though you enter the hotel on ground level, the reception is in the 28th floor of the building. All facilities of the hotel are either on that floor or above. This also means that you first take one elevator to the 28th floor and then another one to the room. There is a concierge desk on ground level though.

 

Conrad Tokyo – Room

My wife and I booked  five night stay in a King Room with City View. The nominal price for the five night stay would have been around 7,000 EUR at the time of booking, but I paid the hotel with Hilton Honors points. We received an upgrade to a King Executive Room on the 37th and thus highest floor of the hotel. If you think of Tokyo hotels as a stranger, you think of narrow rooms and limited space – the Conrad gave us the complete opposite. We loved the generous space, the large sofa right at the large window. The table did not feel like a work desk, but it got its job done very nicely. Even the prices in the minibar were not too troublesome. Conrad Tokyo made us smile with a Conrad rubber duck and a small Conrad teddy, waiting for us on your bed at check-in.

The bathroom featured a separate bathtub and a shower, which was next to the toilet. Again, the room felt very generous and clean. You could also feel the Japanese philosophy that a traveler should be provided by the hotel with all major non-personal needs. Thus, the hotel room also came with two pajamas (which did not fit me, obviously…) and a lot of amenities provided. Last, but not least, we of course had a Japanese style heated toilet, which we more and more enjoyed during our stay. One thing we loved about our room from the very beginning, though, was the amazing view over the harbor area, including the beautiful Hamarikyu Park.

 

Conrad Tokyo – Executive Lounge

The layout of the Executive Lounge was kind of strange. It has two “wings” on both sides of the aisle of the Executive Floor. I guess that this facility is also the reason that the 37th floor is the only hotel room floor you can enter without using the touch panel of the elevator – which is a bit of a lack of security. The design of the lounge is quite nice. However, it is getting too packed especially during the happy hour. Thus, on weekends, you have to reserve one of two time slots beforehand – which might not always be too easy if you are a traveler in the city. We also used the lounge once for breakfast (see below).

The food provided at the happy hour was actually quite nice – but it also felt chaotic. The hotel is a hot spot for Hilton Honors status members – and the Conrad just does not manage to handle all the people. The selection of drinks and spirits was fine, though. After the happy hour, the Conrad already closed one wing for cleaning, before the closure of the lounge.

 

Conrad Tokyo – Breakfast

We opted for the (for me: complimentary) breakfast in the Cerise buffet restaurant for four of the five mornings. Especially around the weekend, you should not be too late there, as the lines at the check-in might be long and you wait some time. Diamond guests seem to be generally assigned tables at the nice window front. There is a huge buffet, which is offering a nice range of food, including Western and Asian/Indian dishes. However, the Japanese buffet was my favorite. On top of that, you could order one dish from the menu. I fell in love with the mango pancake with a slide of creme brulee, which was one of the signature dishes in September 2023. Unfortunately, you could not get it on the October days of our stay any more.

The refilling of items worked very well at the Cerise. However, extra wishes may become really expansive. A friend of mine asked for some freshly squeezed orange juice – which would have been a some 2,000 JPY (12 EUR) plus on your hotel bill.-

For one morning, we thought we might be quicker using breakfast in the Executive lounge. The offers are not too bad, but far more limited than in the main restaurant. The queues may be shorter, though. There is a chef which is even doing some egg dishes on demand, which was – of course – a really nice service.

 

Conrad Tokyo – Service

The staff was very friendly. There was no language barrier, the level of English was very good throughout the hotel. The check-in on reception floor first tended to be a bit of chaotic, before they recognized me as Diamond Member / Executive Floor guest. The check-in in the Executive Lounge was very smooth then. Check-out worked very nicely as well.

The hotel drives a lovely gym and spa area, which can also be used by locals with a membership fee. The gym is very generous. I also loved the pool, even though it is rather narrow (some three people can swim in there next to each other). Please note that Japanese rules might differ from Euopean hotels and their way of polliteness sometimes hides that you are doing things wrong. For example, I happened to miss the signs that you should use a bathing cap, which is also provided by the pool. I saw it when I got out of the pool. Too late, unfortunately. The spa area also holds some nice Japanese baths. At reception level, there is also a souvenir and fashion store.

 

Conrad Tokyo – My View

No doubt, the Conrad is a posh option and we were happy with our choice. Nonetheless, it did come with some issues we just did not expect in a hotel like that. This definitely includes the information we got before we got to the hotel (not the best transport connection from the hotel). Thus, Conrad Tokyo finally turned out being a really good stay, but not the Hilton Highlight I expected it to be in 2023.

 

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