During our recent trip to Japan, we felt that we had to do the points ritual and stay at the famous Park Hyatt Tokyo, which is what I like to call one of the “seven wonders of the world”, as in, there are currently only seven Category 7 Hyatt hotels in the world.

When we arrived, we were immediately met at the curve by two young ladies who probably weighted half of what I do but insisted on helping us with our luggage and walking with us to the lobby, which is on the 41st floor. I was expecting this from reading earlier reviews, and knowing the way Japan service culture works, it didn’t feel so awkward as it normally would since I’m perfectly ok with carrying my own bags. In Japan, just sit back and let it work itself out. It’s really their pleasure to help you out.

We booked the hotel for 3 nights strictly on points. Being a Category 7 Hyatt, it rings up at 30,000 points per night. Cash and points was available at $300 and 15,000 points per night, which is too steep for my liking. With daily cash rates going for about $450 to $500 per night during the time of our stay, I obviously decided to just go “all-in” and use the 90,000 points for the stay.

I should also note that the day of arrival was my wife’s birthday, and I had mentioned this to the hotel in advance (more on this later). The hotel originally only had the second and third nights available on points, so I asked them if they could as a courtesy open up the first night of arrival as well, and they graciously obliged.

Lobby and check-in:

I should note that while the lobby is on the 41st floor, check-in happens directly in your room. A hotel employee takes you directly to your preassigned room, and all the paperwork is filled out from the comfort of your room desk. So we skipped right past the lobby, transferred elevators, and went straight to the room. While catching the second set of elevators, an employee was waiting for us holding the elevator door, and as we were entering, he turned to my wife and said “Happy Birthday!”. It is one thing for a hotel’s front desk staff to know it’s your birthday from looking at a computer screen, but a different employee 41 floors away who hasn’t seen you before saying happy birthday? Priceless touch. Simply amazing welcome.

The lobby was beautiful and at that point it really synced in how high up we were, with the Tokyo buildings looking pretty tiny below our own hotel.

Room:

On arrival our host told us we had been upgraded to a Deluxe room on the 44th floor thanks to my Diamond status.

We entered the room and completed the check in process, and our host handed us the keys and told us the luggage should be arriving in a few minutes. Originally, the only room I could book on points was a double twin beds room, but I had reached out to the hotel to see if I could have any luck switching to a king size. The rep who responded assured me that it would be taken care of, and if there were no kings available, they would join our two twin beds together and put a single giant mattress on top of them. As promised, when we arrived, we found a giant “super-king” bed in our room. I loved it!

The room keys are old school, which I actually liked:

Right before she left, our host wished us a great stay, walked us through the hotel’s Diamond benefits, and then handed to my wife these beautiful birthday flowers and chocolates. Very classy touch.

Immediately after our host left, our bags arrived, and the bellman carefully set them in our closet, hung our jackets, and after asking if we needed any assistance wished us a great stay and then departed.

At that point I was free to take pictures of the room, which was not only beautiful and had a sober and simple theme, but was also very spacious, especially for only two of us. Again, look at the size of this bed!

The room had lots of amenities, including my ever favorite Nespresso machine and pods:

The closet space had a ton of utility items of its own:

The bathroom was spacious, exquisitely decorated and had every essential you could possibly need:

The shower was one of the best I’ve ever used:

And the bathroom had a TV if you wanted to just relax in the bathtub:

True to form with any Japanese hotel, you can always find this bad boy in your room:

One of the best things was the view:

And the views at night:

And especially the sunrises:

I loved the Do Not Disturb system in Japan, which I didn’t know about, and we found it on all 4 hotels we stayed at (and also on those in China and South Korea). No messy door hangers that keep falling off the door or go missing. A simple green and red button system controlled from the inside. Green for housekeeping, and red for do not disturb.

Dining:

The hotel offers complimentary full Breakfast for Diamonds either at the Girandole restaurant by the lobby, or via room service. While I wanted to try the restaurant, we were pressed for time each morning, so we ended up having breakfast in the room each time. While the Diamond benefit calls for American breakfast, as typical with most Hyatt hotels I’ve stayed at, any type of breakfast usually gets comped, which was great since I wanted to try out the traditional Japanese breakfast, and ended up having it two out of the three mornings, and the eggs Benedict, which a reader had recommended, on the second morning. All breakfast entrees we tried were perfect.

We also went a couple of nights to the Peak Lounge by the lobby, where every night they served appetizers and cocktails. The all-in price was about $38 per person at the Current Exchange Rate, but complimentary for Diamond members, so we took full advantage of this benefit which saved us a lot of money. The food was delicious and the service was spot on. I had wine and my wife had mojitos, which were a bit bitter for our taste, but we just asked the bartender to add some sugar to them and she got the second one right on.

We also tried Kozue (the hotel’s Japanese restaurant) for dinner on one of the nights, and just to stay with the same theme, the food was excellent and the service was phenomenal:

We also went on the last evening to the New York Bar, on the hotel’s 52nd floor (the highest). The cover charge is 2,200 Japanese yen per person or approximately $20 at the current exchange rate, but again complimentary for Diamond guests. There we listened to live jazz music and had drinks and a cheese and fruit plate as a post-dinner dessert. The New York Bar was made famous by the movie Lost In Translation, which I am yet to watch, but we did have their signature Lost in Translation cocktail, which was very good. The views are something you never forget.

Other hotel features:

The hotel has an indoor pool and the gym on the 47th floor, with breathtaking views of the city. I didn’t make enough time to jump in the pool, which I later regretted.

The views from the pool area were gorgeous.

I did use the hotel’s spa, which is on the 45th floor, to soak in the hot tubs and cold plunge, and then sat on one of their lounges to watch TV for a bit. The men’s and women’s sections are segregated, and you must be completely naked to get on the pools, so be prepared if you’re uncomfortable with that sort of thing. No pictures allowed within the spa. The cover charge is 4,200 yen or around $38 at the current exchange rate, but complimentary to Diamond members.

There is also a pastry boutique by the hotel’s entrance on the 2nd floor, and the chocolates and desserts looked good enough to cry, but we didn’t buy any.

The hotel has a beautiful library by the lobby:

Service:

Besides all the luxury and tranquility, the hotel’s trademark is its top notch service, and from my first interaction with the staff even before arriving, to the day we left, it was just as advertised. From remembering my wife’s birthday, to meeting each of our requests, to the employee’s sense of pride, courtesy and friendliness, it was a perfect stay. No detail was left unnoticed by the staff, and that is why this is one of the best hotels in the world.

Conclusion:

The Park Hyatt Tokyo is known for being one of the best hotels anywhere, with a great location, quality of service, incredible views, and amazing accommodations. When in Tokyo, I definitely recommend this hotel for at least a 3-night stay to really enjoy the property and the amenities. We were very fortunate to have been able to stay at this hotel, and can’t wait to stay at it again when we return to Japan.

The is a post from FreeTravelGuys.