Tokyo, Japan has the reputation of being one of the most expensive cities in the world. With space at a premium, its hotel inventory ranges from small capsule hotels to elaborate suites. We went straight down the middle with the Westin Tokyo on our last stay and received a larger than expected hotel room, a convenient location and a great place to locate ourselves on our three day stay.

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Review: The Westin Tokyo, Ebisu, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

“The Westin Tokyo offered a larger than average sized room, and featured an excellent Executive Lounge, and was located reasonably close to Narita Airport Train lines, making it a great base for a leisure visit to Tokyo.”

How we Booked:

We booked directly on the Marriott Website. The best rate that I could find over Cherry Blossom Season was ¥29,000 or ¥87,000 JPY on a three night stay for an Executive Room with lounge floor privileges. As a premium property in the heart of Tokyo, and well connected to the local train network, the prices were at a premium and varied quite consistently.

Tokyo must be the choice of hotel mileage redeemers. If Starwood Preferred Guest rates their hotels based on levels of redemptions, Tokyo rated high as a Category 6 (out of 7). Is it high demand, or extortion over hotel room rates? Probably a bit of both…

At the time of our stay, the hotel was in the Starwood Preferred Guest Program as a Category 6. The property has now transitioned into the Marriott Bonvoy program as a Category 7 property, meaning that rooms are available for 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points per night. Given that Marriott Points are worth approximately 0.005 cents per night ($300 USD or approximately ¥31,000 JPY), and the time and effort it takes to earn 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, I felt that paying cash was the better route. Despite this, you’d actually be slightly ahead redeeming points at this property if the rate was greater than $300 USD; provided you were at peace with parting with that number of Marriott Bonvoy points that could be used at many of the world’s greatest properties.

There were lots of rooms for sale all over the city, but all rooms were wanting top rates for their properties. The Hyatt’s chain was no better. The Park Hyatt Tokyo commanding 25,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points for a $450 a night room. Marriott (at the time) didn’t really seem to have much of a presence with only 2 hotels that didn’t really look too interesting. We stuck with the paid rates and booked in at the Westin Tokyo four months out. The rates did indeed climb to almost double what we paid and did occupancy did eventually sell out at the Westin Tokyo doing our stay.

Transferring from Tokyo Narita to The Westin Tokyo:

The hotel is technically located in the Shibuya area of Tokyo, although you’ll have to take a train in order to get to the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing.

To get to the hotel from the Tokyo Narita airport, we took the JR Narita Express from Narita Terminal 1 to Shibuya Station, then transferred to the JR Yanamote line train one stop to Ebisu Station. We took advantage of the discounted ¥1,500 yen pricing for tourists for the inbound (regular rate ¥3,000). A airport to city private car transfer is very expensive in Tokyo at over ¥25,000 ($250 USD) so we stuck with the public transit options.

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On arrival at Ebisu station, we walked the 10 minutes from the station on the travelator sky walk with our rollies to the hotel through the Yebisu Office complex. It was very easy to locate. Even though the train is supposed to be quicker, it took us about 2 hours door to door from the airport, cutting any time savings instead of taking the bus. (The bus takes two hours, and the train is supposed to take 90 minutes from Narita to Shibuya station)

Arriving to the Westin Tokyo:

We checked in without any issues. We had a passport check as can be expected when travelling internationally. The lobby features a very Italian era type of décor that seems from an era past. The property also recently celebrated it’s 20 year anniversary. The property was well maintained given its age. 

The Room: An Executive Club, King, Non Smoking

We were staying as Starwood Preferred Guest Gold Level members (or the equivalent of Marriott Bonvoy Gold today). We received a Executive Club Room on 17th floor as booked. We may have received a soft upgrade to a nicer view room as the view from our room was indeed spectacular.

As we wound our way up to the room, I thought that the classic “European Decor” in the hotel is pretty unusual for a Westin property and especially one that finds itself in the heart of Asia in Tokyo.

The room was quite large for Tokyo standards at 452 sq / 42 sq m, and in better than average condition compared to other Westins that I’ve stayed in. The room was spacious enough for two, in addition to hosting the usual Westin Heavenly Bed.

A massive washroom fit for two:

The washroom was a little smaller than the rest of the room, consistent with usual asian standards. It featured a single vanity and a stand up shower.

The room featured an unusual Westin amenity; his and hers kimono’s.

A Room with a View:

The room had a fabulous East facing view of the Tokyo skyline, spectacular at sunrise, sunset and night time. I suspect that we got this room as a result of a soft upgrade thanks to our Elite level status.

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Visiting the Executive Lounge:

With our room rate, we had access to the very comfortable Executive Club lounge on the 17th floor. I thought it would be a wise move to get Executive Lounge access with our room as this would allow MrsWT73 to get a hold of some western food at set times in the day, in the event she didn’t want to partake in the more adventurous Japanese cuisine. This strategy worked and made her first visit to Japan all that more comfortable.

If you are a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum member or higher, Executive Lounge privileges should be complimentary as a guaranteed benefit under the Marriott Bonvoy program.

The lounge offered an open complimentary self pour bar between 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM. It also offered a continental breakfast with some hot items in the morning between 06:30 AM – 1030 AM, along with free wifi. I found that the breakfast was sufficient enough to substitute for an actual meal as long as you were willing to eat from the various small containers.

I was quite satisfied with the amount of snacks and items that were made available through the Executive Club. The environment here was also quite pleasant with floor to ceiling windows making our time spent here bright and airy.

Around the Hotel:

Around the hotel, La Table de Joel Robuchon is immediately across the street in a faux French manor which looks very kitschy in this neighborhood of high tech monolithic sky scrapers. There is also a Starbucks 2 minutes from the hotel towards the Ebisu Yanamote station, along with a pharmacy and department store in the Yebisu Gardens. There is also a 5 km running route available from the hotel that runs along the river. Maps were available at the concierge desk. 

In Summary: The Westin Tokyo

The Westin Tokyo was nicely located for exploring Tokyo. The Shibuya and Shinjuku areas were a few direct stops away on the Yanamote line and Roppongi was also closeby. It’s not the newest or the most chic property in Tokyo, but it nicely suited our needs and made for a very comfortable stay. The Executive Floor privileges and benefits of accessing the lounge made for a nice break and made the stay all that more comfortable. I would easily stay here again.

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