PUBLISHED March 30th, 2017 11:05 pm | UPDATED May 12th, 2023 05:29 am
Someone on TripAdvisor described Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo as a railway station to emphasize its size and the number of people it plays host to. Indeed, with 1,437 guest rooms spread over more than 10 room categories and 16 dining establishments, it’s a mammoth of a hotel. Typically, we’re not great fans of large hotels, but what interested us was the range of cultural experiences and other facilities Keio Plaza offers, value-adding to what just might be a great base to explore Tokyo with Shinjuku Station located five minutes away on foot.
Well, that and their still-shiny Premier Grand Club Lounge and the newly renovated club rooms located on the 37th through to the 41st floor, which guarantees a stunning views of the dynamic Japanese capital.
Located on the 45th floor of Keio Plaza’s main tower, the club lounge opened in December 2016 in a bid to provide a space for club room guests to rest and relax. There’s a dedicated concierge to assist in matters like restaurant reservations (it can be a nightmare if you don’t speak Japanese), sightseeing information, business support, and checking in or out. Although breakfast is offered at three different restaurants within the hotel depending on whether you prefer buffet-style or Japanese-style, the dining area of the lounge offers a more private space for breakfast should you wish it.
While beverage service – coffee, tea, juices, and soft drinks – and snacks like dried fruit are complimentary during the lounge’s opening hours of 7am-10pm, there’s also afternoon tea offered between 2pm to 4pm and bar time from 5pm to 7pm. It’s worth heading up during the latter to watch the sun set over cocktails, sake, wine, and hors d’oeuvres. The kitchen servicing the lounge here is as good as, if not better, than the hotel’s specialty restaurants so you do have to be careful so as not to ruin your dinner.
Our Club Room Premier Grand (relatively spacious at 35.5 square metres or 382 square feet) was a lovely space decked out primarily in brown wood and hues of white and grey – we’re guessing the designers had minimalist luxury in mind, and they have it right on the nose. Featuring Sealy mattresses and Italian sheets for high quality slumber, it’s also worth noting that the soft and highly absorbent Imabari towels in the bathroom hail from the Ehime Prefecture, where the makers have been producing them for more than 120 years.
As with most Japanese hotel rooms, the toilet and the shower are two separate chambers in the room. We totally approve, after getting used to the cover of the toilet seat lifting itself automatically every time we visited the water closet (oh, these technologically advanced Japanse toilets). While we expected amenities like strong wifi and French brand L’Occitane’s Jasmin & Bergamote bath products, we were pleasantly surprised by extras like skin care sets by Shiseido and the humidifier-air purifier. There’s more technology to be had in the room’s service tablet, which acts as the room controls and hotel directory, instead of fiddling with a console on your bedside table.
Other quintessential five-star facilities and services available at Keio Plaza include a pool (only open during summer as it’s outdoors), a fitness studio, a business centre, Japanese-style reflexology, and even a convenience store that opens till 2am. In a nutshell, it’s safe to say that booking a club room at Keio Plaza Tokyo guarantees a seamless stay – pretty much what we all want while on vacation.
Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo is located at 2 Chome-2-1 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo 160-0023, Japan.
Top Image: Premier Grand Club Lounge