Category:

Japan

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko – A Luxurious Escape

by Jerry January 16, 2025

When: November 2024

Where: Nikko, Japan

Length of stay: 3 nights

Room reserved: Lake Chuzenji View Room

Room received: Lake Chuzenji View Suite

Price per night: 136 900 JPY (original room)

Travel companion: Wife

Status / collaboration: Marriott Gold Elite / Collaboration with hotel

*In collaboration with The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

During the pandemic, I saw a brand new Ritz-Carlton open up in Japan – one that had the first ever natural onsen in a Ritz-Carlton property. At that time travelling was impossible, so I could only dream of the day we would finally be able to return to Japan and give this hotel a try. At the end of 2024 it was finally time to do that.

This hotel review was done in collaboration with The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko, however you can always trust that I write my reviews honestly. I was a normal paying customer, but in return of this review I received some extras, such as a room upgrade to the next category and a few experiences.

We spent a total of 16 nights in Japan, but for the three nights we spent in The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko, our main goal was to relax, experience some kind of spiritual cleansing and do a small social media detox. This meant we only took pictures during our trip, but didn’t use any social media. It was like a holiday within a holiday, which I strongly urge you to try one day, wherever you might be spending your vacation.

January 16, 2025 0 comments

Destinations Hotels Japan

InterContinental Osaka

by Jerry July 11, 2024

When: June 2024

Where: Osaka, Japan

Length of stay: 6 nights

Rooms: 1 Bedroom residence city view / 1 Bedroom suite club lounge access city view

Travel companion: Wife

Status / collaboration: Collaboration with hotel

*In collaboration with InterContinental Osaka

In June 2024 I was in dire need of a proper holiday somewhere far away from home. So when I found award flights with Finnair from Helsinki to Nagoya for a week, we booked the tickets and headed for Japan with only a three day heads-up, which is very unlike me. But I’m so glad we did it. Instead of staying in Nagoya, which hasn’t got any proper luxury hotels, we took a 50 minute shinkansen ride to Osaka, where you can find luxurious properties, like the InterContinental Osaka.

A friend of mine, who I met years ago, when working with another Japanese hotel, was able to accommodate us at her hotel on a very short notice, so huge thanks to Yuka-san, who made this possible. Full disclosure to my readers, we got two complimentary nights in a non club level room and for the rest of our stay we paid a slightly discounted price in a club level room from our own pocket. You can trust that I’m always honest with my reviews, so that you can get a proper picture of what to really expect, when staying at a hotel like the InterContinental Osaka.

July 11, 2024 0 comments

Destinations Hotels Japan

Shangri-La Tokyo in 2023

by Jerry February 4, 2024

When: November 2023

Where: Tokyo, Japan

Length of stay: 10 nights

Room booked: Horizon Club Deluxe King

Room got: Horizon Club Premier Room

Price per night: 158 900 JPY

Travel companion: Wife

Status / collaboration: Collaboration with hotel

*In collaboration with Shangri-La Tokyo

Until 2019 we used to visit Japan each year with my wife, but then the pandemic happened and closed the borders of many countries, including Japan. A few months before all of this in November of 2019 we had the chance to work together with Shangri-La Tokyo and do a blog collaboration with them. This hotel turned out to be one of our favourite hotels in the world, so for four years we dreamt of going back there. I’m glad to say that finally in November 2023 that day came and we got to spend 10 wonderful nights in Shangri-La Tokyo.

This blog review has been done in collaboration with the hotel. We paid full price for a Horizon Club -level room, but received an upgrade as part of the collaboration. As always, the review is an honest opinion of our experience without sugarcoating things, which should be pretty apparent as we paid full price. I also believe that our experience with customer service etc. wasn’t affected by the fact that it was a collaboration and we were treated as any other customer. I base this on my observations between other guests and the staff.

As this was our second time in Shangri-La Tokyo, instead of just a normal blog review, I felt the need to focus more on the changes that have happened during these four years, especially after the pandemic. If you want a more comprehensive review and feel like something is missing here, I hope you’ll find what you are looking for from the previous hotel review here.

February 4, 2024 1 comment

Destinations Hotels Japan

Palace Hotel Tokyo – Worthy of Royalty

by Jerry January 3, 2020

In collaboration with Palace Hotel Tokyo

When: November 2019

Where: Tokyo, Japan

Length of stay: 3 nights

Room booked: Club Deluxe Room With Balcony

Room got: Executive Suite

Price per night: 76 900 JPY

Travel companions: Wife

Status / collaboration: AMEX Platinum booking / Collaboration with hotel

There are just a couple of legendary, old hotels in Japan and one of the most prominent has got to be the Palace Hotel Tokyo. Even though the hotel has been around for almost 60 years the previous building was razed to make room for the current building that was reopened in 2012.

While planning for this trip, I asked my American Express platinum concierge to help me choose the best hotels and the Palace Hotel Tokyo was one she highly recommended. It is situated in the Marunoichi area literally next to the Imperial Palace, which is the very center of Tokyo. Also one of Tokyo’s main transportation hubs, the Tokyo Station, is just a few blocks away, so the location is perfect.

January 3, 2020 0 comments

Destinations Hotels Japan

Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo – A piece of heaven

by Jerry December 14, 2019

When: November 2019

Where: Tokyo, Japan

Length of stay: 4 nights

Room booked: Horizon Club Deluxe Imperial Garden View Room

Room got: Horizon Club Premier Room

Price per night: 98 000 JPY

Travel companion: Wife

Status / collaboration: AMEX Platinum booking / Collaboration with hotel

In collaboration with Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo

Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo is the first building on the left behind Tokyo Station

For years I had wanted to visit a Shangri-La property, but until Autumn of 2019 I hadn’t gotten around to it. I even had their second highest customer level (Jade) because of Amex Platinum without even stepping foot into one of their properties. Finally on my 30^th birthday trip it was time to see if Shangri-La really lives up to its name.

Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo can be found in the Marunouchi area of Tokyo right next to the Tokyo Station, which is the main transportation hub of the city, so the location is absolutely perfect. Even though we’ve been to Tokyo six times before this trip, we hadn’t really spent that much time this side of town, so it was a nice change of pace and an opportunity for us to see how the area fits our style.

December 14, 2019 0 comments

Destinations Hotels Japan

The Okura Tokyo – International Luxury With a Japanese Twist

by Jerry November 26, 2019

In collaboration with The Okura Tokyo

When: October/November 2019

Where: Tokyo, Japan

Length of stay: 4 nights

Room booked: Club Room

Room got: Club Corner

Price per night: 100 000 JPY – prices in Tokyo were unusually high, because of different events

Travel companions: Wife

Status / collaboration: AMEX Platinum booking / Collaboration with hotel

The Okura Tokyo, one of the oldest luxury hotels in Japan is now, in a way, one of the newest, because they just finished a 3 year reconstruction of the entire hotel, so even though it has a long history behind it, this is a brand new property. When it comes to recently opened hotels, there is always a risk that some things are still finding their place. Maybe it was because of all the experience they’ve had from the previous hotel or perhaps it was Japanese efficiency, but a month after re-opening the whole property was already running smoothly.

The Okura is located in the Minato-ku area of Tokyo, south of the Palace garden and east of Roppongi.

November 26, 2019 0 comments

Destinations Hotels Japan

Dining above the clouds – The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo

by Jerry July 22, 2018

In collaboration with The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo

In a previous blog post I wrote about the rooms, service and Club Lounge of The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo, but because I had so much to tell about this wonderful hotel, I wanted to write another post regarding the food and general areas. Like the previous post, this has also been done in collaboration with The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo.

FOOD AND RESTAURANTS

The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo offers multiple dining venues from a Michelin-starred French restaurant to the La Boutique –pastryshop, so you won’t run out of options here. A lot has happened on the restaurant side of the hotel within half a year, because two of the main restaurants were renovated and the aforementioned La Boutique was added into the mix.

July 22, 2018 0 comments

Destinations Hotels Japan

Sky-high luxury – A review of The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo

by Jerry June 1, 2018

In collaboration with Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo

On a clear day you can see Mt. Fuji from the windows of the Club lounge

When: April 2018

Where: Tokyo, Japan

Length of stay: 8 nights

Room booked: Club Deluxe

Price per night: The usual price of this room is around 1 000 – 1 200 euros per night (we stayed with a media price)

Travel companion: Wife

Status / collaboration: Ritz-Carlton Gold / Collaboration with hotel

There are hotels and then there are hotels that ascend to the next level, so that they don’t even fit the same scale than the rest of them. The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo is definitely one of these extraordinary hotels. During our stay there, I got to fulfill three of my goals: stay at this particular hotel, eat the well-known kobe beef and ride in the back of a Rolls-Royce. Check, check and check! But more on that later.

The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo is situated in the Roppongi district (Minato ward) above the Midtown shopping complex and two subway stations that make it easy to travel within the city. The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo uses a few of the lower floors and also the highest floors of the Midtown Tower (45th – 53rd floor).

June 1, 2018 1 comment

Hotels Japan

Ritz-Carlton Okinawa – The Service

by Jerry April 16, 2017

In collaboration with Ritz-Carlton Okinawa

This was taken from our balcony. The terrace on the left was our favourite spot in the hotel

So far I’ve written about the rooms and food in Ritz-Carlton Okinawa, but now is the time to tell you about the most important part of any hotel – the people and the service.

THE SERVICE

Ritz-Carlton is renowned for its fantastic customer service that is just out of this world. This is why a hotel review of Ritz-Carlton Okinawa isn’t complete until I write about this part of the experience. Because we had a whole week to see how Ritz-Carlton Okinawa handles customer service, I think we got a pretty good idea of the general state of it. I didn’t know what to expect, but I had only heard great things about the hotel chain in general. The only thing I was slightly “worried” was if they would have been too formal in a way that makes us uncomfortable. I can assure you that this wasn’t the case at all.

April 16, 2017 2 comments

Destinations Hotels Japan

Ritz-Carlton Okinawa – The Food

by Jerry March 5, 2017

In collaboration with Ritz-Carlton Okinawa

I’m sitting in a big bungalow-like Lounge with high ceilings and glass walls that have been opened to let in the nature surrounding the hotel. An incredibly warm and pleasant wind is blowing behind my back while I watch the different shades of spectacular blues of the ocean under the hill. I’m sipping an ice-cold local Orion beer. This, my friend, is paradise.

March 5, 2017 1 comment