We did a 180 on the tail end of the Japan trip and decided to stay at the Park Hyatt Tokyo (AKA, the Lost In Translation Bill Murray hotel) to cap things off. If you remember, we started things off in Shinjuku’s Godzilla Hotel (Hotel Gracery), which had an impossibly tiny room. We then moved our trip over to Osaka where we stayed at Cross Hotel, featuring a relatively spacious and well-appointed room.
Park Hyatt Tokyo Hotel Overview
The Park Hyatt Tokyo is one of those rare hotels that gives us “American” sized rooms- aka, large enough to fit a king-sized bed, a few chairs, and a work desk. Unfortunately, the price tag closely follows the size. The price range is usually $447-$1007 per night. That doesn’t include the extra 15% fee tacked on at the end for the entirety of your bill.
We managed to score a deal through my husband’s Founders Card while we were in Japan, so we booked the hotel on the fly.
I didn’t realize it, but apparently, we walked past the hotel when we were exploring Tokyo in the first few days. It’s in a pretty quiet and business-oriented area of Shinjuku, without much going on in its vicinity. We just power-walked past it on our way over to the Meiji Jingu shrine.
The hotel is the top half of Shinjuku Park Tower, a pretty vast and sterile-looking office building. We accidentally walked in through the back/office entrance and had a somewhat hard time figuring out where the actual hotel lobby may be. After asking a worker, we clamored up some steps to the hotel side and took the elevator up to the check-in area.
Honestly, I’m so happy that we stayed in Kabukicho when we first arrived in Tokyo. If we stayed in the Park Hyatt, I would’ve had a very different perception of the city. I enjoyed being in the center of all activities and getting to experience the hub of nightlife. If you’re planning on going to Tokyo, I would choose to stay in the middle of all the activity and then cap it off in a quiet (read: dead) area of Shinjuku where Park Hyatt is located.
Park Hyatt Tokyo Rooms
Our first room faced west on the 45th floor. Unfortunately, the tower’s triangular roof obstructed the view, which pretty much defeated the purpose for me. So, we ended up calling down, asking to switch. They happily accommodated (yay) and we received another west-facing room with a fantastic view of Shinjuku station, Tokyo Tower, Yoyogi Park, and a very sprawling Tokyo cityscape.
While I love nice hotels and luxurious experiences, I was less concerned about the state of the room and more focused on having a view. The room was fantastic, nevertheless, and just as spacious as the one with the obstructed view. I asked my hubby to take a few snaps, and after we had got back from exploring, I set up my tripod on the work desk and took way too many long exposures and blurry self-portraits.
Skip It: If you’re staying at the hotel and planning on going to the New York Bar, I’d recommend saving the money on the drinks and just enjoying the view from your room. The place is fairly crowded with people stopping in just to have a drink and their own movie experience, so tables near the window are filled up.
A lot of people crowd around the windows just to take photographs. If you’re not staying at the hotel, this is a great place to get the view without shelling out the cash. Keep in mind, smoking is allowed here, so if you’re averse to the smoke, it might not be the best choice.
I was looking for a romantic drink with my husband while overlooking the skyline, but it turned out more stressful than peaceful. Don’t expect the chilled out Murray experience.
The Area & Last Days of Exploration
Like I said, the area is dead. We wandered back to Kabukicho and to Harajuku the last few days of our stay. I decided to do a lot more night photography and wound up with a whole neon series. I also received a great recommendation from my friend, Cindy, about a 3D art cafe called ReIssue in the heart of Harajuku.
I ended up giving them a picture of my cat with bunny sticker ears and of my dog. The highlight? The waiter setting down my latte and simply stating “Cat-rabbit.”
Pin it for later.
Updated on December 6, 2019
