Kimpton Shinjuku Tokyo — Hotel in Tokyo

I have Diamond Elite status with IHG; I stay in a lot of hotel rooms each year.||We had a very nice four night stay earlier this month.||Transportation|We took an Uber taxi from Shinagawa to the hotel. Note that the car entrance to the hotel is not on the main Kushu-Kaido Avenue but on Juniso-Dori; I don't know how you could explain this to a driver without speaking Japanese and giving them other landmarks in the area. So, we got dropped off a little farther down the street that we need to and had to lug our luggage in the front door. Not the end of the world.||The nearest main rail station is Shinjuku; about a 10-15 min walk. We've stayed at the nearby Park Hyatt before so know the area. For those not familiar, Shinjuku is a very busy station full of commuters and can be pretty challenging to navigate (at least for me). There are also closer stations on the Oedo Line and Odakyu Line. For the latter, Google Maps likes to suggest the Minami-Shinjuku Station over the Sangubashi Station. We much preferred the latter; navigating to the Minami-Shinjuku Station from the hotel involves winding through a residential neighborhood with narrow streets and you pretty much need to have your phone in hand to navigate the multiple left and right turns needed. In comparison, the Sangubashi Station is at the West Entrance to Yoyogi Park and the Meiji Shrine and it’s a walk on two major streets with wide sidewalks, lots of streetlights, and minimal turns.||To get to HND, there’s no Airport Limousine Bus stop at the Kimpton so you’d need to go to the Washington Hotel to catch it there. We asked the hotel to call us a taxi which took about 10 minutes to arrive at the proper car entrance so it was easy to load ourselves and our luggage into the car. Hailed taxis charge a metered rate to HND but pre-booked taxis and Uber are flat-rate so keep that in mind during rush hours. Our metered rate was slightly more than the flat rate.||Booking|We were assigned a High Floor King Premium with Extra Space on the 13th Floor (highest floor for rooms). ||The room was very bright and well-laid out with a very comfortable bed. The open concept bathroom can be partially or completely closed off via sliding wall partitions. The small dining room table was convenient for our traditional Last Night in Japan dinner of take out depachika food items while we packed.||WiFi was a very speedy 100 mbps up/down.||Diamond Elite Benefits|In addition to the room upgrade, we requested a late checkout of 1 pm which was granted without any issue. We also elected for the free breakfast amenity which was a great value as the food is excellent and the menu varied enough so one does not need to eat the same thing every day. Servers were all extremely friendly and spoke English fluently.||Pro Tips|The free evening Social Hour is worth going to if it doesn't interfere with other plans. The drink selection is quite good as are the canapes and other hors d'oeuvres. ||If it's a clear morning, it's worth making haste to the nearby Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (Tocho)'s free observation deck for some fantastic views of the city and, hopefully, Fuji-san before the clouds roll in. |||Overall|I was very appreciative of the responsiveness of the staff to my pre-arrival emails and during our stay, we were treated very well. My overall impression is that this is a very...

For the TL;DR crowd: The Kimpton Hotel in Shinjuku is an elegant and welcoming place conveniently located a brisk 10 minute walk away from the Shinjuku rail station. The food was great, the staff friendly and the rooms well designed and comfortably appointed.

The longer take:

For this trip, we had reserved a King bed room with both a tub and a shower. The room design was very functional, allowing configuration for a large open space or to completely isolate the tub/shower/vanity by means of sliding doors. The large window which overlooked Koshu-Kaido road had a mesh diffuser (lets in light, obscures activity) and a blackout curtain, both electrically controlled from the bedside.

When we reserved, we opted for daily breakfasts as an add-on. Best choice ever! Breakfast is served in the 2nd-floor space called, "District," with a large expanse of glass putting their outdoor dining patio area on display. The food choices were numerous and included omelets or eggs to order (including Benedict), pancakes, waffles, and other goodies which escape my memory. All these come with fresh coffee or tea (dark or green), starters of fruit, granola, salad (with chicken), acai mixed with yogurt and bread options (banana, chocolate, croissant and other goodie). A spectacular option is the traditional Japanese breakfast with miso soup, fish of the day, pickled bits and some glorious rice (head chef Thomas was kind enough to reveal the secrets of the rice to the other half). During our first breakfast, we were greeted by Antoine, the restaurant manager for the hotel.

We had dinner at the District, opting for a Prix Fixe affair... everything perfect for us. We notice a large number of folks having pizza and hot dogs on the outside patio. There were many dogs out there --- people posing them and doing photo shoots. We know the Kimpton hotels to be dog friendly. Antoine says there are a number of local residents who come for a quick staycation with their critters.

The hotel serves up a happy hour with various wines, a specialty cocktail or two and delicious bites of food in what look like square shot glasses. Happy hour is usually served on the 16th floor, but on our first day there, it was held in the lobby bar, "The Jones." As I scanned the wine bottles on the shelves behind the bar, my jet-lagged thought was the labels looked a lot like the labels from the Prisoner lines of wines (St. Helena, CA). Upon inquiry, an elegantly attired gent sat next to me and described how he had used images from Jones Street in NYC to make thematic labels and applied them to all those bottles. The fellow's name is Maxime. I will later find out he is the general manager of the hotel.

As we continued our stay, it became clear that management is very much on deck and interacting with the guests. The overall feel is as if you were dining at the Captain's table on a cruise. This theme is repeated as we meet Fred, manager of customer ambassadors (I believe that means the front desk/bell staff) and then Alex (referred to as "a concierge"). We later discover Alex is the Chief concierge.

To have management so hands-on and universally amiable flows to the staff; we didn't see a single sullen or harried face during our visit. We thank everyone there for making our trip so enjoyable and for making us feel...

This hotel was fantastic - stylish and new, with an excellent and friendly staff. The hotel itself is hip and fun, but it has real comfort and service as well as style. ||The room (I stayed in an Essential King, booked with reward nights) had a very comfortable bed, comfortable pillows, and thoughtful and effective layout between the sleeping area and bathroom area to make the most of the small room size. It also had a built in bench near the window, which was a nice touch. If I stayed here again, I'd try to upgrade to a Superior room for a slightly larger room size, as it was a bit hard to manage keeping multiple pieces of luggage in the room.||The hotel itself is great, and had a lot of on-property benefits: a casual cafe on the first floor and a complementary coffee drink and energy bar and banana each morning for guests, a great perk - it also serves quick, affordable and quality breakfast. There's also a complementary happy hour each evening in a rooftop lounge area with amazing views. There's also a more formal restaurant on the second floor which had delicious breakfast. And there was a bar on the top floor which served some excellent cocktails.||The staff were amazing. From pre-check in, to check in, during the stay, and until departure - we felt very taken care of. Before arriving, I emailed the concierge to help organize a dinner reservation, and they were prompt in helping us find a restaurant that fit our needs, and felt really local. Throughout our stay, the front desk staff and concierges were so attentive. I have to shout out Eugene and Meg, the two concierges who really helped make our stay memorable. They both helped give us excellent restaurant and sightseeing recommendations in Tokyo, as well as helped us figure out some details we needed for our train tickets to Kyoto, gave us tips on the train stations and helped organize luggage transport to our next hotel. Also worth giving a shout out to the staff at the cafe each morning who were so kind and genuinely friendly!||And, a note on the hotel location - the hotel is in Shinjuku, with several nearby convenience stores, and options to eat / drink / etc. There were always things open nearby if you wanted to eat or drink late. It was also nicely removed from the really insane / busy center of Shinjuku that is closer to Shinjuku station. That's good in some ways, because it isn't too hectic right outside the doors of the hotel and its in a quieter part of Shinjuku; but it was about a 15 minute walk to get to the nearest train / subway station at Shinjuku Station, and many of the restaurants and bars we wanted to go to were a 10 - 20 minute walk away - which isn't terrible, but worth noting! And a tip on getting to the hotel from Narita - its only about a 5 - 10 minute walk from the Airport Limo Shuttle bus to the nearby Washington Hotel stop, so that is very convenient for arrival!||Overall, I have to say - this hotel was really excellent, and gave us a really memorable and lovely stay in Tokyo with character and made us feel so "cool" and taken care of - highly...