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Hotel Review: Conrad Tokyo

a glass door with a sign on the wall

***This is part 4 of my “Fat and Furious” trip report detailing a recent trip to Japan which included stops in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Matsuyama***

1. Introduction
2. Star Alliance First Class Lounge at LAX
3. Singapore Airlines Suites Class Los Angeles to Tokyo
4. Conrad Tokyo
5. Eating Tokyo Part 1 – Department Store Hopping in Ginza
6. Funaya Ryokan In Matsuyama
7. Living The Onsen Life In Matsuyama
8. The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto
9. Eating Kyoto – The Search for Matcha and Geisha
10. Kaiseki Dinner at 3-Michelin Star Kikunoi Honten
11. The Peninsula Tokyo
12. Eating Tokyo Part 2 – Maids, Robots, and Cosplay
13. Eating Tokyo Part 3 – Cherry Blossoms and THE BEST STEAK EVER
14. ANA Business Class Lounge at NRT
15. ANA Business Class Tokyo to San Jose

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Since I rarely travel for business, I only have entry-level hotel status through credit cards and relatively small account balances, as my points-earning efforts are concentrated on airline miles. So while I’m not always able to leverage hotel status for free breakfasts and suite upgrades, on the flip side, it means that I don’t feel obligated to stay at a certain hotel in order to receive free breakfasts and suite upgrades.

So without the chains of loyalty forcing me to a particular property, as a hotel free agent I’ll simply stay where I want to. But when “where I want to stay” happens to intersect with “where I have points and status”, well that makes me one happy camper.

Within Hilton’s array of brands, my favorite of the bunch is the Conrad. We’ve enjoyed recent stays at the amazing Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, as well as the Conrad properties in Hong Kong, Macau and Dubai. Our first 2 nights in Tokyo were booked at the Conrad Tokyo and as an added bonus our stay was gratis, courtesy of the free nights from the Citi Hilton Reserve card which I applied for specifically for this trip.

We jumped onto the Narita Airport Express (NEX) train which took about an hour to reach Tokyo station from Narita airport. From there, we could have walked to the hotel but it was late and we had our luggage with us so instead we jumped in a taxi, and the short 10-minute ride cost about $15.

narita express train

narita express seats

The taxi pulled into the Conrad’s covered rotunda and we got our first taste of the amazing Japanese hospitality that we subsequently enjoyed throughout the trip. As soon as we jumped out the taxi, a bellman ran over to collect our bags, and another hotel attendant greeted us. She asked for our name, which was then relayed to the lobby upstairs so that all of the paperwork and room keys would be ready by the time we arrived a few minutes later.

conrad tokyo entrance

These bad boys were stationed outside where they seemed to stay parked for the entire duration of our stay. Perhaps they were on display for some sort of Fast and Furious convention.

conrad tokyo car park

The Conrad Tokyo occupies the 28th to 37th floors of the building, which means that you need to take 2 sets of elevators to go from ground level to your room. On the ground floor we got our first glance at the beautiful cherry blossoms that were starting to bloom all over the country.

conrad tokyo cherry blossoms

The lobby is located on the 28th floor, along with the hotel’s main restaurant and lobby bar/lounge which featured great city views.

conrad tokyo lobby

conrad tokyo lobby lounge

conrad tokyo lobby lounge 2

conrad tokyo view from breakfast

Check-in was a breeze since our paperwork and room keys were already waiting for us and even as a lowly Hilton Gold, we were upgraded to an Executive room on the 37th floor. While Hilton Gold status may not mean much in the US and Europe, I’ve found that it’s almost always delivered when traveling in Asia. We were escorted up to our room by the same hotel attendant that greeted us downstairs.

conrad tokyo elevator

The hotel decor was typical Conrad which I’d describe as sleek and modern.

conrad tokyo hallway

conrad tokyo door

The room was essentially a carbon copy of our room at the Conrad Hong Kong. It featured stylish yet elegant decor, along with all the technological bells and whistles such as electronic curtains, iPod-compatible stereo, and a work desk equipped with plenty of electrical outlets.

Waiting for us on the bed were a couple of stuffed animals that we could add to our collection. We were less than 24 hours into the trip, and our stuffed animal count was already at 4, counting the Singapore Airlines bears we had received on our flight.

conrad tokyo bed

conrad tokyo bears

Also on the bed were pajama shirts which is something I hadn’t seen before. I tried it on just for fun, but the material was too thick for my liking.

conrad tokyo pajamas

conrad tokyo desk

There was a huge double day-bed along the window, and a welcome gift of chocolates and pralines on the coffee table.

conrad tokyo day bed

conrad tokyo welcome gift

The bathroom featured double vanities, bath tub, and separate bathroom and shower stalls. I was too intimidated to use all the functions of the Japanese toilet at first, but by the end of the trip I had learned to love it.

conrad tokyo bathroom

conrad tokyo bathtub

With Aromatherapy Associates-branded toiletries, and a new duck to also add to our collection. At this point, I had more stuffed animals in my luggage than clothes.

conrad tokyo toilettries

We immediately took advantage of the Executive Lounge access and ran over to catch the tail end of cocktail hour. The lounge is on the smaller side, but featured nice city views and had a sexy fireplace in the center of the room

conrad tokyo executive lougne 1

conrad tokyo executive lounge fireplace

The spread was fine, although more on the sweet side than I’d prefer. I wouldn’t plan on making a meal out of this and besides, you’re in Japan! So you shouldn’t be taking up precious stomach capacity with cakes and finger sandwiches anyways.

conrad tokyo executive lounge afternoon tea 2

conrad tokyo executive lounge afternoon tea 3

conrad tokyo executive lounge afternoon tea

OK, a couple bites never hurt anyone.

conrad tokyo executive lounge afternoon tea selection

We entertained the idea of heading out for some late-night fun, but I essentially pulled an all-niter by not sleeping on the plane, so my enthusiasm was short lived and ended up passing out mid-sentence during that conversation. We did make plans to wake up early at the buttcrack of dawn to head over to Tsukiji Fish Market, but alas, a 4AM awakening was just too ambitious.

We ended up sleeping in until about 6AM, and I threw on my typical jet-lagged-hotel-breakfast-attire which consisted of a t-shirt, basketball shorts, and flip flops and headed downstairs to the restaurant. Talk about being under-dressed. I quickly learned that men in Japan really don’t wear shorts, like at all, and certainly not any footwear without socks.

conrad tokyo breakfast restaurant

conrad tokyo breakfast restaurant 2

The breakfast buffet contained a delicious mix of Western and Japanese options and most importantly, fresh fruit and veggies which were generally tough (and expensive) to find in Japan.

conrad tokyo buffet 3

conrad tokyo buffet 2

conrad tokyo buffet 4

conrad tokyo buffet

The highlight for me was the sticky rice in the bottom-left corner below which was absolutely delicious. Other than smoked salmon, fish isn’t exactly the first thing on my mind at breakfast time, but there were no less than 4-5 different fish options at the buffet and of course I had to try them all.

conrad tokyo buffet selection

In addition to the buffet, there was an a la carte menu with a wide range of choices. The first day we tried the Croque Madame Conrad which was freakin’ amazing, and the next day we both ordered the Japanese breakfast. Across the 4 hotels we stayed at on this trip, the Conrad had the best breakfast of them all.

conrad tokyo breakfast menu

conrad tokyo breakfast eggs
Croque Madame Conrad
conrad tokyo japanese breakfast
Conrad Japanese breakfast

The first breakfast buffet after starting a vacation is always the worst, and I probably ate about 3 plates more than I should have. Feeling guilty, we stopped by to take a look at the fitness center facilities since watching people work out is basically the same as working out, in my opinion.

The hotel has an indoor pool that overlooks the city, and in general, we found the hotel swimming pools in Japan to be quite impressive. Another cool feature was that the hotel provided complimentary swimming gear and gym clothes. Even though we had packed our own stuff, it’s nice not having to carry your used, sweaty gym clothes in your luggage.

conrad tokyo pool 2

conrad tokyo pool 1

Another item that we found in every hotel gym we visited – we probably should have measured our blood pressure before stuffing ourselves with eggs and bacon.

conrad tokyo blood pressure machine

On the final morning of our stay, we were departing for Haneda airport and chose to take the limousine bus which conveniently picks you up at the hotel. We had some time to kill, and wandered over wedding chapel where there seemed to be some wedding dress showcase.

conrad tokyo wedding chapel 2

conrad tokyo wedding chapel 1

The bus ended up being just 1/3 full and was a comfortable 45-minute ride to the airport.

conrad tokyo airlines limousine bus

Overall, we had a great stay at the Conrad Tokyo and are happy to add this to the list of Conrads where we walked away as satisfied customers.

12 Comments

  1. Great report, I had a great stay at the Conrad last year. I don’t know why BoardingArea doesn’t feature your blog more it’s very refreshing, and I troll hard, so I would know.

    1. Overall it was good, but not great. You’re about 10-15 walk to Ginza, but otherwise you need to take the subway to other areas like Akihabara, Harjuku, Shibuya, Shinkuk, etc. That takes about 20 minutes in various directions, and the metro entrance can be another 10-15 minute walk depending on the line you need to take.

  2. You couldn’t walk from Tokyo Station to Conrad (at least not so easily or quick) and certainly wouldn’t recommend it after a transcontinental flight! Love your pictures and reading through your ‘Fat and Furious’ journey.

  3. Loved this review! Visiting the Conrad Tokyo beginning of May as Hilton Gold. Just to confirm, as Hilton gold, your breakfast options include buffet as well as the a la carte items and Traditional Japanese Breakfast?

    Thanks! I’m so beyond excited to stay there on an award stay.

    1. Thanks for the comment, and hope you have an amazing stay! I can confirm that as a Gold you’ll receive unlimited buffet + menu items.

  4. I am lucky to find your review on Tokyo Conrad which I will stay on July.

    I am a diamond member and go with my parents.
    I am wondering whether two twin bed is enough for 3 adults.

    When I called for reservation with free weekend nights, I had no choice but citiview with one king bed or two twin bed.

    I would like to be upgraded to room with bay view like you.

    I don’t know what kind of bed you stayed but do you think that 3 adults would stay in a room?

    Thanks a lot for your excellent report!

    1. Thanks, Sam! I think the best way to confirm would be to talk to the hotel, but from what I have heard they are quite strict on the capacity per room and will likely not allow 3 people. But best to confirm directly with them.

  5. “I quickly learned that men in Japan really don’t wear shorts, like at all, and certainly not any footwear without socks.”
    lol… I know the feeling. I did this once in Hong Kong. I went to Central wearing shorts and was the only adult who did. Felt like a total country bumpkin. I’ve never worn shorts since then anywhere in Asia unless I am in a resort.

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