Questions and Answers

Hi guys!
I’m looking for a hotel in Tokyo for two people for three nights (april 17th-20th), my budget is around 1100usd. Any ideas? Is buying points and then directly redeeming them an option, does it get cheaper then?
Thanks in advance for your answers!

What points do you have to work with?

I stayed at the Hyatt Centric Ginza last year and found it to be a great hotel.

I recommend directly booking some hotels and not using miles in that case – it looks like your budget is pretty decent, but a lot of the hotels that are part of programs are either not located in convenient locations or are out of your budget.

For example, Marriott has the Ritz (budget+), Starwood has the Westin (location is poor), Sheraton (just not great). Hilton has the Hilton (location is poor), the Conrad (budget+). Hyatt has the great Andaz, Grand, and Park, but all three are above your budget. Centric has a great location but is also above your budget. I would say most of the hotels as a part of an international program have poor to adequate value propositions.

I recommend the Mitsui chain of hotels – they are good quality for their price. I’ve stayed at their Mitsui Ginza Premier location, Millenium Ginza location, Mitsui Kyobashi location and most recently, Nihonbashi location. They all will run around $200 a night, so well within your budget, and it’s some of the best valued hotels I’ve stayed in Japan in my last 10 trips there. I also recommend the Royal Park Shiodome.

Save the extra money for sushi. Or wagyu.

If you really want to fill up your budget, I recommend Trunk Hotel in Shibuya.