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By: Frank – @dugup46 – There are hotels and then there are hotels. The Andaz Tokyo is the latter. Sitting atop the Toranomon Hills skyscraper, the Andaz Tokyo provides unparalleled views of the world’s largest city. From the chic interior to the roof top bar, the Andaz Tokyo is a place to be reckoned with.
Ending our trip to Japan, Danielle and I only allowed ourselves one day and night in Tokyo. While this clearly wasn’t enough time, we felt it best to spend the majority of our time in Kyoto. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it the exact same way. Although Tokyo was incredible to see, it’s a major city and a lot of the history is lost unlike Japan’s original capital a couple hundred times away. But this isn’t a review on Tokyo, it’s a review on the incredible Andaz Tokyo, which could not have been a more perfect “cherry on top” to end our week long trip to Japan.
- Cash & Point Expense – Hotel costs in terms of cash, points, or both.
- Hotel Overview & Room – Overview of the property and room choices.
- Service & Conveniences – Service and amenities offered by the hotel.
- Restaurants & Dining – Restaurant and bar choices in the hotel.
- X-Factor – What sets this property apart from others.
Cash & Point Expenses
The Andaz Tokyo is a 5 star hotel at 5 star prices. There is really no cheap way to get there; however, being a part of the Hyatt chain, there are a number of options to get there using credit card rewards.
The obvious first choice is the Chase Hyatt credit card which offers two free nights at any Hyatt property. Beyond that you can also book the hotel using 25,000 UR points, which you can acquire through a number of cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve (which now offers 100,000 UR sign up bonus)! (See the Top Offers tab for more info on these cards.)
Although 25k is a lot of points, this hotel is truly exceptional and is generally a fair value for the points. Paid rooms can range from $400 – $600 for a base level room, so using the $500 average price, you are getting a 2 cent-per-point value on your UR points.
Hotel Overview & Room
The hotel itself is impressive, but even more impressive is the Toranomon Hills skyscraper. For people (like myself) who may not know everything about every city, Toranomon Hills is the name of the skyscraper… not the geographic region. Toranomon Hills is the largest skyscraper in all of Tokyo, and the Hyatt Andaz sits on the top six floors of the building. Even the “worst rooms” have incredible, towering views from the 47th floor.
When entering the building you are greeted by the bell staff, who were incredibly friendly and spoke English very well. After taking your bags, they walk you into the doors and call the elevator for you. Although you need to go to the… 51st? floor to check in, the elevator never takes more than a minute or two. After a short hop up, you arrive to the hotel lobby. The lobby consists of a small check in area with a few iPads and staff waiting for your arrival. They immediately introduced themselves, poured us a water, and asked us to sit down in the community seating area. After a few minutes later, one of the agents walked over with the iPad in hand and checked us in from the seating area itself. The entire experience was very unique, professional, and laid back.
After checking in, we were escorted down to our room on the 47th floor. Since the hotel was booked full, we were unable to get any upgrades for being Platinum members (not that I was really expecting any). A few minutes later, a knock on our door, and our bags arrived. All the staff were professional and on point with everything throughout the entire stay, but the check in process was exceptional.
We were booked for the “Andaz King” which will run you about 54,000 JPY/night (about $520 USD). All-in-all, the Hyatt offers 10 different room choices beginning with the Andaz King and working up to the Andaz Bay View Suite, which runs about $2,500 USD/night. Here is a video of our room:
Services & Conveniences
Services and conveniences are always a tough subject for me, because we are only at these hotels for such short periods of time. The good news with this particular property is that I asked for a tour of the hotel, so I did get to at least check out the entire hotel and a few things REALLY stood out to me.
The Spa – I have never had a spa treatment at any property I have ever visited. The Andaz Tokyo was no exception to this, haha! HOWEVER! The spa seemed pretty incredible. It was less of a spa, more of a sensory experience. The staff will have a full consultation with you before your treatment, going over your stress levels, favorite scents, and everything else. They then make the scrubs and lotions for you directly. Pretty insane. Wish I had the money to experience something like that just once!
The Gym – The Andaz boasts one of the nicest gyms I have walked into. It wasn’t overly large, but it provided everything you need, and the equipment was all top notch. Top notch like… it’s the same equipment the Olympians were training on for the 2016 Olympic games. And it’s on the 49th floor? So, yeah… the view is unbeatable.
The Service – Nobody does service better than the people of Japan. Take that culture and literally pick and choose only the best of the best. That’s what Hyatt did, and it truly shows. Everybody is so accommodating and polite. We don’t have a lot of money, and I don’t dress the part in half the hotels I go to. Occasionally I feel out of place at some properties. You feel nothing but welcome and warmness from the staff, in every aspect, from checking in to eating dinner. Which gets me to my next part:
Restaurants & Dining
The Hyatt Andaz Tokyo has two main restaurants and one of the most visually stunning bars I have ever seen: The Tavern, which features a western style menu; The Sushi, featuring sushi prepared by some of Tokyo’s finest sushi chefs; and the Rooftop Bar, sitting on top of the hotel’s 52nd floor.
The Tavern – The Tavern has a full European menu, prepared with a Japanese flair. This is the restaurant we were fortunate enough to eat at. The Tavern itself is visually beautiful. Everything from the art, to the design, to the views of the Imperial Palace from the 51st floor, was created in such an elegant but modern way. The service was perfect and the meal was fantastic. We had the yamanashi herb chicken, which was served in a clay pot and was absolutely delicious. I also had countless glasses of the Andaz’s custom created sake. I know nothing about sake, but it was incredibly smooth, and I couldn’t get enough! Eating here was one of the highlights of our entire trip. It was really an unforgettable experience.
The Sushi – The Sushi sits on the rooftop of the Andaz and has only two tables. Dinner is prepared omakase-style (chef’s choice), based on the day’s freshest ingredients. The room is designed to give you the experience of an authentic Japanese style tea room. While we did not get to eat there, we did stop in during our short tour. It looked incredible and made us question our decision on moving over to The Tavern.
Rooftop Bar – At least with the Andaz you know exactly what you are getting just by the titles of the restaurants or bars. The Rooftop Bar sits on the 52nd floor and is in a partially enclosed area. Meaning you are exposed to the outside air which can get chilly. They do have a nice heating system there though! The bar was great, but the skyline really steals the show. The Rooftop Bar is free to enter for guests; however, even non-guests can come up for a drink for a cover charge. It’s worth it to see the city from up there.
X-Factor
The view. No matter where in the hotel you are: the rooms, the bar, the gym, the lobby, you get incredible views of the Tokyo skyline. Whether it’s Mt. Fuji in the distance or a view of Tokyo Tower just outside your window, you will never forget looking out the windows.
One of the most memorable experiences of my entire life happened at this hotel. I crawled over the sofa and pressed my nose against the floor to ceiling glass and called over my, then, fiance. I wrapped my arms around her, turned off the lights, threw on Alan Walker’s Faded, and just gazed out on the twinkling sea of lights that is Tokyo. Standing there just really put my travel accomplishments into perspective. A guy working for a school in small town, USA, flying first class and business class on Japan Airlines, standing 47 floors above Tokyo, at one of the finest hotels in the world. It was something I will treasure for the rest of my life and the reason the Andaz will always hold a special place in my heart. We can’t wait to get back.
Check out the hotel’s official website at www.andaztokyo.com and join them on Twitter @AndazTokyo
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