Just where do we begin to describe Tokyo?
Fully expecting our airport transfer to be a bit of a trial, what with not speaking any Japanese, having just flown for 12 hours with little or no sleep and not yet knowing just how things work in this strange alien land, we opted to use the Meet & Greet service offered to us by the Hotel Niwa Tokyo which utilised the friendly Airport Limousine Bus service from Narita airport combined with a local taxi at the TCAT to get us to the hotel. This worked flawlessly, getting us seamlessly to the hotel by 11:30, where we had opted for an early check-in for Y2,000 an hour. This option was offered to us by the hotel who spotted that we would be arriving very early after I had contacted them about a possible Sumo stable visit. Full marks to the Niwa for that!
As we checked in the clerk remembered my earlier Sumo enquiry and making a swift call to the Arashio stable then told us that there was a practise session taking place the next day if we were still interested and we could collect details from her on how to get there after freshening up. Again perfect customer service and we’d only been in the building 10 minutes.
It had taken a lot of research on the internet before finally choosing the Hotel Niwa Tokyo as we were keen to avoid big multi-national chains opting to experience as much Japanese culture from the beginning. We were not disappointed with our choice either. The room was stylishly simple and traditionally Japanese yet still very modern. Service was respectful and attentive and at the same time very warm and welcoming.
Hotel breakfast, taken in the hotel restaurant, was simply delightful offering both Japanese and Western style choices. Welcomed at the door and seated politely you were immediately asked how you liked your eggs. Somewhat odd by Western standards, so we assumed everyone eats eggs for breakfast in Japan and whether scrambled, fried or an omelette they were always cooked to perfection. Everything on offer was fresh and plentiful and used dishes were whisked away swiftly after first checking with you that it was ok to do so.
The hotel is located in a very quiet area of town that seemed to be mostly residential with some offices nearby, so it was very quiet at night. Two Metro stations nearby also made it very well situated for exploring the delights of Tokyo.
A short walk away were a couple of streets offering a good choice of restaurants if you wanted to eat out, but some knowledge of Japanese is needed or trusting to luck from the picture menus.
The Hotel Niwa was simply wonderful and we can’t recommend it highly enough.
mrandmrsyoung 