Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo 

The Hotel Chinzanso is now the only place we will stay in Tokyo. They took such good care of us and the gardens are so beautiful that we can’t imagine staying anywhere else. We also think it is a very good value when you account for all of the amenities. First the gardens. We knew that Hotel Chinzanso had a private garden for guests but we had no idea how beautiful and unique it is. The actual name for the garden is “Forest Aurora and Sea of Clouds”. The “sea of clouds” effect is created by generating a mist that covers the streams and pools. At night they add a tasteful laser show and a gong to enhance the experience. It is magical. The garden has a koi pond that is home to dozens of beautiful fish. There is also a tranquil waterfall and water wheel. There are also statues of deities lining many of the paths. On top of the hill resides a classic pagoda with a shrine inside. We spent hours exploring the grounds during our stay. It was very peaceful and relaxing. Our suite was a “superior room garden view”. Definitely get the garden view. It was surprisingly spacious. We like to stretch in the mornings and we both had plenty of room. Alternatively you could use the gym. They have a nice mat and a roller. The gym has several treadmills and elliptical machines. There is also a weight machine, dumbbells and a bench. No worries if you don’t want to pack gym shoes. They rent shoes and Sox for about $10. I think they rent workout clothes too but I recommend checking with the hotel to be sure. The restaurants at the hotel are very good. We didn’t try them all because some were already fully booked. There are a lot of weddings and corporate events at the hotel so the restaurants can get very busy. We had a tremendous sushi dinner at the Miyuki restaurant. Chef Ohno Shigeru is masterful in his skill. We highly recommend the sushi bar; especially if you have never ever seen high level Japanese sushi prepared. It is a visual and culinary wonder to watch. Part of the reason we chose Hotel Chinzanso was because it seemed to be easily accessible from Haneda Airport without being so close that you would be listening to airplanes take off all the time. It takes about 30-45 minutes to get to the airport by taxi. The hotel is really quiet. We live out in the country in Montana so we aren’t used to city noise. The gardens and our room we all extremely quiet. Quieter than we would have thought possible in a city of 33 million people. The Hotel Chinzanso exceeded our expectations on every level. There might be better hotels in Tokyo but we will never know. Any time we are in Tokyo this is where we will stay.