24 Hours at the Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills
Having heard a lot of things (pros and cons) about the Andaz chain and especially about Andaz Tokyo, I had my concerns to be brutally honest. So my expectations were quite mixed, above all I was expecting a cool and casual hotel with less personal service compared to a Park Hyatt. Should I reveal the results now? No, probably you should continue reading.
It was Thursday and I was in mood for a change, so I checked out at the hotel where I spent the first two nights in Tokyo and moved forward to the South. More exactly to the area of Toranomon. Toranomon Hills is the name of a brand new 250-metre skyscraper overseeing all mid-size towers around Marunouchi area. The ultra-clean taxi (every taxi in Tokyo will be in top condition) slightly drove into the driveway of Andaz Hotel Tokyo and three bellmen were already surrounding this small taxi car. Elegantly dressed in cool grey coats, the bellmen welcomed me to the Andaz Tokyo, took care of the luggage and accompanied me to the elevators. From the 1st to 51st floor in around 30 seconds (half the time and height of Park Hyatt Shanghai) and I was welcomed by wooden walls and vast windows opening views onto the jungle of a multi-million capital.
Check-in had been done in the warm atmosphere of the Lobby Lounge, where they serve complimentary soft drinks all day and alcoholic drinks plus hors d’oeuvres in Happy Hour (6pm to 8pm) free of charge to in-house guests – what a lovely touch! The nice front desk lady did all the paperwork for me and also accompanied me to the room - she was super friendly, helpful and I felt truly welcome. Located on the 47th floor – their lowest floor – my room was looking towards Tokyo Bay on one site and Skytree on the other side. I loved the layout of the room, turning the bathroom and wardrobe into a little labyrinth – this gives the room a bigger feeling, well it was vast by Tokyo standards. Two heavenly twin beds were positioned to fully enjoy the view, which has been interrupted by a long wooden writing desk. While I was trying to work a bit after dinner, I was using this work place as my temporary office and I have to admit that this was the most spectacular view I ever had next to my computer. I could also admit that I have been diverted by the breath-taking view of this metropolis.
Within the room there was an ultra-cool Bose SoundLink Mini Docking station (I love when hotels have this kind of things - and you can even use it with your iPhone 6 as most docking stations still don't have a Lightning plug), sleek television, Nespresso machine, minibar with alcoholic drinks, complimentary soft drinks and snacks (a delight when you come back from sightseeing and need something to refresh), lots of storage space inside and outside the walk-in wardrobe, a vast bathroom with an enormous round bath tub (yes, it's like a spa in each and every room and the tub fills in a minute), separated rainforest shower and toilet. The toiletries were made in an organic way by a Japanese company and smelled quite nice. Even in the suites they don’t use a famous brand (Agran or something like that, but never heard of it before). But that remains the second and last difference I registered towards Park Hyatt Shanghai – the first was the open front desk where they do the check in at the Lounge instead of standing opposite the front desk.
One reason why I would have wished to stay longer was the amazing spa with its several pools. Beside the main indoor pool with 20 meters there was a warm Jacuzzi with jets, two hot baths next to the main pool and a hot Jacuzzi next to the dry sauna in the changing rooms. As I was there for just an hour, I wasn’t even able to swim lengths and use all of their pools and hot baths. That’s another great reason to come back to the Andaz Tokyo, and I am definitely back at this hotel should business bring me back to Tokyo. The other reason would be the gorgeous breakfast buffet with everything you could think of: best egg dishes prepared directly in front of you, fresh bread, wonderful salmon (in fact the best I have had in all four hotels I have stayed on this trip), upscale atmosphere in a wonderfully designed restaurant with amazing (!!) views (excellent to shoot new Instagram pics holding a glass of champagne or for making new Facebook profile pics).
The service was so good and although they tried to be serving on a casual level it was much better than at many Leading Hotels in Europe - I loved the service from all aspects. Everyone was so helpful and some staff members were simply outstanding. When I would return to Tokyo for private purposes, I would also go for this hotel as there was nothing I didn’t like.
I was guest of Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills, however this review expresses my own opinion and has not been influenced.
