I stayed at the Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo several times during my last trip to Japan in 2007 and throughly enjoyed the experience of staying at a full service hotel (I normally utilize business hotels) in Japan.

On my first stay (single night after arriving before heading to the Kansai area), I was greeted at the curb by the ever present staff who immediately placed my bags on a luggage cart and assisted me into the lobby area. A complimentary beverage was offered in the large lounge area and another staff member came and assisted with the check-in process. Once I was ready, she escorted me up to my room. I was also asked which newspaper I wanted delivered in the morning and she left me her meishi (business card) before departing. In case you don't have your own computer, they have a business office near the front desk. The front desk also does currency exchange but I would highly recommend doing the bulk of this at Narita, Haneda, Kansai, etc because the rates there are much better.

The room was a non-smoking (double check with the staff since there are floors that are smoking rooms) standard twin and was incredibly spacious. It was the north facing side with a wonderful view of Tokyo Tower. The area near the window had two seats, a coffee table, and a small desk which has a ADSL modem and modular LAN cable which you can plug into your laptop for free Internet access. Some rooms also have a FAX machine on the table (on this stay, it had one but on my other two short stays, none). The area between the two beds has the usual controls for the bed lamps, clock, phone, and two buttons to control the room signs outside (one is to set the do not disturb sign and the other, a notice to clean the room).

Amenities include a large closet, bidet toilet with heated seat that is separate from the bath area, a large vanity area with plenty of mirrors, hair dryer, a jacuzzi type bathtub (complimentary bath salt is in the pouch of toiletries), separate shower, terry cloth bathrobes, very comfortable room slippers, night clothes including a yukata (these are stored in the bottom drawer), self-service mini bar/refrigerator (the prices are naturally on the high side), hot water pot, complimentary green tea (the packets and tea cups are in the cabinet). The television is surprisingly outdated and of the CRT variety (not that I used it much anyway).

The Shingawa Prince Hotel also runs a free shuttle service between the 4 different complexes and JR Shinagawa Station. It runs during the morning hours, stops for a few hours, and then resumes service in the afternoon until early evening. For first timers who are looking for the shuttle at Shinagawa Station, I finally was able to talk to a staffer (Ms. Watanabe) who was able to explain the details about the service. The hotel shuttle does not have a designated stop at the station which is why it can be confusing if you are trying to look for a sign at the station (and if you ask employees around the station, they probably wouldn't know about this shuttle or where it does stop). The shuttle therefore just pulls in to the area where the taxis also come into the station (on the Takanawa exit side) and drops off/picks up passengers there). So if you are coming in via train for the first time and are planning to use the shuttle to get to the hotel, you'll have to wait and watch near the taxi pickup area. The shuttle is clearly marked with the Prince Hotel insignia and makes stops at 4 locations (Sakura is the last stop). Utilizing this service is handy for those who aren't used to walking a lot. The station and hotel are approximately a 5-7 minute fast paced walk from each other and the road to the hotel is an uphill grade.

Later in the evening after I had come back from an outing, the temperature control for this room didn't seem to be working well as the room felt stuffy even at the lowest setting. I called the front desk and they quickly dispatched someone to my room. Two staff members arrived within 3 minutes but both spoke a minimum amount of English so we communicated in half English and half Japanese . They left to dispatch a maintenance person to check into the problem. After around 10 minutes, they returned to the room with the maintenance person who had a temperature probe and had been checking the system all the way back to the room (the rest was ok so the staff member said it might be a clogged filter). The filter was changed and they said the problem should be fixed and the room should cool down after awhile which it did.

The tea garden area outside the hotel is very nice and relaxing to walk around. It also connects the Grand Prince Takanawa and Grand Prince New Takanawa with the Sakura Tower Tokyo. There are a variety of cherry trees on the grounds which are probably very pretty when they blossom in the Spring. The hotel also has some bars and restaurants which I did not use.

Unlike business hotels, the hotel unsurprisingly lacks vending machines but this isn't a problem as the area across from road way leading up to the hotel has a convenience store, a Yoshinoya, and some other eating places. Shinagawa Station also has an abundance of kiosks and eating places including e-Cute (which is inside the central gate area and has a variety of vendors), Wings Takanawa East and West. Wings Takanawa East has a large food area and market downstairs (I normally bought my drinks here including a large 2.5l bottle of water to refill my smaller containers since it cost just slightly more than what you pay for the 500ml ones in the vending machine). On the west side is a McDonalds, bars, an Anna Millers (upstairs) and along the main street heading south, various ramen, tonkatsu, and yakinuku places.

The jacuzzi style bathtub with the air bubbles turned on is very relaxing after a long day of walking around. The day and night views of Tokyo Tower are also breathtaking and I never got tired of looking out the window.

Checkout time of 1:00pm is much later compared to many other hotels which is very nice. If you plan to return from a sidetrip, the hotel will store whatever luggage you don't want to take with you. Alternatively, they also have a luggage delivery service desk that the staff can assist you with. The prices are comparable to most takkyubin services and will be delivered at your destination the next day. If you are planning to depart for the airport, note that the Airport Limosine Bus stops at the entire Shinagawa Prince complex. The hotel staff can also assist you with this (you pay for and have your tickets issued at the front desk). You can relax in the lobby area as the staff will handle your luggage and let you know once the bus has arrived.

As mentioned, I returned for another short stay after the Kansai portion of my trip. The check-in experience this time around was slightly different than the first time. It was much busier and the staff usually curb side was tending to other patrons so I headed straight into the lobby. Even inside, it was slightly more chaotic and I had to flag down a staff to do the process. The complimentary beverage part was also overlooked but I didn't say anything as it wasn't a big deal. I did notice many different faces and only the girl (Ms. Watanabe) who escorted me to my room was the same one who had been out front the first time. I later learned that they often worked very long shifts and then had days off so they have various staff rotating shifts. This probably accounts for the varying service level.

On this next stay (3 nights before I moved to a business hotel for a longer duration), I also was placed on a smoking floor. I didn't know at first until maybe 15 minutes had passed. A quick call resolved that as they fortunately had a non-smoking room available (so again, if you are a non-smoker, check beforehand the detail of your rooms including making a specific request for a non-smoking room).

On my final 2 night stay after another set of side trips, the check-in process was again like the first time. Since I had just checked out from a business hotel in Gotanda and had gotten to the Prince early with the intention of dropping off my carry on and coming back at check-in time, they asked if I wanted to check-in now and be charged half-day rate. Decided to take them up on that since it had been hectic that morning. This time, I got a south facing room which looks towards the Shinagawa Prince Hotel towers (ok but not as nice as the Tokyo Tower view); if you wait until regular check-in time, you'll stand a better chance of a north side room.

As you can see, the level of service the staff provides is exceptional. Your mileage may vary on the degree of service but they all work incredibly hard. And though tipping isn't required, I always buy small gifts and tokens of appreciation (I usually buy chocolates or cookies) that I give to the staff when I checkout that assisted me. Based on the experiences I had, I would highly recommend a stay here. For the budget constrained, I would recommend you try one night (maybe near the end of your trip) just to experience this wonderful hotel.