We stayed in the Shinjuku Neighborhood during our one week stay in Tokyo. We were on the western part of Shinjuku, which is where many of the nice hotels were located, such as the American chains Hilton and Hyatt, among the Japanese and other hotels. We were at the Tokyo Hyatt Regency, which was very nice, and convenient.
There is a series of tunnels underneath the hotel, which has a 7/11 convenience store, several local restaurants, and connects to the Hilton, and on our last day discovered it goes all the way to Shinjuku Station. It’s a bit of a walk to the Shinjuku station, perhaps a mile and a half or two, but if you’re not up for the walk the Hyatt Regency Tokyo where we stayed offers a complimentary shuttle to the Shinjuku Station.
Government Building Daytime: Directly across the street from the Hyatt Regency Tokyo, is a huge Government Building, which features two complimentary observation towers on the 45th floor. As we didn’t have time to go up the Tokyo or Skytree Towers, this was a nice and quick way to get a Birdseye view of the city, although nowhere near the height of the former two Towers. Plus it’s free and was not crowded the two times we went (once in the day, and once at night.)
Here are some photos of the Government Building complex in the daytime: It was a bit hazy the day we went, so we couldn’t see to Mount Fuji, but it does give a nice view of parts of Tokyo City.
Government Building at Night: We went back up to the Government Building Observation Tower (1 of 2, which was open until 9pm) one evening with our traveling friends this trip, Ben and Tom after dinner. Again the tower was not crowded, and it offered a nighttime view of Tokyo.
Government Building Light Show! Who said government buildings can’t be fun and free too! In addition to the complimentary observation towers I just mentioned, the Government Building has a nighttime light show projected onto it as well! The hours and type of show varies, but here is a portion of one of the light shows we watched, featuring Pac Man! Pretty Cool!
Pac-Man Light Show Shinjuku on Govt Building
Shinjuku Neighborhood Pics: We really enjoyed our staying at our Hyatt Regency Tokyo in Shinjuku as it wasn’t so crowded like many of the neighborhoods, at least in the few blocks near the hotel. There is a Red Light District not far from the hotel, but we didn’t venture over to it, and had no interest in seeing it either. If you like Sushi and more traditional Japanese meals, you won’t be disappointed, and language was not a problem, although we always had our iPhones open on Google Maps and used the Google Translate app at times. Here are some pics of our Shinjuku neighborhood area, both near the hotel and a few blocks further away.
Westernized Food: So what do you do if you’re a fussy eater, or like me a mostly meat-and-potatoes guy (with some salmon and shrimp thrown into the mix)? Fear not, the simplest solution for dinner is the buffets offered at both the Hyatt Regency Tokyo and the Hilton Tokyo. We went to both Hotel’s Dinner buffets, although they do have Breakfast and Lunch buffets as well. The Dinner buffets were very nice, with the Hyatt one offering a bit more Japanese fare than the Hiltons, but both had plenty of Westernized dishes including carved beef. We actually preferred the Hilton’s Buffet better as it leaned heavily to the Westernized menu, and even had a chocolate fountain for dessert for your marshmallows or fruit!
Both Buffets offered an all-you-can drink package add-on with the buffet, which featured unlimited beverages from a special menu they provide for a 2 hour period! This includes non-alcoholic as well as beer, wines, and sprints from the selected menu; really quite a bargain! We noticed in our search around Tokyo for westernized buffets, that seems to be the norm at many of the restaurants, and we weren’t driving anywhere!
Brazilian Steakhouse: One night, Steve DOS and I went to Barbacoa, a Brazilian-style Steakhouse, similar to Fogo de Chão in the US. They feature an unlimited and huge salad bar, while the best part is the unlimited selections of beef the offer as they are constantly stopping by your table to try a different cut of meat, and slice it for you off of the skewers, right at your table. Like the Hyatt and Hilton Buffets, they also offer the 2 hour all-you-can drink special if you want the add-on, or can simply order the drinks or a bottle of wine Ala-carte.
Finally, before we left for Japan, when Steve DOS first started pitching the idea of staying in Tokyo for a week, I thought it would be too long. In reality the time win Tokyo flew by really quick, and every day was a new adventure! We did enough of the things we wanted to do on this our first trip here together, and have many more upcoming activities we will do on our Princess Cruise leaving March 28.
In the next post we will be checking out of the Hyatt Regency Tokyo and heading onward to Yokohama for a couple nights, which is where our Princess Cruise will sail.