Shiodome Vs. Ueno

We'll (Mom, Dad & 2 kids 6 &7)be in Tokyo 2 - 6 July. Can't decide, whether we should stay in Villa Fontaine Shiodome or Sutton Place Ueno. We are going to stay all in 1 room, so the size of the room matters other than that the convinience to travel to other part of Tokyo. Any comments is appreciated.

Just ask the hotels if quad room is available...

Only the Sutton Place Ueno offers a room for 4 persons, not the Villa Fontaine. It is not easy to find hotels in Japan to accept more than two persons in a western style room. An alternative might be accommodation in a ryokan. 4 persons per room no problem there.

Even the two person rooms at the Shiodome hotel are tight, like most Japanese hotels. You're not going to be able to have even one additional person in the room on a cot. But it's very nice.

The twin rooms at Villa-Fontaine Shiodome are 30 square meters, which is big enough for 2 adults and 2 kids, although when you add a third bed there won't be much floor space to spare. (But really, you're not going to find too many larger options in the same price range.) The hotel will definitely add a third bed to their "B" type twin (for a price). The question is whether they will allow four people to share the room, and I would guess that the answer is yes IF the fourth person is a young child. (But I could be wrong.) Since breakfast is included in the room rate, they might charge a little more for the fourth breakfast. I would ask the hotel (or maybe someone else has experience and can post the answer). You do also have to think about the logistics of 4 people sleeping in 3 beds. (The two "regular" twin beds at this hotel are 120 cm wide, which is marginally wide enough for two adults, but it's cozy. I'm not sure how wide the added third bed is.)

So I think the Shiodome hotel could possibly be a workable option. It is a pretty nice hotel for the price, and it's in a reasonably convenient location. A lot of hotels in Japan are more flexible than their stated policies on their English web sites would lead you to believe, especially when it comes to accommodating children. I would suggest calling the hotel to ask, or try e-mailing the following address:

info [followed by the @ sign]
villa-fontaine.co.jp

thank you for all your comments. I will email the hotel directly regarding 4 people staying at 1 room together, and see what they have to offer. Anyway, we are going to be spending most of the time exploring tokyo, so basically hotel is just for sleeping and children can share 1 bed. My concern is with Shiodome, is the area has some life after office hour, or is it just office buildings, means it will be desserted after office hour?

By office hours, I guess you mean around 5pm, or the standard time people get off work in Japan? I only stayed there for 2 days, so my experience is limited, but there were nearby businesses that were definitely open later. Unfortunately, I can't tell you exactly when they closed, I just know when we went out to dinner at night and it was dark, we had a variety of choices nearby. There are a couple of restaurants inside the same building that were open, and just outside the main doors there was a little shopping plaza with restaurants that were also open. There was also a nearby mall about a block away, mostly underground with a lot of places to eat/shop. I can't recall the name, but it has a small television station/show filmed in a tiny building on 'stilts.' Maybe that's famous enough for someone else to comment.

If you are asking about clubs and other nightlife, I can't comment on those. But since the subway was right outside the hotel building, you can hop on & visit other parts of the city easily.

I'm not looking for clubbing, but more into evening shopping. I was staying in shinjuku area during my previous visit. And the area is still busy with a lot of shop still open until 10pm. We can use our day time visiting other parts of Tokyo and spend the evening wondering around Shinjuku area. very nice. so if you say there is a shopping mall near by, that's what I'm looking for. Thanks.

I wish you a wonderfull experience ;)

I think I know what kind of atmosphere you are looking for in the evening, and I will say that Shiodome is probably not it. You have to walk to Shinbashi or Ginza to get to a lively area. That means a 10- to 15-minute walk.

Ueno is probably better in your case, then. I wouldn't say Shiodome is completely deserted, but the commercial areas (shops and restaurants) are confined to a few small places. I did not find it very interesting in the evening. Ueno is a bit more like Shinjuku in terms of being an interesting place to poke around (depending on which direction you walk).

I would go for Sutton Place. I haven't stayed there, although I researched it fairly carefully and was planning to stay there on an upcoming trip. It looks quite decent.

hi

i stayed 4 nights at hvf shiodome in dec. there's nothing to shop ard at night and shinjuku, shibuya etc where it's more exciting is quite some distance away...think the subway ride was 30 mins, cab ride 15 mins...came up to abt 20usd if i remember correctly. there're small shops ard but nothing for massive evening shopping. hth

Anyody who has been to these 2 hotels. We're in Tokyo for a week and will be going around the tokyo tech showrooms and mt fuji. Which hotel should we go for? Thanks!

The shopping area, mostly underground, may or may not be open at all in the evening; I only went to that large one during the day, so perhaps the others are right, and Shiodome is not a good choice. If you DO end up staying in the Shiodome, then to get to the mall: Head out of the hotel's building and up onto the rail platform. Head right, across the street, NOT left towards the trains. Once across the street you'll see a huge brown kid's building...hard to describe but it stands out, it has trees and clocks on it. Not really sure what it was. Anyway, go down the escalators from there, and there's a bunch of stores and restaurants down there.