The Yokohama Royal Park Hotel is a 603-room upscale hotel located in the Minato Mirai 21 development in Yokohama, Kanagawa. The hotel opened in 1993, occupying the top floors of the Yokohama Landmark Tower – which until 2014, was the tallest building in Japan. It is one of the three flagship properties of the Japan-based Royal Park Hotel Group and also maintains a marketing agreement with Preferred Hotels.

Booking Yokohama Royal Park Hotel

Dismayed by the sky-high hotel prices in Tokyo, I looked to the neighbouring port city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture. After a long search on Google Hotels, I finally found a great price for the Yokohama Royal Park Hotel, bookable through the Preferred Hotels website. I booked a Comfort Double Room for a nightly price of JPY 14,450 (~£87), which I thought was incredible. For reference, 3-star hotels in downtown Tokyo were charging twice that price on the dates I was staying. As I had booked via iPreferred, I was supposedly eligible for room upgrades, early check-in, and late check-out… though I didn’t imagine that would be the case here.

Location

The Yokohama Royal Park Hotel is located in the Minato Mirai 21 area of Yokohama, which belongs in the western-most district of the Naka (central) ward. The hotel is attached to the Landmark Plaza Shopping Mall and is located across from the Nippon Maru Museum Ship. By train, the hotel is accessible by the Minato Mirai Station of the Yokohama Minato Mirai subway line or the Sakuragicho Station of the JR Line.

Arrival and Check-in

I arrived in Yokohama by way of the Keisei Line and transferred to the Keihin Tohoku line to reach Sakuragicho Station (Sakura tree town station). From here, it was a leisurely 5-minute walk to the hotel through an elevated, covered walkway.

Upon arrival at 10.00, I was advised that the check-in time is 15.00 and requested to return at that time. So much for the iPreferred early check-in benefit, eh? Seriously though, I completely understood as that is (unfortunately) the status quo when it comes to check-in/check-out times in Japan. The hotel proactively offered to store my bags, which I gladly accepted.

After five long hours walking around Yokohama, I finally got my room at 14.50, which technically is an early check-in I guess… 😉 I noticed that just about everyone checking in was from Japan. The room charges are settled upfront and the associate explained that the room cleaning services are still on-demand at this time. She courteously proactively asked if I’d like to get housekeeping services and at what time. Not very flexible, but I did appreciate the certainty of it all.

Comfort Double

Having been exhausted and flustered, I was confused when the reception associate mentioned that my room was on the 55th floor. ‘Wait… what?’ I thought to myself. Whilst someone took care of my bags, I made my way to the lift lobby, which like the rest of the reception, looked stunning. Something about it really reminds me of the Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore, even!

I was assigned a room that is conveniently located near the elevators, with gorgeous views of Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama Bay, and Tokyo. Seriously though, I don’t think urban room views get much better than this. They even had a small diagram noting the various landmarks visible from the room. Just wow!

Bedroom

Whilst the views were stunning, the room feels a lot more plain, so to say. The furniture looked slightly out-of-date but were very comfortable and well-kept. As advertised, the room is sized at a nice 29 sqm and equipped with a single Queen-sized bed along with two joined sofa chairs on one side and a table. The bed was on the firmer side, although I didn’t have any issues sleeping on it (unlike Orchard Rendezvous Hotel). I also liked the light and comfortable bedding, which deceivingly didn’t look plush.There is a television across from the bed, although I ended up watching the scenery instead of turning on the television. There is also a dehumidifier, that is quite common in Japan.

Interestingly, there is a light and air-conditioning control panel tablet on the nightstand. Whilst it is quite convenient in theory, I did find it frustrating that the lighting switches were more like a master-switch.

On the mini-bar cabinet is a good selection of tea and coffee. Whilst the three types of tea were hotel-branded, the organic coffee came in nice drip bags from Mitsumoto Coffee. I definitely appreciated the nice coffee, especially after picking up the habit of drinking coffee in Vietnam! There was also a bottle of alcohol-based sanitiser.

The mirrored closet is located by the foyer, which features a small alcove. This alcove proved to be a convenient place to place luggage, especially with the provided portable luggage rack. Across from the foyer is the bathroom.

Bathroom

Compared to the relatively contemporary room, the bathroom looked ancient. Despite that, it is very clean and well-kept. The bathroom features a bathtub and a washlet toilet as is standard in Japan. The bath amenities came in large dispensers from Mikimoto Cosmetics, which I thought was very nice and high-quality. Separately, there also provided was a pair of body towels and facial cleansing kits. The water pressure from all taps are also excellent, which was definitely a plus!

Overall, I liked the room enough and found it to be comfortable. What sealed the deal for me was definitely the incredible view, however!

Service

For one I think it is a bit difficult to judge the service at the Yokohama Royal Park Hotel. For one, I observed that staff seemed very reserved when spoken to in English and were a bit hesitant in speaking. I’d mostly attribute this behaviour generally to language barriers more than anything. When I spoke in Japanese, I noticed that the staff were a lot more proactive and engaging. Regardless, I had no complaints as everything functioned and my room was always spotless whenever I came back!

Overall

Despite its (expected) shortcomings I had during my stay, I had a pleasant stay at the hotel! For one, I think the Yokohama Royal Park Hotel has some fabulous views that are frankly unparalleled anywhere in Japan. In addition to its comfortable rooms, great location, and relative proximity to Tokyo, I’d definitely see myself booking this place again. In fact, this hotel might even be very suitable for special occasions with a significant other, though I’d probably suggest getting a room in “The Top” category for that!

Read more from this trip here!