Opened in 1953, the 372-roomed Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa is the first of many Prince Hotels to be established. Along with the Grand Prince Shin Takanawa and the Prince Sakura Tower, the hotel occupies a 10-acre site that used to be the Takeda-no-miya Residence. The three Takanawa hotels serve as the flagships of Japan’s Prince Hotel Group, a major chain with over 50 hotels in Japan. Prince Hotels is itself owned by the Seibu Railway Group.

Booking Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa

I booked the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa for a nightly rate of JPY 20,300 (~ USD140, GBP110), which was a decent price given Tokyo’s current phenomenon of sky-high hotel prices and the last-minute nature of my booking. Better yet, this rate was for an Upper Floor Superior Room, which is one level above the standard floor rooms. I booked this stay with Agoda, which had the best prices for my stay.

Location

The Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa is located in Minato, which had once been one of the original harbours of Tokyo (Minato means harbour). Near the hotel is Tokyo’s sprawling Shinagawa Station, which can be reached in about 10 minutes by foot. Alternatively, the hotel also provides a free shuttle service to the Shinagawa Prince Hotel located across the station. The area comes alive at night, particularly in the Konan area to the west of Shinagawa Station. Here, you’ll find many karaoke studios, izakayas, and ramen shops catering to the area’s salarymen and kyariauman.

Arrival and Check-in

I took the Keikyu Line from Haneda Airport straight to the Grand Prince Hotel, after arriving on China Eastern Airlines. I alighted at Shinagawa Station, which is the closest major station to the hotel. After a tiring roughly 10-minute walk uphill with my bags, I finally arrived at the hotel’s charming 1960s-style entrance.

Since there wasn’t anybody at the door, I proceeded right in and headed straight to the check-in desks. There I was assisted by a friendly reception agent, who quickly checked me in. As I had arrived past 21.00, my room keys were already waiting for me as I filled in the registration formalities. Before going up to my room, I took a brief look at the elegant-looking lobby, which I liked.

Upper Floor Superior Room

I was assigned a Superior Twin Room on the 10th floor, which is the lower of the two Upper Floor floors. Unlike the rest of the hotel, the Upper Floor rooms have been recently renovated and feature a plusher design in line with the public areas. Combined with the nicer views, this gives the Upper Floor rooms a more deluxe experience than you’d often find at many standard Prince Hotel rooms.

As expected, the view from the room is lovely, with an unobstructed panorama of the Tokyo skyline. Visible in the distance is the Tokyo Tower, alongside Roppongi Hills and the many skyscrapers of Chiyoda Ward. The view is even nicer at sunset, when the golden hour hues permeate the horizon.

Bedroom

At only 24.4 sqm, the Superior Room is by no means spacious. Whilst the room is designed in the most efficient way possible, it admittedly still visibly felt very small. Despite that, I appreciate the room’s plush and modern appointment, with new and fresh-looking upholstery and bedding!

As you look straight into the room from the foyer, you will see a low-rise armchair, alongside a desk with a leather bench and a table lamp. Next to this is the flat-screen television and a storage console housing the yukata. There is also a collapsible luggage rack next to the television and a dehumidifier behind the chair.

Across the television are the two plush beds, each equipped with two comically small and thin pillows. Whilst the pillows aren’t great, the bedding is plush and cosy, much like the experience I had at Prince Hotel Tokyo. Had the pillows been bigger, it would have been an excellent bed!

In addition, there is also a small closet by the entrance foyer, which conveniently features a clothes iron and an ironing board. Next to this is the minibar, in which a water kettle is available, complemented by an array of coffee and Japanese teas, and bottles of water.

Bathroom

As is precisely the case at Tokyo Prince Hotel, the bathroom looks ancient in contrast to the modern-looking bedroom. Likewise, I am quite certain that they kept the original 1950s design and layout given how old it looked. Expectedly, however, the bathroom was very clean and well-maintained if not a bit small.

The ceramic-tiled bathroom features a small acrylic bathtub, a sink, as well as a bidet-equipped toilet seat. As you’d find at any Japanese chain hotel in Japan, the bath amenities came in large refillable dispensers. At the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa, the bath amenities were from Esthe Royer, which is also used at Yuzuya Ryokan Kyoto. A bunch of other amenities were also provided, including bath salts, a facial wash, and a body towel.

Amenities

Takanawa Garden

Built on the site of the Takeda-no-miya Palace, the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa retains a part of the palace’s sizeable garden in its backyard. At 20,000 sqm, the garden is quite large and is shared with the other two Prince Hotels in the compound. Frankly, it is not as beautiful as the garden at Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo or as grand as that of Hotel New Otani. However, the garden is a nice change to the otherwise urban backdrop of the area.

A lantern installation, entitled Takanawa Nijurokuya, adorns one part of the garden, lighting it up at night. Additionally, you could also enter and exit the hotel via the garden on your way to Shinagawa Station by way of the Takanawa Hanakohro entrance.

Fitness Room

Unlike most Japanese hotels, the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa has a complimentary fitness room located on the second floor. The gym is accessible 24 hours a day and looks quite nice despite being rather small. Bear in mind, however, that it only has a couple of treadmills and exercise bikes, alongside a couple of yoga mats and an exercise ball.

Shuttle Bus

Given the distance to Shinagawa Station, the hotel offers a complimentary shuttle service to Shinagawa Prince Hotel, opposite the station. This service is especially convenient for those holding a JR Pass, since Shinagawa is a major JR station. From there, you can take the Narita Express or the Shinkansen. The bus departs every hour from 08.07 to 21.07 and takes 13 minutes with a stop at the sister Grand Prince Shin Takanawa hotel.

Service

As you’d expect in Japan, the staff members at the Grand Prince Takanawa were generally pleasant and agreeable. When I asked to store my bags after check out, the reception agent proactively offered to send the bags to Grand Prince Shin Takanawa when I mentioned that we’d be staying there upon our return.

I did run into a problem with housekeeping during my stay. One morning, I requested housekeeping to come later than usual. When I left my room at 10.30, I turned on the housekeeping lights indicating that I’d like my room to be serviced. When I returned, I found that the do not disturb light was turned on, with a note from housekeeping that they weren’t able to service my room. Hmm… was this some sort of personal vendetta? At the very least, it was an isolated incident, however.

Overall

Given the new and plush rooms and nice views, I was quite happy with my stay at the Grand Prince Takanawa. Despite the isolated incident with housekeeping, I felt like the hotel is comfortable for a few day’s stay. Whilst I did not love the location or staying in the Shinagawa area as a whole, I’d be happy to stay here again if the price is right.

Read more from this trip here!