Family Stay at The Sheraton Miyako Tokyo

Shirokanedai district in Tokyo, which is well known for it’s lush greenery. The hotel is also located within walking distance of famous landmarks such as Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, The Institute for Nature Study, and Platinum Street. It is also within minutes from Shirokanedai Station (Nanboku Line/Toei Mita Line) and the Shinagawa railroad station. The hotel provides a morning shuttle to Shinagawa until 10 am and then to a subway station that you can go to Shinagawa from via a subway line. The website describes the hotel as a “Japanese and modern Asian-sensibilities fused with modern Western-style” and promises the familiar comforts of a Sheraton experience. The hotel offers suites, non-smoking, and Japanese style rooms, all of which come with complimentary high-speed internet and the Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed.

General Thoughts:

The architecture was pleasant, and the hotel was geared more towards the business traveler than families, although it does not have an executive level. The Sheraton has three restaurants; a sit -down Chinese venue, a fancy Japanese/French Fusion one that was quite pricey for our American budget and a sandwich and coffee shop in the lobby, where we ended up dining several times. The hotel also featured a spa, gym, and mini Japanese garden to walk through, which is a great attraction for antsy kids.

Location:

The hotel is in a more residential area, but a  convenient location, nonetheless. It is minutes away from many public transportation stations, two 7-11 convenience stores,  three major grocery stores where you could get meals to go and five minutes away from the 100 Yen store (a major favorite with us.) Families staying at the hotel who want budget friendly meals, with unlimited sodas like in the U.S., should try a food chain called Jonathan’s right around the corner. There is a kid-friendly park five minutes away if your child needs to let out some  steam or is just profusely jet lagged and wakes up at ungodly hours, (Note: the park is locked at night).

Price:

The hotel offers specials from time to time, so be sure to check the website first. Otherwise, the standard rate is around $147.00/night and goes up from there depending on the particular dates.

Parking:

Covered self-parking – JPY 1,500 per day  

Rooms:

The Sheraton has several rooms types available: Suites, Japanese-Style Room, Garden View Room, Starwood Preferred Guest Room, Balcony, and Connecting Rooms. Be sure to mention allergies especially feathers at booking since Starwood has the “heavenly bed,” which is feather-based (down comforter and pillows). Also, Make sure you request a non-smoking room at booking if any of your family members suffers from asthma as. Japan, unlike the US, still both smoking and non-smoking rooms available. Our connecting rooms were spacious for Tokyo standards, and we were upgraded to the 11^th floor, with a view of the city. Our rooms, decorated with dark wood furniture  had comfortable beds.   The sitting area, with a lounge chair and ottoman had a huge plant that was taking up much-needed space.Also, each room had a desk with a comfortable chair, perfect for anyone who needed to work. The A/C system and windows were excellent: we did not feel the heat outside, and windows the city sounds out while keeping the chilled air in. The bathrooms were a decent size and featured japanese (electric ) commodes which we had to unplug after our son with autism became apprehensive thinking he would be electrocuted when using it. Like many Japanese hotels ,the property supplies slippers, bathrobes, and even kimonos for guests, so guests don’t need to pack any from home.

Front Desk/Concierge:

Both the front desk and concierge were fluent in English and provided excellent customer service support. The front desk volunteered to call the next two hotels on our itinerary and remind them we needed connecting rooms with hypoallergenic bedding while the concierge skillfully arranged our day trips and advised us how to get from place to place using the exceptional Tokyo public transportation system.

Housekeeping:

We benefitted from Impeccable housekeeping, and always received our requested items within 5 minutes.

Special Perks:

• Great breakfast buffet spread! Our family enjoyed the different dishes offered and liked trying the Japanese breakfast delicacies.
• Excellent bathroom amenity kit that included not only the regular shampoo and soaps but hair brush, comb, toothbrush, and toothpaste.

  Autism Travel Tips:

  We found the neighborhood setting calmer and less overwhelming than other neighborhoods for the autistic traveler. The hotel is within walking distance to a large train station with the quintessential Mcdonald’s, Starbucks, and Baskin Robbins that will make most kids feel right at home!. https://youtu.be/4NQrw_2rJ2E https://youtu.be/edaTtdtEdR8 [mappress mapid=”18″]

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