Stay Report: Kimpton Shinjuku Tokyo (Essential Room)

10 minutes walk from Exit A4 of Tochomae Station on the Toei Oedo Line

District (brasserie, 2F)

86 (rooftop bar,17F) 

The Gallery (designated venue for evening social hour, 16F)

The bathtub of my Essential room was gloriously deep and spacious, and the Atelier Bloom mandarin-scented bath gel was perkily zesty. 

Being a pet-friendly property (a Kimpton brand standard), you can expect to see a variety of adorable and pampered pooches throughout the premises, especially at The Gallery during the 5pm evening social hour where guests are served complimentary wine and bites. 

The Essential room I stayed at was configured in a manner such that there is only one sensible corner to place a standard hard-side suitcase, but even if you prop one half against the wall instead of leaving it fully open on the ground, the suitcase would to some degree obstruct your path to the bathroom/exit and require you to walk sideways. Coupled with the limited wardrobe space, the room seems only suitable for single occupancy stays or really, really light travellers with minimal luggage. 

The hotel does not appear forthcoming with loyalty-based room upgrades. When I checked in around 1pm, the hotel did not offer me a room upgrade pursuant to my Diamond Elite status on the purported basis of room unavailability, despite multiple Premium Rooms (the customary one-category room upgrade from the entry Essential room) and suites still being sold on the IHG platform for the consecutive two-day period. This is despite me querying if an upgrade might be possible if I were to come back after 3pm instead. To verify the room availability, I had checked the IHG app upon point of check-in as well as after 3pm.

Subsequently, I wrote in to the IHG One Rewards desk to leave feedback about this. To clarify, I did not push for the upgrade, since I was going to leave very early in the morning after my second night and I had already unpacked and settled down by the time I wrote the email. Eventually, the hotel’s front desk reached out to share that there has been a cancellation and I am now able to be upgraded on my second day in the hotel, but because of the above reason, it was too late, and thus I declined the offer.

I quoted the Winter 2022 Kimpton secret password “The Snuggle Is Real” upon check-in and received cookies from Fat Witch Bakery Japan.

A complimentary bottle of 7 Deadly Zins 2018 Old Vine Zinfandel greeted me in my room. 

Cocktails at rooftop bar, 86, are pretty good.

As part of the hotel’s Morning Kick Start programme, guests can enjoy complimentary takeaway coffee and tea from the lobby cafe, The Jones.

The hotel is LGBTQ-friendly and located near the Shinjuku Nichome gay district.