Review of Hotel New Otani Tokyo Garden Tower 5*

After arriving on an early morning flight from Bangkok, the New Otani was probably the last thing I wanted to see. First of all, it looks incredibly dated — like one of those massive, once-respected hotels from decades ago. Maybe early 90’s. That’s what it is: a dated, dying dinosaur. Initially they showed us an upgraded double room. Possibly the worst beds I’ve ever felt in my life. They weren’t even beds so much as cots with cheap duvets and army issue pillows: hard, cheap, small and horrible. Seriously terrible. Nearly as terrible was the bathroom which smelled of mildew and other things. The smell, after a few minutes, filled the entire room. We explained the problems to the front desk downstairs and they kindly showed us another room — a large suite with a nice view. But again, very cheap, old fashioned furniture, depressing, and a hard, thoroughly uncomfortable bed. Even more uncomfortable than the cots before. And the AC was broke so it was boiling on top of everything. We just had them take our luggage downstairs immediately. I have no idea where the “new” part comes in when it comes to this hotel. There’s nothing new about it. It’s obviously a cheap hotel for large groups of budget travelers and students who don’t know better and that’s fine, but for this place to try to pass itself off as a luxury hotel is ludicrous and clearly not true. It’s terrible… a terrible mess and trying to make itself into something it’s not. Exhausted, we checked out, moved to the Intercontinental and got some sleep. So much better. Thank God.