Excellent stay

I had a good stay at this hotel (2nd time here, last time was in 2019), although there are a few things deserving attention, but I have to say the staff was just great.

I had originally booked for 4 nights. Two or 3 weeks after I booked, the hotel contacted me to let me know that they will encounter an inspection of the electrical system of the hotel the day after my arrival and that this inspection mandates a complete shutdown of electricity at some points and so they can’t have any guests staying this day. They were proposing me to either change my dates (for free/same rate), cancel or consider booking instead their sister hotel (this is their terms) : Mercure Ginza.

Two comments at this point :

• although the message was very polite (as you can expect from Japanese people), it lacked some proactive attitude I am expecting as a Diamond member, like « we can take care of rebooking you at the same price in an equivalent hotel/at the Mercure »
• They claim Mercure Ginza is their sister hotel, but of course I don’t consider them in the same league (Mercure is an inferior brand to Pullman, lounge at Pullman versus no lounge at Mercure, etc)

I replied saying I can’t change my dates, and asked them to consider the following :

• book the Mercure for me, at the same rate as Pullman (I checked before writing and the Mercure rates were already significantly higher than my rate at the Pullman) and in the highest room category available (to compensate for the brand level difference)
• Organize transfers between the 2 hotels, at their own expenses
• Pay and settle the bill to the Mercure, so I could have only one check-in/out for my entire Tokyo stay, all done with Pullman. 

They replied quickly that all my requests were accepted and asked me to provide my wishes hours of transfer from/to the Pullman. Even if I was annoyed by this, I was satisfied of their acceptance of my requests. They quickly adjusted the Pullman booking and sent me confirmation for the Mercure Ginza booking.

When I checked-in, all above was instantly confirmed and doubled checked with me. They were very apologetic of the inconveniences, but they made everything to make my stay enjoyable. I had booked a Deluxe room and they said I was upgraded to a nice Superior suite, which is the highest room category. Drink voucher was given along with lounge and restaurant information and I was accompanied to my room. 

Some pictures of the hotel lobby area :

My bags were already delivered in the room when we arrived. The room was indeed lovely and quite large by Japanese standards. I liked very much the style of the room & furnitures. It was on the railway station side, but couldn’t hear any noise and as it was at the end of the corridor’ there was really zero noise. 

There was a small dressing room at the entrance. 

Rooms equipments/furnitures included sofa, armchair, desk, and the usual amenities : Lilly espresso machine, bathrobes, slippers, safety box, water. To be mentioned : pajamas are provided too. 

Welcome amenity and note: chocolates, dried fruits, Perrier water and Sake.

Large bathroom with bathtub and shower.

When I returned after the night at Mercure, they gave me the same room but one floor down. The same welcome amenities were placed in the room and another drink voucher was given. 

Lounge is open from 8:00 to 21:00. Unfortunately, no more breakfast in lounge. Happy hour between 17:00 and 19:30, and as during my 2019 stay, they are not very strict for the end time : they happily continue to serve you after for 15-20 more minutes. The canapés served were of good quality. Service was really very attentive in the lounge. The lounge was quite busy all the time I have been. 

One important point of improvement is the hours of operations for the restaurant and food service at the bar. It ends ridiculously early, even for room service : last order is at 20:30 !! I had the same problem in another hotel (non-Accor) in Tokyo where I stayed a month before during a previous trip. It seems that restaurants in Japanese hotels are still struggling to come back to pre-Covid normal operations. This is not what you can expect from a business hotel in a capital city. At least you propose room service. And the room service / food at the bar were very uninspiring : burgers, pizza, sandwiches. When I am in Japan, I don’t want to eat this, sincerely, knowing what the Japanese cuisine has to offer. I missed the last order time the evening I arrived from Paris, but fortunately, you have tons of small restaurants in the Tamachi center across the Pullman building. Of course the main hotel restaurant, when open, is a good option. Breakfast is taken in this main restaurant. Breakfast was free everyday, as a Diamond member. 

Transfers between Pullman and Mercure were well organized and with a limousine and nice touches like cold towels, water. As planned I had nothing to pay at the Mercure, not even providing a credit card. I will review the Mercure separately. 

I had a late checkout until 15:00 (the time I requested).

Overall a very good stay. I appreciated their attitude when coming to take care of me during the closing day of the hotel. Points posted quickly and correct amount.