Review: AC Hotel Tokyo Ginza

Japan has always been high on my places to visit. The culture, landmarks, and area has always been an interest to me. So when I got the opportunity to go on a work trip to Japan, during the cherry blossom season, I was elated. My struggle was finding a good place to stay during the trip, as you can expect during the season hotels were quite expensive. And the hotel that I settled on was in Ginza.

Booking

I booked the hotel relitively late, only about 2 months before the trip. And because of the strong exchange rate between the Yen and Dollar, the hotel only ended up being about $600 for the four night stay in early April.

During when I booked, and all the way up to arriving there was never a point redemption option, as I suspect that all the point available rooms were snatched up quickly. Even the sorounding area didn't have points available for their rooms either.

With the exchange rate so strong, I would actually rather book cash as you get so much for your dollar currently.

Location

The hotel is located in the Ginza neighborhood of Tokyo, located just south of the Imperial Palace and right on the subway line, it was the perfect location to access anywhere in the city that you wanted to go.

While I was in town I went on a few tours, most of them had pickup points or started from around the Ginza area, or if I needed to travel the subway stops were only 2 or 3 stops away.

It felt very much like the perfect central location to explore the city area and all the surrounding attractions.

Check-in

The check-in experience was decently pleasant. The Japanese culture really shines through with how welcoming and formal the entire process is. As is accustomed to Japan, payment was taken on check-in rather than on check-out and any additional amount for room charges is taken at the end of your stay.

I arrived pretty late at night due to a slightly delayed aircraft, however I managed to take the subway to my hotel with relative ease.

The Room

AC Hotels don't have the largest rooms, however the use of space was suited extremely well. The bedroom was decently sized and featured a single king bed, a desk on the wall, a table with chair, sofa, and tea area with a mini-fridge.

I enjoyed the use of lighting with strip lights built into the underside of the bed and the headboard, making for some nice soft lighting during the evening when you don't want the hard lighting of the overhead lights.

The space opens up immediately to the bath and shower area. The shower features both a rainfall and a hand held shower head, as well as a stool to sit down with. The bathroom had a smart bidet toilet with all sorts of funky settings and operations.

Food

There is an onsite bar and formal dining restaurant, I decided to have one meal at the bar. The signature item they serve is a Wagyu double burger with a squid ink bun. I can not begin to describe how good the burger was. The meat was melt-in-your-mouth delicious and extremely juicy. The burger was perfectly cooked, and the accompanying sides were plentiful.

Along with the great lunch and dinner options, the hotel offers a breakfast in the formal dining room in the morning with a grab-and-go section for those needing to quickly head out into the town.

If all of that isn't enough, there's a Tully's coffee next door that serves both coffee and healthful food options. And around the corner behind the hotel is a 7-11 with even more options.

Service

All through my stay, the staff kept up the Japanese hospitality and politeness. Every time I would come and go, the front desk workers would always greet you or say goodbye. The clean organization and spotless areas of the hotels was amazing to see, and made the stay even more heightened.

The hotel offered some paid and free experiences at the hotel, one of which was free weekday yoga lessons on the roof of the hotel.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the AC Hotel Tokyo Ginza was an amazing hotel if you want a nice place to stay, that is inexpensive, and right at the heart of things to do in the city. The ease of access to the subway lines, proximity, and neighborhood was sublime. The hotel, being in the upscale neighborhood of Ginza, was certainly perfect if you wish to go out and shop.