Karaksa Hotel Premier Tokyo Ginza with Kids - Tokyo - Review
The Karaksa Hotel Premier Tokyo Ginza is a 3 star hotel located in the slick area of Ginza in Tokyo. It was one of the few hotels in Tokyo which had interconnected rooms and big enough for our family of 4. It was on the pricey end for us but given I had started booking in May and landing in July and didn’t have much luck finding accomodation in Tokyo, we were lucky to find this. Do keep in mind, Tokyo hotels are more expensive than hotels in Kyoto and other cities in Japan and the area of Ginza is more expensive too, a very nice and safe area for families. Thank you The Tokyo Chapter for convincing me to stay in the Ginza area!
Super Twin/Double Room - Photo credit: @busycitykids
We booked a connecting room which was a combination of Superior Twin/Double room and a Standard Twin room. If you check their website under Rooms and then Connecting, you will see them. Japan hotels don’t have double or queen beds per say and you’ll find that a lot of hotels have single beds only to accommodate for travel groups etc. The beds in both rooms were 120cm width x 200cm length. The Superior Twin/Double room looks like you could join the beds and make it a queen perhaps (but do check with reception if possible). The Superior room has a sitting area with a table and chairs and a larger bathrooms with a bath and very cool shower. If you are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids), I recommend you take the Superior Twin/Double room for the adults as it is a little bit bigger and have the kids stay in the other room..
Standard Room - Photo credit: Karaksa Hotel Premier Tokyo Ginza
Both rooms had lots of complementary toiletries as well as pjs that you can use during your stay that are changed daily. The bathroom in the Superior room has a bath and a cool rain shower head with lots of jet options which will make you laugh. Do try the features on the Japanese toilet, you’ll thank me later! Strange a photo of a toilet but we loved those toilets with options to warm the seat, water jets, sounds etc! You’ll love these in Japan.
We loved the snack room and lounge area on the reception floor for guests at the Karaksa Hotel Premier Tokyo Ginza! There is also a small one now available on another floor. We really liked the option of the snack room and the option of having a quick breakfast and juice before we headed out to visit the city or an ice cream and drink when we came back in the afternoon. There is no café at the hotel with staff on hand however you can order breakfast to your room if you want. You can also take advantage of their alcoholic bar with a drinks card which is given to you at check-in and enjoy the drinks in your room. Our kids age (7 and 10) meant they are considered as adults for a full bed so we got 4 cards but we didn’t even use up all the drinks on one during our stay. You get water bottles in your room however you can grab extra ones in the snack area if you need which is a bonus again.
Overall, we loved our stay at Karaksa Hotel Premier Tokyo Ginza. The hotel had everything we needed and kids loved the snack bar and the area was quiet and everyone was great during our stay! It is a short walk from all the Ginza shops, restaurants and Shimbashi Station which is super convenient. I really loved the hotel and Ginza area and it was great that the Ginza streets turned into big pedestrian areas during the weekend.
The staff were very friendly during our stay and very responsive via email answering any questions before we headed there.
This visit was self funded. We did benefit from a small discount by booking with the hotel directly online.
Our tips:
Karaksa Hotel Premier Tokyo Ginza is located at 1 Chome-6-6 Shinbashi, Minato City, Tokyo 105-0004, Japan.
We took the train from Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport) which took around 30 mins and changed to Asakusa Line and got off at Shimbashi station and walked to the hotel which was around 8 minutes which was fine with suitcases and kids. The hotel has other options listed on their website.
Access the hotel from the small street you’ll see a small door, go in and then grab the lift up to level 2F Reception. If you’re taking a taxi from the airport, check with the hotel if you can access the street via car.
If you need any travel adaptors or extension boards, you can borrow them from reception as they have some available.
Check-in in most hotels in Japan is not before 3pm and check-out is 11am. If your flight lands in the morning, you can book a room the night before and stay until checkout for a discounted price if you ask reception. We left our bags upon arrival with reception staff and opted for an early checkin once the room was clean which cost us a little bit extra but worth it as the children were very tired from the night flight.