Disclaimer: In exchange for a two-night stay at Tokyo’s Shiba Park Hotel, I am writing this review.
At the other end of the frenetic Tokyo spectrum, we have the 76-year old Shiba Park Hotel; you wouldn’t be surprised to know that the hotel is just a few minutes walk from the eponymous Shiba Park, and Tokyo Tower. It’s also quite convenient to JR Hamamatsucho station (for those Yamanote circle line and Haneda Airport transfers), and the Daimon/Onarimon subway stations.
Hotel Concept
In spite of being a short distance from the izakaya (Japanese-style bar) epicenter of Shimbashi, and the leafy yet also nightlife-centric area of Roppongi, the immediate hotel neighborhood is relatively quiet and low-key. That notion lends itself well to one of the key themes of the hotel, that is, learning.
A key component of the Shiba Park Hotel is a small library of ~1500 books, managed by Ginza Tsutaya Bookstore. With a selection of mostly Japanese and English titles available to for in-house guests to borrow, each guest floor specializes in a certain theme–
Not to mention, there are book peppered about the first and second floors.
For the holiday season, there’s even a “Christmas tree” composed of donated books:
To continue with the theme of learning, Shiba Park Hotel has seasonal exhibitions called “Tale of Artisans,” wherein select Japanese artists are chosen to showcase their wares. These small displays can be found on both the 1st and 2nd floors; currently, there are examples of Satsuma porcelain (from Kagoshima prefecture), and handmade brushes.
Check-In
Check-in was swift, and benefitted by a tea/coffee machine right at the reception. Or, if you’re looking for something with a kick, you can also buy tokens for a glass of wine, nihonshu, or beer; those machines in located in the check-in area.
Incidentally, in late 2022 I had already stayed at this hotel. Thus, I was already somewhat familiar with the pocket libraries on each guest floor, as well as the drink options.
Room
All 199 rooms at the Shiba Park Hotel were renovated between 2022 and 2023. There are eight total room types; the one I was given was a Standard Twin.
Although it was generally a comfortable room, with a nice couch, and good air conditioning, I suppose it was the lack of extra space that made a work desk incongruous. Instead, there was a round table, more convenient for eating than anything else.
Since I forgot to take a photo, the hotel shared this one of a Standard King room, with a similar round table snugly placed in the background:
Room amenities included Art of Tea pouches, coffee, fridge, safe, slippers, iron, and indeed, a yukata.
The bathroom had some recyclable bamboo-based wares, in addition to Millennium Organics Blue Label products, which consist of 90% or more plant- and/or mineral-derived ingredients. Oh, right, the key card is bamboo, too.
Save for the lack of desk space, I was a big fan of my room.
Dining
The sole restaurant in the hotel, called “The Dining,” starts off with a buffet service between 7am and 10am. Lunch and dinner, which respectively operate from 11:30am – 2:30pm, and then from 5pm until 9pm, can be prepared à la carte, or multicourse.
Then again, if afternoon tea is more your thing, The Dining has you covered.
It’s a reservations-only set-up, so these hours should help out– weekdays it’s from 1:30pm – 6pm, on weekends 11:30am – 6pm.
Personally, I only tried the breakfast buffet, but that pretty much covered my daily lunch, too!
With good-sized salad bar, Western, Japanese, and Chinese options, and a heap of bread just waiting to be toasted, I’d say most readers wouldn’t go hungry:
Tally Up
There were a couple of quirks here and there, but I’d certainly stay at the Shiba Park Hotel for a third time. If there were an option to have a work table temporarily added into a room, or if one could be slid out of the wall, that might be helpful.
In fairness, I pretty much only saw leisure traveler guests, so booting the ol’ computer might have been the last thing on many of their minds.
Ultimately, well-rounded breakfasts, clean spaces, and a suitable location help me give the hotel higher marks.
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