Shinagawa Prince or Sheraton Miyako (Shibuya) Train/Night

I have YET another question, trying to figure where to stay upon arrival from Narita, arriving 6 PM. After luggage and train, which is a better hotel to stay @ regarding proximity to the train station. Since the Japan Rail Pass is so incredibily expensive, I don%26#39;t want to add any more $$ to transportation. therefore, making which hotel to stay @ is even more important considering it%26#39;s an evening arrival... any ideas on these two hotels?

Shinagawa Prince or Sheraton Miyako (Shibuya) Train/Night

Shinagawa Prince - JR Shinagawa Station (2-minute walk) - princejapan.com/ShinagawaPrinceHotel/shinaga…

Shinagawa Prince or Sheraton Miyako (Shibuya) Train/Night

Thx Dave... when i map googled it, it said 10 min walk... so that scared me. Do you know how long it takes to get luggage and clear customs @ the airport prior to going to the train? It%26#39;s unrealistic to think I can make the 6:46 PM train leaving Narita isn%26#39;t ?

The Sheraton Miyako is nowhere close to a JR station. When choosing a room in the Shinagawa Prince, know exactly what you%26#39;re getting because their rooms vary widely, see:

princejapan.com/ShinagawaPrinceHotel/shinaga…

The Shinagawa Prince is right across from Takanawa Exit of Shinagawa Station. Immigration and customs usually takes 30-60 minutes, depending on the number of flights arriving.

It usually takes almost 10 minutes to get your rail pass if there is no one ahead of you. It can take 30 minutes or longer if there are a bunch of people in front of you, or even just a couple of people asking a lot of questions and making all of their JR reservations for their entire trip... So it%26#39;s not terribly likely that you can catch a 6:46 train from Narita. (On the other hand, I have had trans-Pacific flights arrive early on more than one occasion, so you never know.)

The Sheraton Miyako Hotel that I know about is not in Shibuya. The closest JR station is Meguro on the Yamanote Line, and I believe they have a free shuttle bus (it runs to and from Meguro in the evening and to Shinagawa in the morning, at least it used to). So it wouldn%26#39;t cost you any more for transportation to stay there, but getting to Meguro will take a bit longer than getting to Shinagawa.

As noted, the rooms at Shinagawa Prince vary in quality. Some of them are much nicer than others. On the other hand, you can expect any room at the Sheraton Miyako to be fairly nice. I would say that in general it is a higher-class property. The problem with Sheraton Miyako is that it is removed from any nightlife. I don%26#39;t think there are any convenience stores or restaurants in the immediate vicinity. I have stayed there before and found this to be a drawback, and I would definitely not want to stay there on my first night in Tokyo. (But if you are content to eat dinner and breakfast at the hotel and pay stiff hotel prices for beverages, this might not be a problem for you. Or, if you are wide awake you can take the hotel shuttle to Meguro Station, where there are plenty of places to eat and buy reasonably priced beer. You can also catch the subway at a station that is near the hotel, but your JR pass won%26#39;t cover this.)

Perfect!! Thank you sooo much Bearkun and Shibuyakko for the information re: time req%26#39;d to clear cutoms, and locations/quality/surroundings of the hotels... it is exactly what I am looking for!!

If all of the stars line up perfectly you could do this. It depends totally on how many other international flights with foreigners aboard arrive just before yours. Last month I was very fortunate. I flew executive class so my small bag came off the turnstile very quickly (had to check a bag because I was carrying liquids), no lines in immigration or customs and zipped through both of those in less than one minute. I got to the arrivals lobby within 15 minutes of touching down, including about 5 minutes of taxiing. This doesn%26#39;t happen very often but it is the optimal case. Any lines will slow you down accordingly. You cannot predict how deep the lines are going to be.

Regarding the walk to the Shinagawa Prince, it%26#39;s probably about 10 minutes from the platform to the front desk. You also have to wait for a green light at the crosswalk. Distance-wise, from the station exit to the hotel entrance is probably something like 100 meters or 1.5 minutes walking without the crosswalk wait. That%26#39;s where the time variance comes from. You%26#39;ll be on a station platform and have to go up to the station concourse level and then through the wicket and off to the Takanawa exit. That can take about 2 minutes if you know exactly where to go (turn left when you exit the wickets and follow the signs to the Takanawa exit).

%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;Thx Dave... when i map googled it, it said 10 min walk... so that scared me. Do you know how long it takes to get luggage and clear customs @ the airport prior to going to the train? It%26#39;s unrealistic to think I can make the 6:46 PM train leaving Narita isn%26#39;t ?%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;

Thx Route246.. I%26#39;ll keep my fingers crossed for the stars to align perfectly. :-) Really, I can only hope... Thx!!

It is a long walk inside the Shinagawa station if you take a NEX:

http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/stations/e788.html

Make sure your luggage has wheels.

You may want to eat at a restaurant before you exit or at McDonald%26#39;s just across the street.

Forget about Miyako. It is nice, i.e. king size, queen size, etc., but it is a pain to go anywhere %26amp; nothing around.

Awesome!! Thanks for the map Amazinga!!