My husband and I stayed at Hotel Century Southern Tower for a total of seven nights (five nights + two nights) while on holiday in November 2012.
The hotel is very well located, close to the Shinjuku train and metro stations. It is within walking distance to department stores, restaurants, parks, shopping areas and the nightlife/red light district.
It was not difficult to find from the airport limousine drop-off at Shinjuku station, within walking distance just a couple of blocks away.
The lobby is located on the 20th floor of the hotel. We arrived very early at around 8am, and while we could not check in at that time we were able to check in early at around 12pm and leave our baggage at reception in the meantime.
We stayed at the hotel at the beginning and end of our trip to Japan, in a double room and a twin room. We got fairly good rates via the hotel’s website and booking.com. Both rooms were fairly large by Tokyo standards, although the twin room was larger than the double room and also had a better view of the city skyline and nearby park.
The beds were comfortable, although the pillows weren’t great. The room itself was very quiet.
The bathroom contained a bath/shower, with Shiseido bath products (in large containers so more environmentally friendly but you can’t take it home with you as a souvenir) as well as a hairbrush, razor, hair ties, shaving cream, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. The only thing missing was a moisturiser. Of course, there is also the standard Japanese toilet with its heated seat and variety of special features (I’ll leave you to discover those).
There was a small fridge in the room, which was useful for chilling bottles of water, as well as some tea and coffee supplies. There was a robe and slippers in the cupboard.
One of the best features of the hotel was the free wi-fi in the room, which I don’t think is very common in Japanese hotels. We used the internet a lot to plan our daily itinerary and keep in touch with friends at home, so we probably saved a fair bit of money compared to a hotel that charges for wi-fi access.
The TV channels were mainly in Japanese, with a movie channel, BBC and CNN in English. With some fiddling around, we also managed to work out how to switch from Japanese dubbed shows to the original American ones on the DLife channel.
We didn’t try any of the hotel restaurants as they seemed quite expensive, but we often popped in to the convenience store on level 20 to pick up reasonably priced snacks and drinks. We did have a drink and snack at the hotel bar, but I’d suggest venturing out for cheaper and better options.
Reception was fairly helpful with our requests, including booking us on a day trip to Mount Fuji/Hakone; providing us with a business card in Japanese to give taxi drivers if needed; and providing us with train, metro and local maps which were very useful. They also pointed us to the ATM across the road, which was handy. Their English is pretty good so no issues there.
With Tokyo’s efficient transport system, we were easily able to get around the city to places including Shibuya, Harajuku, Asakusa, Akihabara, Ueno, Ginza and Shimokitazawa. The hotel is also close to the bus stop to take you to Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea and the airport limousine bus departs from the hotel.
When we checked out of the hotel on our final day, the hotel booked us tickets on the airport limousine and stowed our bags until we were ready to depart.
All in all, I’d say this hotel is conveniently located, good value and I had no complaints whatsoever regarding the room or service. The only thing I’d change is adding some comfier pillows for the bed and providing moisturiser in the bathroom.