New city, new-ish property!

Decided to hop over to Yokohama from Tokyo for 2nights since I haven’t been here before – and it helps that this property is new in the city and I was excited to experience the first club lounge of my trip!

Address – 4-2-8 Minatomirai, Nishi Ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan, 220-0012. Website.

Contact – Tel: +62 778 5707999. Email: reservations.yokohama@westin.com.

Price – JPY28,830++ for one night booked for a Deluxe King under the Amex Biz Member Rate, and use of a 35k FNA with 7,000 points top up. Not too bad a deal especially considering lounge access for the stay! I later decided to use my SNA to upgrade my 2 nights but strangely enough, the highest tier available was the Corner King (Skyline view) – weird but my SNAs were expiring anyway so just use it la. My SNAs cleared separately due to separate reservations but I was all sorted about 2 days prior.

Location – Yokohama is not a big city and this property is located nearest to Sakuragicho Station – a 10mins walk away if not raining. Most of the sights and shops are nearer the station – this area is commonly referred to as the Minato Mirai 21 Area where you’d find the Landmark Tower, the giant ferris wheel, World Porters shopping mall and the Red Brick Warehouse. Otherwise, in another direction is the Minatomirai Station where you can hop on a train to Motomachi Shopping Street and Chinatown etc.

Getting There – I was coming from Shinagawa station -> Yokohama -> Sakuragicho Station which took 40mins or so in total. I wanted to walk to the property from there but it was raining so I got lazy and hopped on a taxi instead which costs me JYP8,000 hah.

Check In – I arrived on the street level arrival driveway where a staffed desk checked my reservation before inviting me to the club lounge to check in, on level 22. The club staff invited me for a seated check and the whole process took no more than 10mins. My welcome letter stated the club hours as well:

Room – My Corner King Skyline Suite was very much typical modern Westin (45SqM) and brightened up well by the double window panels along which I believed was the difference versus regular rooms. The corner layout allowed a generous entrance hallway which leads into the room proper.

To the left of this walkway is the double compartment wardrobe space – the first contains bathrobes and the second has the hangers, slippers, safe etc. This then leads into a small luggage nook which proved very useful for me.

The main bedroom space is quite nice with a long stretch of tabletop space + TV, then an odd-shaped table which is meant to replace a work desk – this area is also where you get charging ports including USB ones. In this same area is the daybed which allowed for some chilling during my 2 nights.

The bed is a proper king bed (and of course Westin’s signature heavenly bed) flanked by 2 very generous bedside tables, thought I find it perplexing that the tables are situated a distance away from the bed.

The bathroom had 2 entrances – one by the bedroom and one by the hallway – and is considered spacious especially with generous countertop space for barangs. A separate section houses the shower + tub and antoher for the toilet which allows for multi tasking if not solo. Toiletries are White Tea ones which is not my favorite but ah wells.

This property also provides skincare sets – Dr Ci: Labo ones.

Lastly, the mini bar is set up on the same side as one of the entrance to the bathroom and comes expectedly with a Nespresso, the necessary accompanying stuff, and complimentary water which comes in a form of 2 glass bottles refilled daily by housekeeping. The fridge is kept empty here but this means more space to stash personal temperature sensitive items.

Westin Club – The club on level 22 is a huge lounge, almost taking up half the floor, and completely awashed in natural lighting from the full panel windows which made the place quite cherry in the day time. The vast space has plenty seatings including window seats, booth seats, couple seats, sofa seats for bigger groups etc.

The space also has a more living-esque area of sorts which also hold a meeting room which is bookable for use. No problem at all finding seats throughout my stay though the window seats get snatched up pretty fast.

Breakfast (7:00am-9:30am)

Selection was quite expected from a 5-star hotel which featured grilled fish / natto alongside the usual western fare. Quality was rather average with nothing memorable but it did the trick of kickstarting my day! Coffee was passable thankfully.

The hot stuff:

The cold stuff:

Day Snacks (10:00am-5:00pm)

This is the all-day session where non-alcoholic drinks are on offer as well as biscuits and sweets, plus simple fruits and iced drinks / juices. There was also a fridge of canned drinks for taking which I initially missed as there were no signage indicating that the fridge is open for taking.

Cocktail Time (5:00pm-6:30pm / 7:30pm-9:00pm)

I had 2 sessions of this and was happy that the quantity was enough as dinner, though selection and quality can be improved – it would have been nice if they offered more proteins in particular as the hot food section was very carb focused. Otherwise, the cold selection saw the usual cheeses, cold cuts, salads, desserts, and fruits.

The hot stuff:

The cold stuff:

Drinks selection saw a rather wide selection of 3x white, 3x red, 2x sparkling (boo to no champagne), beers, and cocktails made to order. This area was sorely missing a sake!

Hotel’s main lobby –

I remembered to hop by the hotel’s main lobby located on leverl 23 and I am so glad I did! The space is so welcoming, nicely modern and similarly cheery with plenty of natural lighting and the presence of some green walls. There were a few seating areas which felt very welcoming and I can envision guests needing a spot of chill time to make use of these during their stay.

The crown jewel of this lobby is the ability to see Mount Fuji on a clear day (though from really far away) – and they were not kidding! They even had a signage to remind guests of this ‘attraction’ and if you are like me who arrived on a rainy day, do remember to revisit this spot when the skies clear and you wil be rewarded with a superb view of the famous mountain with its surroundings.

Facilities – I checked out the Fitness Centre (24hrs) as it was the only facility that I could visit without being charged and it was decent with a good number of machines to get that workout in. I saw the pool too and while I could not enter without incurring a charge, it looked like a nice indoor sheltered pool.

Service – Service at the Club was expectedly professional so no complaints here.

Check Out – Check out can only be done at the Club from 11am onwards so I did mine at the main lobby and it was completely fuss-free.

In summary,

I thought this was a great use of my 35k FNA and the cash price isn’t as crazy as Tokyo as well which makes this a good base to check out the city. Elite access to Westin Club sweetened the deal even more so no regrets 🙂