Trip.com x Japan Airlines Sapphire Fast Track

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• Villa Fontaine Grand Haneda Airport
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Due to my crazy itenary, this was the only sane option to get some decent rest on the ground for my 16hour turnaround. But this meant a terrific opportunity to explore the new Haneda Airport Garden which is a landside complex of accommodation, shops, and restaurants. So exciting!

Address – 2-7-1 Hanedakuko,Ota City, Tokyo, 144-0041. Website.

Contact – Tel: +81 3-64599770. Email: hanedaairport-grand@hvf.jp.

Location – Directly connected to Terminal 3 of Haneda Airport, this property is located in the newish Haneda Airport Garden which provides unbeatable convenience and access to shops, food, onsen, for a short stay or a long layover. But definitely not recommended for a first timer as you are pretty much far away from anything touristy.

Price – JPY36,740nett for a Superior Queen with breakfast and onsen access booked on their website directly – this is the only room type at this property to offer a 24hr plan where you check in anytime and can stay for 24hours. This rate seems to be only bookable on their website direct while the other rates are bookable on OTAs (and cheaper!) – and for my complicated schedule this was the only rate which seemed to work as otherwise I’d need to book 2 nights which is more expensive.

I also found options for room only under the 24hr rate, or room with either breakfast or onsen access (not both). This allows for flexibility if you are undecided but do calculate the permutations prior as for my dates, room + adding breakfast ala carte seem to be cheaper than the combi, but room + adding onsen access was more expensive.

I made an initial booking but cancelled that and rebooked about 2 weeks out as the price had dropped so it always pays to check and recheck prices after booking if yours is a cancellable rate.

Pre-arrival – Shortly after booking, I received an email from the hotel asking for the check in time and I replied to inform of my flight details and also put in a request to have breakfast on the day of arrival instead of the following day due to the fact that I wouldn’t stay til then. And all was set. Or so I thought.

About 1 week out, I received another email from the hotel asking for guest names for ‘each room’ and also if payment would be room by room or consolidated. I replied to confirm that (by then) I should only have 1 room in the system as I’ve cancelled the first booking – and I’ve already sent them the screenshot of the cancellation confirmation in an earlier correspondence.

They then replied to say that the cancellation was not completed but they will cancel for me free of charge – erm thanks? They also said I could ‘purchase’ a breakfast voucher if I want breakfast on the day of arrival and I had to reply again to affirm that my room rate already includes breakfast so I shouldn’t have to buy another separately.

Was it language issue? I really have no idea but not a great start for sure.

Getting there – The property is directly accessible from Terminal 3 of Haneda Airport so all it took all of 10mins to get there from the arrival hall to hotel lobby and easily guided by the signs pointing to “Haneda Airport Garden” as well as this huge signage which takes you through a shopping alley (but the shops are not opened yet when I passed through).

The property shares a lobby with the sister property, Villa Fontaine Premier, and has a dark classy ambience as well as seating and luggage trolley facilities for guest use.

Check In – At 5am, the check in desk were pretty empty and I was attended to immediately. It is useful to note that there is an entire row of self-check in kiosk but they were all not in service.

Check in itself was a bumpy process as they were confused as they could only find my cancelled reservation and a show of the new reservation and the email thread prior to this was sufficient to sort this out, but certainly not ideal when you just want to get your room at 5am in the morning.

Payment for the room was required upfront, and I was given the keys to my room, a property map, my breakfast voucher, and my onsen ticket, and directed to elevator D to access my room.

The lift lobby has an amenity station where you can take basic amenities like cotton buds, cotton pads, and combs etc as these are not laid out in the room. There was also an empty pajamas station but with an indication that the M size ones are already set in the room.

Room – My Superior Queen (20SqM), 6311, was located on level 6 which is the floor you want to be on if you want to use the onsen as it offers a separate elevator with direct access to the onsen spa located on level 12 (more on that later).

The room itself was expectedly small and starts with a narrow walkway which is also an open concept wardrobe with hangers. There is also a small built in mini bar with fridge set to the left – basic with coffee sachets but not a problem for me.

The main bedroom space is actually quite nice and functional and honestly more than enough for a 16-hour stay. I was also happy that it looked less dreary than the pics! Also saw some online reviews about dusty rooms but I had no problems with my room.

On the bedside were cozy bedside tables equipped with 3-pin and USB charging points, with the tissue box on the bottom shelf. I was actually quite impressed they even offer a charging cable which had multiple adapter heads – and this is not even a 5-star hotel!

Pajamas were indeed laid out on the bed, and you can wear these to the onsen but not the restaurant as indicated by the sign. There was also a small couch + coffee table on the side which was useful for my loots.

TV is in a built in console with the necessary literature as well as remote control

The bathroom is simple but sufficient, with a single sink, toilet, and a shower tub combi. Toiletries are some unknown brand and was okay.

Breakfast – this is served at Grand Aile located on level 1 from 6:00am-10:00am and costs JPY3,200 if not included in your room rate. There was a notice on the in-room TV to expect the place to be very busy between 730-830am but not an issue for me as I was there by 630am. Staff will collect your breakfast voucher and show you to a seat even if the space is not busy.

The space is huge (understandable given that guests of Villa Fontaine Premier also have their breakfast here), offers plenty of seatings, and already suitably buzzing at 630am!

Food on offer was of great variety and quality, with plenty of local flavors to choose from including a live station serving hot dishes. particularly liked that they had grilled salmon for breakfast – yay to good proteins!

Service was efficient – the place seemed adequately staffed and soiled plates were cleared swiftly which made for a less stressful experience you are like me who wants to try everything but usually can’t finish.

I also managed to try their lunch buffet courtesy of Priority Pass restaurant experience (only main card holder allowed) but otherwise would cost $3850yen for an adult and found the variety and quality equally great. Unlimited poke rice bowl? Yes please!

Facilities – the hotel offers a gym on level 6 and my card for some reasons didn’t allow me access so I could only take pics through the glass windows – it was bigger and better equipped that what I would have assumed for an airport hotel

The property’s star facility is the Onsen Spa located on level 12 which they call Izumi Tenku no. Yu and access costs $4,800yen if you are not an in-house guest / $2,000yen if you are if not included in your room rate. Guests of Villa Fontaine Premier are able to access this facility for free.

I decided to try this shortly after breakfast since I was not yet knocking out and the shops in the vicinity were not yet opened. Guests simply need to turn up wearing the provided pajamas, key card, and spa voucher if any.

The public areas of the spa is done nicely and is immediately calming (to me). Guests need to first store their shoes in a shoe locker, then present the locker key to the receptionist before they issue another locker key for the dressing room.

Cameras and picture taking are prohibited beyond the public areas so I wasn’t able to take any pics of what it looked on the inside but it is pretty much the same as what it looks like on their official site. I can only say the different onsens (they have both indoors and outdoors) were really nice after a hectic day, but the steam room was boiling hot so I stayed for a grand total of 30seconds before I felt like I was being cooked.

For a top up of $800yen, guests can also access the stone bath – which is basically heated stone slabs of varying temperatures in rooms. Apparently lying on them has some health benefits.

Below are sample pics from their website:

In another area, there is a relaxation room which comprises of lounge recliners where you can rest during your stay which is a good and cheap(er) option to get some shuteye if booking a hotel room is too much to add on to your itenary. For the $4,800yen, you get luggage storage, shower, and shuteye albeit in a public setting. But do note that this space is extremely popular so you can run into a situation where there are no chairs available.

Within the premise is also a 24hr restaurant called Izumi Tenku Dining where you can get food anytime which is a great option for travelers when the shops inside the Airport Garden are not yet opened. Based on the pictures from the website the spot looks really nice but I didn’t have a chance to try it.

Billing for the onsen – if you incur any expenses during your stay in the onsen, you need to head to a “check out kiosk” to complete some check out formalities and have the option to pay on the spot or add to your room which is identified by the shoe locker tag.

Other stuff – I felt I have a duty to add on that the complex was such a good spot for my short stay – it’s filled with plenty enough shopping and eating options to keep me very entertained throughout the day. If that is not enough, you have easy access to the departure hall of the terminal where there is another eating/shopping haven.

Service – Felt pretty much contactless for my short stay other than checking in and out so it did what it did at least.

Check Out – painlessly completed at the front desk around 8pm in the evening and its useful to note that by then there was a super long line to check in so timing your arrival is probably important too.

In summary,

What a great spot for my 16-hr turnaround and I am really pleased with my choice to not go outside of the airport anywhere. The location is unbeatable and the convenience of having everything at the doorstep of your hotel is awesome.

Unfortunately, the 24hr plan is only bookable via their official site and I saw some online article that says a 4-hr stay plan can be booked for around SGD$150 BUT only if you view the Japanese site version (but why??). But if you are not after any of those, then the property is bookable on the major OTA including Klook.