Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel

[Dattebayo]

Title of Review/Name of Hotel:
Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel

Location/Area of Hotel:
Shibuya

Date of Use:
March 2020

Type of Hotel:
Regular Hotel (4/5 Star)

Does the hotel require a keycard for access to guest rooms?:
No

Check-In Service:
Walk-In Kiosk/Reception Counter

Number of Persons:
2P

Review Narrative:
I'll start this review by explaining the keycard access. I chose no because the last time I was here I stayed in a room that wasn't on the Executive floors. My date simply entered the elevator and came to my room with no issues.

However you do need keycard access if you are staying on the Executive floors. The hotel is pretty strict about guests, but there's a workaround. You can meet your date by the elevators on the second floor, then use your keycard to ride the elevator up to the Executive floors.

The rooms here are pretty good. I have stayed in several of the room types and they are always clean with good amenities, comfortable beds, spacious bathrooms and great views of Shibuya.

The rooms can be a little pricey, depending on the room type, but in my opinion one of the biggest draws of the hotel is its convenience. The airport bus drops off and picks up from this hotel, and the hotel is located within walking distance of Shibuya station (about 5 min) and there is a 711 on hotel grounds. The surrounding area has a lot of great restaurants and bars in case you wanted to take your date somewhere with good food/ drink or if you just want to chill out for a bit.

Final Rating:
★★★★ (4 Stars)

 

[Durg50]

Its a tad soulless (even by a tokyo hotel standard) probably because its connected to an office block.
But yeah, very convenient for the airport run and for shibuya.

 

[TAG Manager]

Per the feedback I've gotten from many escorts that visit clients there, it's a pretty good spot and easy enough access. It's a fairly popular hotel for business travellers and some tourists as well.

 

[AnotherTag]

For a cheaper but also convenient option, the older Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu and the newer Shibuya Stream Excel Hotel Tokyu are also great. I think the airport bus also stops at the older Excel Hotel Tokyu.

I should post a review for the Shibuya Stream Excel Hotel Tokyu haha.

 

[Jer2015]

I have stayed in this hotel recently, so let me add a few details:

• the key card is now needed (as of November 2023) for ALL the floors. You can only go to 2nd floor (where some restaurants and 7-eleven are) without key card
• the hotel is not that strict about guests coming over (like others have mentioned). I had 2 visits on some days without any issues or obvious stink eyes from the staff. The lobby floor can be quite busy at times.

Some tip: you can ask your guest to meet you on the second floor (accessible from many ways). It is usually very empty without any hotel staff standing around.

Overall, it is a nice hotel. The only thing that I didn’t like is the key card requirements. It was a major bummer for me since I prefer not to meet in the lobby (don‘t want my work colleagues seeing me there with many young “guests”, haha.

 

[Alice]

Overall, it is a nice hotel. The only thing that I didn’t like is the key card requirements. It was a major bummer for me since I prefer not to meet in the lobby (don‘t want my work colleagues seeing me there with many young “guests”, haha.

It seems the new trend sadly. New hotels usually have it and even half of the old hotels added it..

 

[Sudsy]

It seems the new trend sadly. New hotels usually have it and even half of the old hotels added it..

It's becoming common globally. I was talking with the managers at a hotel I frequently stay at in another part of Asia, and it's being pushed by their group management. It's less about unauthorised guests, and more about preventing thefts. Apparently the most common form of theft from hotel rooms is for opportunistic thieves to cruise the hallways and enter the rooms as the cleaning staff are usually working on several rooms at a time.

 

[Alice]

It's becoming common globally. I was talking with the managers at a hotel I frequently stay at in another part of Asia, and it's being pushed by their group management. It's less about unauthorised guests, and more about preventing thefts. Apparently the most common form of theft from hotel rooms is for opportunistic thieves to cruise the hallways and enter the rooms as the cleaning staff are usually working on several rooms at a time.

Ah I see. I always wondered how there would be theft at all because the rooms have auto locks when you go out.
So it’s because the cleaning people leave several rooms open.

 

[Sudsy]

Ah I see. I always wondered how there would be theft at all because the rooms have auto locks when you go out.
So it’s because the cleaning people leave several rooms open.

Yes, that's the most common. The key card system also pretty much completely eliminates theft by staff, as there's an electronic record of which staff member entered which room at what time.

 

[ThorDK1]

Stayed at the Cerulean Tower Hotel 3 or 4 times, latest in the autumn of 2023 and it’s a good place if you’re looking for bringing dates to your hotel room. As written above, you can access the higher floors with separate elevators on the second floor and pick your date up from there. You then avoid the lobby area. It’s a nice place, big enough rooms on the executive floors, but it’s also a little boring and old school. I used to stay at the more modern hotels in Shiodome, but like the Shibuya vibe, so for my next stay I’ve booked a room at the Indigo Hotel, also in Shibuya. It should have great views and it’s right in the middle of the action so to speak, hope it’s a decent hotel 🏨

 

[Joe2017]

Thanks for the review! It brought me good memories! It is a very good hotel, with nice rooms, a crowded lobby and breakfast lounge for my taste, but comfortable and discreet. For a while, it was my secret shelter with a married Japanese lady from Kyoto who was somewhat famous on TV. The trick of meeting in the restaurant area works in many hotels of this category. Be discrete, and they will be too. There are surveillance cameras, but staff are consistent with the top rule of these hotels: don't see 🙈, hear 🙉 or speak 🙊.

 

[Majestyk]

I stayed at the Cerulean a few years ago in January, when I fell ill because of something I ate at an airport restaurant before my connecting flight to Tokyo.

The Cerulean’s staff were so kind and helped me get an appointment pronto with a clinic at a street just behind the hotel. The clinic‘s friendly GP sorted me out with the meds I needed. I was right as rain a day and a half later, just in time for a trip to Yokohama for meetings and a tryst with a lovely lady.