Our Favorite Way to Stay at Tokyo Disney Resort

With the exception of the new Fantasy Springs Hotel, we’ve stayed in all of the on-site accommodations at Tokyo Disney Resort over the last decade-plus, most multiple times. This includes the deluxe options overlooking Tokyo DisneySea and Disneyland, as well as the third party properties along the monorail loop.

However, there’s one to which we keep returning: Hilton Tokyo Bay. Admittedly, part of this is sentimentality. It’s the first hotel we ever stayed at in Japan and we’ve made many great memories there over the years. But you don’t continue frequenting the same place due to nostalgia, logging several months’ worth of stays in the process. (Or at least, we don’t.) Especially not after getting a taste of the top-tier luxury hotels at Tokyo Disney Resort and elsewhere in Japan.

The Hilton Tokyo Bay is our go-to hotel at Tokyo Disney Resort thanks to its strong slate of amenities, inviting public spaces, great breakfast, and fantastic location just steps from the Bayside Station on the monorail loop. Pricing is also a big factor, with rooms here regularly available for around or even under $200 per night. The hotel feels modern and high-end, and you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck. However, these aren’t the only reasons we keep returning to Hilton Tokyo Bay.

The biggest reason is our Hilton Diamond Status, which affords us better benefits and upgrades when staying here. This includes the Club Level lounge, which is a great option for breakfast and dinner. Before I lose all of you who are not Hilton Diamond members, it’s also worth noting that you can pay out of pocket for this level.

What you’ll want to look for when booking is the room categories with “Executive” in the title–there are a variety of them. To confirm you’re booking the right thing, you’ll also see “Executive Lounge” listed as one of the amenities, along with this in the description: “Enjoy exclusive access to the Executive Lounge offering complimentary breakfast, refreshments, and evening cocktails.”

In response to our full Hilton Tokyo Bay Hotel Review, we’ve had several readers ask us whether the Executive Lounge/Club Level is worth it. Both from the perspective of the out of pocket cost, and from those who are Diamond members wondering whether it’s worth their time. This will set to answer those questions, mostly by showing you the Executive Lounge, since there’s not a lot about it online.

Since this is a niche topic and photos pretty well tell the story, let’s start with those:

If you’re a Hilton Diamond member, you don’t just have access to the Executive Lounge for breakfast, you also have the option to use a priority lane at the main breakfast buffet restaurant, Forest Garden. This is located on the far end of the hotel, past the check-in counter. That restaurant often has a long line during peak hours, but you’ll have virtually no wait via the Diamond line.

If you visit during peak season or another time that occupancy is high (and this can occur even during Japan’s offseason–to the extent that’s a thing anymore–as Hilton Tokyo Bay often hosts school groups), you might also have the option of doing breakfast at Lounge O. Confusingly enough, the Executive Lounge has a big “O” in front of it…but they’re two different places.

Lounge O is the open-air atrium restaurant that’s centrally located in the hotel lobby and filled with natural sunlight from the multi-level floor-to-ceiling windows–it’s the one that’s visible from the central elevators. It’s becoming increasingly common for Lounge O to be open for breakfast–something that we never witnessed at all until a year or so ago.

The Hilton staff will advise using Lounge O if it’s available. We would concur with this recommendation, as there are unique breakfast items here that you won’t find anywhere else, such as made-to-order ramen and soft serve ice cream. (You read that correctly–ramen and soft serve for breakfast.) Or at least, that was our experience here at Christmas-time.

All three of these restaurants serve about a 50/50 mix of Asian and Western cuisine. We highly recommend getting breakfast at one of these three restaurants, as there are some great items on the buffet. If it’s your first trip to Japan, we’d also suggest stepping outside your comfort zone–the breakfast is an easy and approachable way to sample Asian cuisine. Don’t just eat the potato waffles, good as they might be. You’ll also want to fuel up before rope dropping Tokyo DisneySea or Tokyo Disneyland, and eating breakfast inside the parks is a poor use of your time.

Forest Garden has the most variety, with a slightly larger spread than Lounge O and significantly more options than the Executive Lounge. Still, there’s probably ~95% overlap between Forest Garden and Lounge O, whereas only ~50% of those dishes appear at the Executive Lounge. As such, it might stand to reason that you should do one of those as opposed to the Executive Lounge, right?

Probably. There are a couple of reasons you may actually want to do breakfast at the Executive Lounge, though. For one thing, it’s much more efficient. Even with a minimal wait to enter the larger venues, you’re still going to lose time at the buffets themselves, and just navigating the restaurants, in general. If you don’t need the full spread, that’s something to consider–especially since rope drop is serious business at Tokyo Disney Resort.

Another thing to know is that all three of the buffets have unique dishes. Two of my favorite options on the spread in the Executive Lounge are smoked duck breakfast and smoked salmon. Neither of these “higher-end” options are available at the other buffets. There is smoked salmon salad, but that uses other ingredients (including mayo) to dilute the smoked salmon. There’s also some fruit and another dish or two that you can’t usually find outside the Executive Lounge.

We also much prefer the espresso machine at the Executive Lounge, which produces higher quality and stronger drinks. There’s also a Coke Freestyle machine, as well as glass bottled beverages in the Executive Lounge. There’s something to be said for having sparkling water from a glass bottle with a view of Mount Fuji in the distance.

Dinner is more of a differentiator for the Executive Lounge, but also, probably not something you’ll use as often unless you’re taking a break from the parks (something we wouldn’t recommend). The spread at dinner revolves more around drinking and desserts than it does entrees. There’s beer on tap, as well as a variety of of wines and other spirits. There are also several desserts available on a rotating basis.

As far as regular food goes, you should once again find salmon and duck, along with a variety of cheeses, breads, salad, and a few hot dishes. We’ve found dinner to be very hit or miss. Sometimes, there won’t be anything we want to eat other than the salmon and duck and we’ve resorted to eating at the in-lobby Lawson. Other evenings, there are a number of intriguing options.

If you have limited time in Japan, frankly, you shouldn’t be eating dinner at the Executive Lounge. You should either be maximizing your park time, eating in the city, or even at Ikspiari. All of that is a better use of your time, even if it does save money to do dinner at the Executive Lounge. Breakfast is a different story because it’s saving you time to eat here or at one of the other buffets.

Another advantage of the Executive Lounge from our perspective is the vibe.

Whereas the other breakfast buffets are loud and chaotic, the Executive Lounge is usually serene and peaceful. It’s a nice, calm way to start the day before the rope drop madness begins. The staff in the Executive Lounge is also fantastic, and has remembered us over the years (it probably helps now that we have a baby whose blonde hair and blue eyes stand out in Japan).

If we’re being totally honest, this is a big part of why we love the Executive Lounge. Not just the service, but the memories we’ve made here over the years. Little things like crashing here at the end of a long travel day from Kyoto and having the best (glass bottle) of Coca-Cola ever; wide-eyed wonder on our daughter’s face when the staff gave her a toy duck; sitting together in an empty lounge as we enjoyed espressos while waiting for the Airport Limo to pick us up–reflecting on a satisfying trip to Japan and already plotting our return. We have so many memories from the Executive Lounge at the Hilton Tokyo Bay that it’s impossible for me to give an unbiased review.

Given that, hopefully the above photos and descriptions suffice in helping answer whatever questions you have about the Executive Lounge/Club Level at the Hilton Tokyo Bay. What I can add is that, if we weren’t Diamond members who got this for free, we probably would not pay for it. As with most Club Levels, it’s more “worth it” on an emotional level than an objective one.

I can also add that the Executive Lounge doesn’t hold a candle to its counterparts in Tokyo. Our go-to hotel in the city (we always transfer for our non-Disney days and highly recommend the same) is the Conrad Tokyo. The Executive Lounge at Hilton Tokyo Bay doesn’t even hold a candle to the Club Level there. Nor should it! The Conrad Tokyo often costs four times the price of the Hilton Tokyo Bay!

Speaking of which, we sometimes see points and travel hacking websites that are rather harsh on the Hilton Tokyo Bay and make unfair (given the respective costs) comparisons. This isn’t to say that the Hilton Tokyo Bay is perfect (if you get “upgraded” to one of the Happy Magic rooms you might want to decline–especially now that the regular rooms have been redone), but we think it’s an excellent, feature-laden hotel that punches above its weight. Having access to the Executive Lounge is just icing on the cake!

Planning a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort? For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea Trip Planning Guide! For more specifics, our TDR Hotel Rankings & Reviews page covers accommodations. Our Restaurant Reviews detail where to dine & snack. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money post. Our What to Pack for Disney post takes a unique look at clever items to take. Venturing elsewhere in Japan? Consult our Ultimate Guide to Kyoto, Japan and City Guide to Tokyo, Japan.

Your Thoughts

Have you used the Executive Lounge at the Hilton Tokyo Bay? If so, do you recommend eating breakfast here, or simply sticking to the larger buffet restaurants? Did you find the upgrade to be worth your money (or time, as a Diamond member)? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!