Hilton Tokyo Bay Hotel Review
Hilton Tokyo Bay is an official hotel at Tokyo Disney Resort, located within a few hundred yards of the monorail to the parks. This review features room photos, how this compares to other accommodations, and thoughts about our many experiences staying here during trips to Japan. (Updated February 11, 2023.)
Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, and the ocean are all within view of the Hilton Tokyo Bay, meaning that just about every guest room has a great view. It’s also a less-expensive on-site alternative to the Disney-branded properties: Hotel MiraCosta, Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, Ambassador Hotel, Toy Story Hotel, and DisneySea Fantasy Springs Hotel.
Hilton Tokyo Bay was the first hotel at which we stayed on Tokyo Disney Resort property, and it’s still our favorite non-Disney resort. We’ve stayed here over a dozen times in the last decade, in a range of different room types. This and the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay are our top two recommendations; we prefer the Hilton Tokyo Bay, but that’s in large part because we have Hilton Diamond Status, which affords us better benefits and upgrades when staying here.
I still fondly remember staying here during our first trip to Japan. We started in the city, booking Japanese-style accommodations in Shibuya. Our room there was the size of a large closet, and that’s no exaggeration. We were thus prepared for the worst with the Hilton Tokyo Bay, at least in terms of room size.
I was pleasantly surprised when we opened the door and found a room that was more spacious than a typical hotel room. Definitely larger than even any standard Deluxe tier room at a Walt Disney World resort hotel. We were upgraded at check-in to the Celebrio Select rooms, which was a room with modern, retro-futuristic stylization.
There are other categories of rooms, including a “Happy Magic” category, which is themed to a fairytale forest to appeal to kids. For this review, we’ll take a look at the Celebrio rooms. Although we’ve stayed in a few other room styles at the Hilton Tokyo Bay over the years, this is the one we return to time and time again for a couple of reasons.
These rooms were designed by acclaimed Tokyo interior designer Asao Nakayama of the W Design International (ironically, known as “WDI” in Japan). The rooms had a predominantly white look, with aqua and black accents to give it a very clean and crisp aesthetic.
As of the time of our latest update to this review, the Celebrio Rooms at Tokyo Disney Resort are over a decade old. Given that the style is intended to be futuristic, you might be inclined to think they’re dated as a result. Personally, I don’t find that to be the case. The rooms are in undeniably good condition (thanks to respectful Japanese guests) with almost no wear and tear.
More subjective is how well the Celebrio Rooms at Hilton Tokyo Bay have aged. Since it’s a retro-futuristic, almost alien style, I don’t think it looks like it’s from any particular time period. As such, we find them looking as good in 2023 as they did in 2013.
The rooms also have a lot of curved lines and colored lighting that guests can control to help change the mood. Just about everything lights, from the headboard of the bed, to the underside of ledges, to edge accents throughout the room. If you look at the reflection in the mirror of the bathroom photo below, you’ll notice this mood lighting in the shower.
As someone who is impressed by bright objects, I think these are awesome touches, and are some of my favorite aspects of the room. In seriousness, though, I really do like dynamic lighting like this and also Googie/futurist architecture and design, so I definitely have a bias towards this style of room.
The bathroom in the Celebrio rooms is fantastic. Even though there’s only one sink, the bathroom is spacious enough for two people to get ready at the same time, which is not true of most hotels in Japan. (As compared to Western hotels, it’s more or less normal–maybe a bit on the larger size.)
Of course, my favorite feature is the smart toilet. This puppy is packed with features, and has a counter-mounted control panel (right next to the TP). You haven’t lived until you’ve experienced the joys of a Japanese bidet!
Turning back to the main area, the beds are incredibly nice, with high quality bedding and great pillows. Hilton Tokyo Bay advertises these as using Serta Suite Dreams bedding; it’s more plush than the rock-hard mattresses found in many hotels in Japan.
There are also docks for iPhones that enable music to be played throughout the room, even in the shower. Televisions were flat, LCD displays, that featured a number of all-Japanese stations, including Tokyo Disney Resort TV (again, only in Japanese…but if you go, this station is a must-watch for its humorous Duffy segments).
The room also included a fridge, marginally-comfortable sofa, iron, hairdryer, and other amenities.
Aside from the fun, futuristic aesthetics, the main reason we favor booking the Celebrio room is because the ocean-side rooms are significantly larger than the parkside rooms: 430 square feet v. 377 square feet. It’s a noticeable size difference, and also allows the ocean rooms to accommodate more guests.
Speaking of which, we’ve done stays in these rooms with 4 adults.
As is fairly common in Japan, extra beds are simply added to the room for additional adults. If you do 4 in a Twin Celebrio Ocean room, for example, they’ll add 2 more twin beds–forming what’s essentially an uninterrupted row of beds with almost no space between them.
On a clear day, you can see Mt. Fuji in the distance from the ocean view rooms. I’ve spent many a morning gazing at it while working on that uncomfortable aqua chair (it’s actually not that bad for lounging, but it’s awkward if you’re trying to sit upright and use a laptop).
Park view rooms have views of Tokyo Disneyland. Be warned that these views are not as good as they were a few years ago due to construction of Tokyo DisneySea Fantasy Springs Hotel plus additions in the two parks. This used to be a clean view of Space Mountain and Cinderella Castle as there was only a parking lot between the Hilton and Tokyo Disneyland. That is no longer the case–so if you see view photos elsewhere that look pristine…they’re outdated.
As is the case pretty much everywhere in Japan, the staff at the Hilton Tokyo Bay is great. I have had several late nights and early mornings, and I am always greeted by someone each time I left or arrived who was eager to find out if I needed any assistance or anything for the room.
The hotel also has a coffee shop and several restaurants, including the main one where breakfast is served. This buffet is fantastic, and can be added to your reservation for a slight surcharge. Alternatively, it’s included if you’re a Hilton Diamond member. The one warning we’d offer here is that the line can be long at peak hours–so eat early or skip this. (Guests with Hilton status have an ‘express’ line that offers almost instant seating.)
Guests staying in Celebrio Select Rooms and Suites access to an exclusive lounge that offers complimentary breakfast, refreshments, evening cocktails and a private check-in and check-out service.
Again, Hilton Diamond members also have access to this–we typically do breakfast (and often dinner) here rather than the main restaurant because it’s faster and most of our favorite foods are also here. If there’s interest in a full review of this, please let me know in the comments. (It’s a very niche topic, so I’m guessing there isn’t.)
Likewise, the hotel had numerous other amenities we did not use, such as a pool and conference rooms. You can read about those amenities on its website.
In addition to monorail transportation to the parks, there are also official Disney buses that provided transportation from the hotel to the monorail station (we seldom use these, as it’s less than a 5 minute walk to the monorail station).
The hotel also offers a shuttle about twice per hour to JR Maihama Station. This is really convenient if you have luggage and are transferring to or from the city. You probably won’t want to haul your suitcases onto the monorail, especially when it’s busy.
Bringing the comparison back to Walt Disney World, I’d rate the Hilton Tokyo Bay on par with the best Deluxe Resort options in Florida, and we’ve stayed at every single hotel there. Obviously, this room lacks any Disney motifs, so if that kind of thing is important to you, one of the three hotels mentioned above is a better option.
However, it does has its own very distinct theme, as mentioned here, and it almost reminded me of something Stanley Kubrick might dream up for a set in one of his films. The room is not stereotypically Japanese, but it’s very much in keeping with the kind of quirky and striking styles you’ll find throughout Japan. It’s fun and we highly recommend the Celebrio rooms as a result.
Given the size and quality of its rooms, plus the location of the Hilton Tokyo Bay on the monorail loop, I think it’s fair to compare this hotel to a Walt Disney World Deluxe hotel. The biggest difference besides the lack of Disney branding is the lack of Disney pricing.
We’ve frequently paid around $150 per night at the Hilton Tokyo Bay, which is around half of what we typically pay at a Walt Disney World Deluxe resort-hotel. (We’ve found rooms for under $100 when Hilton has a flash sale or during the off-season, and have paid over $200 during holiday weekends.)
This is the big reason why we’ve said that a Tokyo Disney Resort trip might not be more expensive than a Walt Disney World vacation if you’re used to staying in Deluxe resorts (while the airfare will be more, this cheaper room might compensate for that).
If you can’t find a good price at Hilton Tokyo Bay, there are several other official on-site hotels along the monorail loop. You absolutely want to book one of those, and not an off-site hotel. If you plan on spending time in Tokyo, do a split stay; the commute from Maihama is lengthy (45 minutes or longer) and can be unpleasant during the morning or evening rushes.
Ultimately, the Hilton Tokyo Bay is our go-to hotel at Tokyo Disney Resort. We return here year after year, and have easily logged a month or two worth of nights here in the last decade-plus. That should really say it all in terms of whether we recommend this resort. Still, this review barely scratches the surface and there’s so much we haven’t covered–like the Christmas village in the lobby that not only features a model train and little shops, but also Shinkansen, aerial tramway, balloons and so much more.
Suffice to say, we prefer the Hilton Tokyo Bay to any of the other third party on-site hotels at Tokyo Disney Resort, including the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay. That’s also an exceptional hotel, but the Hilton gets the slight edge from us. (And that was true before we were Hilton Diamond members–so it’s not simply about status perks.)
The only hotels at Tokyo Disney Resort that “beat” the Hilton Tokyo Bay for us are Hotel MiraCosta and Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. We’d rather stay here than at Toy Story Hotel or Ambassador Hotel, and that would also be true even if money were no object. (As of our latest update, Tokyo DisneySea Fantasy Springs Hotel is not yet open, but I’m guessing that’ll also surpass this.) Hilton Tokyo Bay is a truly exceptional hotel, and is on par with the best on-site Deluxe Resorts at Walt Disney World. It’s like if Swan & Dolphin were fresher and on the monorail loop.
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
If you have stayed at the Hilton Tokyo Bay or any hotel at Tokyo Disney Resort, we’d love to hear about your experience with your hotel (including your room category)! Do you plan on staying at Hilton Tokyo Bay? Have any additional questions? Hearing from you is half the fun, so please share in the comments!
To whom it may concern,
May I know the following details of the hotel service?
1. What is the time frame schedule of your transportation service back and forth from Disney land to hotel? (First trip to last trip)
2. What is the time frame schedule of your transportation service back and forth from Narita airport to hotel?
3. How many hours/minutes travel will it take from Narita airport to the hotel via train or bus? (Kindly indicate the time difference between train and bus).
4. How many hours/minutes travel will it take from the hotel to Disneyland via train or bus? (Kindly indicate the time difference between the train and bus).
5. Is it possible to purchase a Disney ticket in the hotel’s reception?
Thank you,
Orn
Looking at going to Tokyo Disneyland in May for my son’s high school graduation present. Right now the price for Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is $331 a night and the Tokyo Bay Hilton is $234. Which is not that much of a price difference but does add up since we are staying a 5 nights. I never stay deluxe at WDW but I am tempted here. Still on the fence but I have a few more months before I can even book TDL so I have time to figure it out.
We are moving on Friday and staying in the Shinjuku area(my son wants to do the robot restaurant). I would love to stay at the Park Hyatt but at $516 a night, GASP! I think we might have to look somewhere else.
Of course if we stay at the Hilton I the savings would almost pay for one night at the Hyatt. Decisions, Decisions.
Thank you so much for writing this blog. I am used to seeing so much info for WDW but there just is not as much detailed info out there for TDL.
Where is the robot restaurant and is it called robot restaurant or something else? Thanks
Tom, we stayed in the Happy Magic room, and my 6yrs daughter said that it was her favorite hotel room in the world…hahaaha, she loved it better than The Peninsula room at Ginza, downtown Tokyo, which I have to disagree with her :D…For parents with little children, I would recommend getting the Happy Magic room with Tokyo Disney/Disney Sea view if available
Thanks for the tip on the Happy Magic Room!
Hi Tom! Love reading all your reports on Disney. You wrote “The day before we booked our stay, prices on every booking site (including Hilton.com) were around $150/night. The day we booked, prices had shot up to almost $300/night on every site..” what was the time frame?
I’m planning our trip for April 2015, currently prices @ HTBay $219. When should I book?
Oh, price includes tax & breakfast.
Price fluctuate a TON for both the Hilton and the Sheraton. I would play with your dates (consider doing a split stay at those two hotels) and check back regularly, because $219/night might become $140 or $340/night tomorrow. I’ve never seen hotel rates change as much as those two…
We stayed at the Hilton Tokyo Bay in April of 2012 and I still think about it! We stayed in one of the “happy magic” rooms, it just seemed a little more “Disneyish” (mind you the youngest of the trip at the time (me) was 25….The view of the bay from our room was amazing and a very short walk to the monorail. We loved both parks and since it was raining, we got to do everything more than once!
Really nice and so big compared to the tiny rooms usually found in Tokyo. I do have to say that you haven’t convinced me away from the 5000Y love motels, but it’s nice to know that Disney is providing a price within reach for when we have a family. PLEASE do put together some budget travel advice, at WDW I feel like I know all the tricks and tips, but at both Tokyo and Hong Kong I’m always just at the mercy of face value pricing 🙁
I’ll keep that in mind for the trip planning post!
Looks nice! I definitely plan to visit the Tokyo Disney Resort at some point!
Great review. I have visited Disney Sea about 8 years ago and am dying to go back! As a side note you need to check out the Waldorf Astoria on Disney property in Orlando, by far the nicest non-Disney hotel. Huge rooms and price usually around $200, plus Bull & Bear steakhouse yum!
Nice review and write-up, Tom. I almost stayed here on my 2010 visit when I saw a $185 rate that was supposedly the next best thing to free according to some ‘alleged’ online TDR experts.
Wound up instead at the Sunroute Arieke Plaza in nearby Odaiba for what ended up being $63 a night (hotels.com rebate from the $85 rate). It was a wonderful 3-star business hotel with free transport to the resort as an official Good Neighbor Hotel. Everyone spoke flawless English (it was sorta in a business park but within walking distance to soooo many options), had a restaurant and 24-hour Lawson’s quickee mart on the second floor.
It wasn’t luxury, but it was spotless, comfortable and convenient. And when you are not spending hundreds of dollars a night on accommodations you are basically using for sleep and shower only, that leaves so much more money to be spent on enjoying the locale. it makes no sense to me to spend more in one of the world’s priciest cities. Of course, I am never going to be getting up at 4 a.m.to photograph a park, so we all have different needs. But most others aren’t as well.
I will say that for my trip there next year, I will likely repeat my stay at Sunroute and add two nights at the Mira Costa to say I’ve done it. But I’ll likely spend most of the days there …maybe venturing out for a Starlight ticket at TDS as I could never justify spending that much for such a magnificent resort only to spend all my time in the parks!
Given the difference in the strength of the Yen in 2010 versus now, $185/night then might have been cheaper than $150 now!
I just Googled the Sunroute Arieke Plaza, and it looks very nice. Was this transportation offered prior to park opening? Obviously not everyone needs to be there at 4 am, but I would strong recommend everyone arrive 30 minutes before official opening…is that possible at the Sunroute Arieke Plaza?
As for the MiraCosta, we’re a bit torn on staying there. On the one hand, it’s so expensive that we’d want to stay in the hotel and enjoy it. On the other hand, it’s not as easy to go to Tokyo as it is Orlando or Anaheim, so we’d have reservations about lounging around the hotel with THOSE parks right outside. I ultimately think it would be worth it, but I’d probably only book a single night, or maybe 2, there.
I just recall being shocked at getting a hotel of that caliber …of any caliber in Tokyo for so little. I have sent friends there and they always have had similar rate deals.
Yes, transport at the Sunroute starts before park opening. Not sure how much, but it is about 15-20 minutes away and I know on my first day at TDL we arrived at the gates a good 45 minutes prior to opening. So, I’d guess they start 60-90 minutes prior.
The one thing is you have to ‘book’ transport the night before. All that means is telling the front desk that two people will be heading to TDS at say 8:15 and coming back at 10:15. They’ll hand you paper vouchers to hand the driver. It basically is to let them know how many buses to operate and when.
The subway line that goes go TDR is practically at the hotel as well. I used this two days (one a park day when I wanted to go in later, the other a resort tour day).
I’d also tell folks that although TDR can have crowds like you,d only see at WDW on NYE and poorly planned LTM events, there are plenty of days when that is not the case at all.
I had two blissful very uncrowded days at TDS in late Nov/early Dec. It is all about when you go.
Thanks for the info–we’ll definitely look into this place.
After seeing TDR on a Golden Week weekend versus very uncrowded off-season weekdays, you’re absolutely right about crowds, generally. However, it seemed to us like there were some attractions that have long lines regardless of how busy the park is (TSM, Hunny Hunt, Monsters Inc, JTTCOE, Buzz, Splash Mountain (maybe not in winter?), ToT, etc.). Getting these out of the way early in the morning really makes for a very pleasant rest-of-the-day. The TDR parks are definitely built to handle crowds, so on an off-season day, you truly can have a leisurely experience.
My family and I stayed at the Sheraton in August. We didn’t spend much time exploring the hotel. While the rooms were large (we comfortably fit 2 queen beds and two roll aways in our room), the rooms were definitely more dated (the bathrooms especially) than the Hilton. We had a great view of Mt. Prometheus from our room (and a distant view of the castle). I would suspect that it is a step down in quality. The staff was excellent; this is true of every hotel we’ve stayed at in Japan. The one advantage we found with the Sheraton is that it was cheaper than the Hilton and it will let six people share a room (which drives the cost down further).
Thanks for the feedback on the Sheraton. Great to have some perspective on how the two hotels might compare to one another.
I just booked two nights at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. This will probably be a once in a lifetime trip so I am willing to spend the extra money. It cost 70,000 yen for two nights (about $350 a night) for the middle of January which is off season.
But after reading your review I may decide to spend an extra day in the parks and spend a night at the Tokyo Hilton Bay. Thanks.
Tom, I’ve been loving your whole series of Japan reports! We’re going in April and I’m getting ready to book our rooms. We’re planning to stay at least 1 night at the MiraCosta (only spending 1 day at Disney Sea) but I’m wondering about the Hilton Tokyo Bay in terms of convenience for touring downtown Tokyo. Do you know what the train ride is like from the Hilton in to, say, Ginza? My original plan was to find a hotel in the Shibuya area for our first few days then transfer to MiraCosta the night before we go to Disney Sea. But the value of the Hilton Tokyo Bay has me thinking…
It is not at all convenient to downtown. The price is great, yes, but I definitely would not stay here when doing downtown Tokyo. You’d waste around 1.5-2 hours per day just on the commute.
I stayed there for 5 nights in 2011, and absolutely loved it. It’s a great hotel. I had a view of the ocean, which was beautiful and very relaxing, especially after a long day at the parks. The buffet breakfast was amazing as well. I had a ‘King Plus’ (standard design) room which was perfect. Personally I don’t like the aesthetic of the Celebrio rooms, based on the photos I’ve seen. The ‘standard’ rooms, however, were very nice.
The location is great. In fact I would say that the location is probably better that Disney’s Ambassador Hotel. The monorail system is quick and efficient. It’s worth noting that you do have to pay for it (you can get multi-day passes, and can use the Pasmo and Suico stored-value cards that are so useful in the rest of Tokyo).
I walked back a couple of times from Disneyland to the hotel. From memory it took about 10 minutes. When leaving after the evening parade and fireworks, it’s a good option if you don’t want to wait for the monorail. There are paths that go alongside and through the parking lots – the route is well signed.
We haven’t stayed at the Ambassador, but I’d agree that the Hilton (or any of the “official” hotels, for that matter) has a better location than it. That is, unless you plan on visiting Ikspiari a lot! 😉
Crazy that it’s only a 10 minute walk from Tokyo Disneyland! We thought about walking once, but ultimately decided against it (even though it seems close) because the monorail was so fun to ride.
Fabulous review! I’ve never stayed at any of the hotels at TDR (we lived about 1.5 hours away, so it was always a day trip) but in the future, I’d love to stay “on-site” when vacationing in Japan.
It’s like these pics are from a different planet. How strangely beautiful.
Great review. I’ve been to Tokyo Disney twice and stayed at the Hilton both times. First in a standard room and second in a happy magic room which was great fun and super ‘kawaii’.
I agree for the price the Hilton is great & I’m hoping to stay again soon 🙂
Great to hear that the other room categories are nice, too! Thanks!
Wow, that looks like a really nice place, especially for the price and location! Thanks for all these articles. I wouldn’t even have dared to think about a potential trip to Japan for Disney, but it sounds very doable.
How did you guys get the room upgrade?
With regard to the upgrade, my guess is “being American” is the basis for the upgrade.
Depending upon when you book, the Celebrio might be the same price or +$10, so you might just book it if that’s the case.
Is it walking distance to the park? How does it compare to, say, the Disneyland hotel, which is about a ten minute walk to the gates?
Since you’ve started these Tokyo reports I’ve been pre-planning a Japan trip, and I’m trying to wrap my head around the Disneyland part. Right now, I thinking three nights at the Hilton and two at the Miracosta as a special treat. But being in walking distance is very important to us.
It’s hard to explain, but the only hotels that are truly walking distance to the hotels are Tokyo Disneyland Hotel to Disneyland and MiraCosta to DisneySea.
With that said, there are sidewalks there, and if you wanted to walk, DisneySea would be about a 25 minute walk from the Hilton. I know this because I missed the last monorail of the night one night and had to walk from the MiraCosta to the Hilton (I got lost and made the grand circle tour…taking me an hour and a half, but it’s a 25 minute walk if you want to walk). The resort is not laid out to be a walking resort with the exception of those two hotels at those two parks. The monorail is the intended means of transportation.
It’s a 5 minute monorail ride, and the monorails are incredibly efficient at Tokyo Disney Resort. I wouldn’t even think of walking over taking the monorail.
Thanks for the reply! I was thinking of the monorail being more like at Disneyland, where it’s more of a fun novelty than a viable means of getting around. I should have realized the the Japanese would have perfected it.
We had the same room type on our trip, and we loved it! A really great hotel and the favorite of our Japan trip, including the Park Hyatt Tokyo!
Sarah preferred the Park Hyatt Tokyo, I preferred the Hilton. The level of service at the Park Hyatt was just ridiculous. Everyone there knew my name, and every time we left our room–even for an hour or so–someone came in and picked it up. It was insane.
The Park Hyatt rooms were more refined, but I still liked the retro-futurist look of the Hilton more.
Oh, the service at the Park Hyatt was wonderful, but I found it to be a little overwhelming! Every time I’d leave the elevator, I felt bombarded with attentiveness and think to myself, “Ack, just leave me alone!!” Haha, I guess I’m just not that fancy!
Wow, $150 night is a great deal! Nice to know there are affordable options that are still very nice that close Tokyo Disneyland. If flights were significantly cheaper, I’d probably have a trip booked for 2014 already.
Check out matrix.itasoftware.com and look for flights out of major West Coast cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle. It might be cheaper to fly to one of those cities, then fly to Tokyo. A normal flight booking engine *should* do that automatically, but sometimes it doesn’t work correctly.
Tempting, my wife and I could probably get two free round trip flights to L.A through a credit card sign up bonus. That could make the Tokyo flights more within reach!