Remember my last post about Imperial Hotel in Tokyo where I left in a hurry because of a Monobloc stool in the bathroom?
Well, something really strange came to mind and this is what happened.
Last June, I went to Tokyo with my brother Dennis who booked us at Imperial Hotel using his corporate rate (cheap).
This was my bedroom
and this was the bathroom
Check out the floor tiles and the side of the bathtub 
and the Monobloc stool in the shower. Gross.
I just had to get out. At first I went to Tripadvisor to check out the options, bathroom-wise (not much). I then called the Front Desk for help to transfer to another room with a better bathroom. I really don’t mind paying for an upgrade.
So this man came up and showed me an equally scary room and bathroom in the same wing. I refused it.
He took me to another wing which was being renovated. The bathroom was slightly better. I was about to take it when he told me I would be the ONLY guest in that wing because it is noisy because of construction. Of course I was scared.
I made references to Jack Nicholson in The Shining. He merely laughed at me.
With that, I made a decision to move to the Andaz Tokyo. Luckily I was able to check out of the Imperial without any penalty—thank God for that.
And then I remembered something.
In 2009 I remembered having had a pleasant stay at Imperial Hotel, so I went through my archives.
In April 2009, this was the bedroom I shared with my sister Ana.
and this was our bathroom!!
Look at the beautiful tiles and stool—it is not Monobloc!
It is a Prince Aha stool by Kartell!
So they did have better bathrooms in the hotel! Were they fully booked then?
It makes me wonder why the man told me that all bathrooms at Imperial looked like the bathroom I had.
Most hotels will offer you a better room if you ask for it, for a higher price—I would’ve taken that because I have done it before.
On the positive side, I discovered the Andaz Tokyo which was great, more expensive, but bad location.
As for Imperial Hotel, I will never go back. Location is good, but if bathrooms are important to you, don’t stay there.
You can read about my 2009 stay HERE.