Hello everyone. I am currently planning a trip in the spring of 2023 and have a few questions regarding the hotel concierge services that are utilized to book restaurants (primarily fine dining). A big focus of my trip will be on food and am looking for a few tabelog awarded/michelin restaurants. I know many of these are very difficult to book and will require bookings months in advance which I am prepared for. With that in mind, I have a few questions below.
1. Will the price and rating of the hotel have a large impact on their ability to book something like this for me? (4 star vs 5 star)
2. Does anyone have any experience or recommendations between hotels purely based off the concierge services? (Example comparison would be Mandarin Oriental vs Grand Hyatt)
3. Does anyone know of 1-3 star restaurants or tabelog awarded ones that have reservation process that’s easy and similar to one’s found in North America I.e. Tock?
Thank you very much for the help!
11 comments
I used Pocket Concierge to do some fine dining reservations. I also had success by calling some restaurants directly and they had no problem speaking english and finalizing the reservation per mail.
Have you looked into companies like Omakase and Pocket Concierge? For the restaurants that require super advanced booking, this is your best bet. Your hotel is only really going to be helpful for things booked during your stay — or closer to your stay. Many restaurants open up their books 2-3 months in advance with COVID. I had to make a booking last month for a May date, for a 3-star Michelin, for example.
I used Omakase last year for my anniversary dinner and both Pocket Concierge and Omakase this year. No issues with either. For anything Michelin/ultra-trendy, you’ll need that “in” for your first visit, unless you’re connected otherwise.
> Does anyone know of 1-3 star restaurants or tabelog awarded ones that have reservation process that’s easy and similar to one’s found in North America I.e. Tock?
Many of the starred restaurants in Tokyo can be booked via online concierge; many cannot. Are there some in particular you’re thinking of? Also, have you checked the website of those restaurants? The info is usually there.
if you are planning on staying in top tier hotels their concierge should be able to help you. many high end restaurants are reluctant to give reservations to foreigners
**何かをし遂げる方法はさまざま**(There’s more than one way to skin {kill} a cat).
If you have an AMEX Platinum card, concierge-like services are available for free.
Upgrading from an AMEX Gold card (or even an AMEX Green card in very good standing/high credit score) would cost $695 annual fee but will give you airport lounge access perks, a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee waiver, an annual airline fee credit, Uber credits, medical evacuation travel protection, travel insurance, etc…the premium travel/evacuation insurance costs more than $650 fee.
In my prior Japan trip I wrote to the concierges of hotels where I reserved several months in advance. I got lunch and dinner reservations in Fukuoka (Hyatt), Osaka (Conrad), and Tokyo (Conrad and Hyatt). All but one were 1* and 2* Michelin. And other than 1 Kaiseki in Nara, all were sushi restaurants.
Rules for all was that I needed to supply CC in advance to guarantee the spot (cancellation varied but was generally 1 week or more), and could only be reserved for days I was staying the the hotel.
>Will the price and rating of the hotel have a large impact on their ability to book something like this for me? (4 star vs 5 star)
I’ve found its a combination of hotel star rating and location matters. Typically anything 4 stars and higher can make reservations most places for you. However, there are some exceptions. For example some places like Sushi Saito do not accept reservations from first timers and you have to go with someone who has been there before. Other places do not take reservations from third parties and you have to arrange the reservation yourself directly. As long as you make your hotel reservations well in advance as soon as you do contact the concierge there and let them know which restaurants you’re interested in and give them your booking number so they can verify you’re a guest. I believe the only limitation you have is that they will only book reservations during your stay with them.
> Does anyone have any experience or recommendations between hotels purely based off the concierge services? (Example comparison would be Mandarin Oriental vs Grand Hyatt)
I’ve been pretty happy with Peninsula and Conrad for concierge services.
> Does anyone know of 1-3 star restaurants or tabelog awarded ones that have reservation process that’s easy and similar to one’s found in North America I.e. Tock?
L’Efferences, Quintessence, and Nihonryori-Ryugin are on https://omakase.in/ There might be others.
I stayed at Ritz in Kyoto and managed to get Ogata (2*, highest rated Kyoto restaurant on tabelog) and Kuishinbo Yamanaka. Also tried Aca°1 but they were fully booked. If you stay at one of these high end hotels it is likely you can go through their concierge and have no need for the extra fees incurred booking through a site like tableall. Just make sure you ask the hotel to book ASAP, for reference Ritz booked the moment Ogata opened its reservations and we still had to settle for a different date than desired.
Regards to question 3, there are definitelt some restaurants with a 4.0 rating or higher that are not insanely difficult to book, but you’ll have to do your research.
Hope that helps!
Edit: Just would like to add on that I would definitely put more stock on tabelog ratings/awards than michelin ratings or top 50 lists for restaurants in Japan
Thank you everyone for all the help I really appreciate it!
If you are looking fornthat style.of dining I would recommend you get a single travel consultant to set all of these up for you.
Also, don’t sell the smaller places short, food in Japan is an amazing experience, and the smaller places have just as good or better food, they just have a different atmosphere and presentation for the food.
Do you have a premium credit card such as the chase sapphire reserve or Amex Plat? Not sure about others, but these two cards offer a concierge service that was super helpful when I was booking restaurants in Japan.
I basically called up my concierge and told them the dates I was there and the restaurants I was interested in booking and they took care of it all. For reference, I went to places like Kikunoi, Molecular Tapas Bar, Sembikiya, Kichi Kichi omurice, and even some less known places like ibuki sukiyaki and a few teppanyaki places.
Yes, work through your hotel. Also look for reviews that specifically rate the concierge to get an idea of what their service is like (language if that matters, turn around time, proactive, etc.)
Most of what I remember is maybe a few years old info, so take it with a spoonful of salt. I’ve heard that Tokyo Station Hotel is absolutely amazing. I’ve generally have had good experiences with any hotel around or above Westin Tokyo level. Ideally you want to give the hotel as much lead time as possible (I aim for 3-4+ months). They’ll contact the restaurant and find out when reservations open and let you know the options.
Honestly price doesn’t matter much. It all comes down to mostly how good the concierge is and whether they have a relationship with the restaurant and maybe a little bit on the hotel’s brand. For example, I’ve booked the same places on separate occasions through The Westin Tokyo and The Peninsula and there was really no difference.
There are Tock like sites now and others have listed some. I don’t have too much to add here other than it could make access to certain restaurants easier.
FWIW I’ve gone with a concierge’s recommendation a few times after my selections fall through, and somehow every single one has been disappointing. I’m not sure if it’s all bad luck or their criteria for recommendations don’t match what I’m looking for, but I’d suggest thoroughly vetting any restaurant that’s provided as an alternate.