My husband and I stayed at the Four Seasons Chinzan-so during Christmas in 2002. (Sorry for submitting such an old review but we'd like to share our pleasant experience.) The hotel is a bit far from the city but its surroundings well made up for it. It is located in a historical Japanese garden, which is perfect for taking pictures. The interior of the hotel was very elegant with all kinds of Japanese and Western antinque. Our room was huge for Japanese standards, spotless clean and very lovely. From the room we had a great view of the garden. The bathtub was huge, enough room for 2. We ate dinner at the Japanese restaurant which was very good but pricy. We had an early flight on the departure day and service at check-out was extremely swift. Because we didn't have time for breakfast, we were given warm muffins (delicious!) while we waited to be checked-out. We loved our warm stay and will definitely return next time we visit Tokyo.

My family stayed on property for Sakura 2007. We had an amazing garden view suite, which was large and comfortable. The service was impeccable. The gardens are breathtaking.

While the hotel is a five minute walk to the train station, it is a lovely river walk. I never minded that a bit! We prefer the quiet after the intensity of the city, so for us, this location offered the best of both worlds.

We stayed for 10 days, so really got to know the staff and surroundings - we heartily recommend this property!

We have stayed at numerous Four Seasons Hotels domestically and outside the USA. We return because we feel we are getting cutting-age service and accomodations. We thought the room at the Chinzan-so was comfortable with the prerequistite ammenities but we had spend a few days earlier in the week at the Park Hyatt. The contrast was telling. The Park Hyatt was a slick, fine-tuned machine with ammenities and decor which were on the cutting-edge and more in tune with 2007 than the dated Four Seasons. The Chinzan-so we found shabby and dated and in need of an expensive renovation if it intends to compete with the new Penninsula and Ritz Carleton. We almost were drowned in weddings which surrounded us during the course of our stay at the Four Seasons. It appears as if the hotel is focusing more on the wedding business rather than their upgrading their hotel rooms. We felt that we were in the midst of a wedding factory.

This is a wonderful hotel that is far superior to an average Four Seasons in the US. The staff got out of the way to assist me with my incessant questions about restaurants and my travel arrangements. I did notice that they almost always have at least one staff who is a native speaker of English on duty. (All of the local staff can speak excellent English anyway.) The cliente consisted of business people and wealthy, well-dressed locals.

The rooms are huge and bigger than a lot of hotel rooms in the US and
other countries. The bathroom is luxuriously equipped with a TV over the tub. The onsen is small but nice. I cannot rave enough about the pool area which seems like an oasis. I'd suggest guests to explore the Chinzanso garden surrounding the hotel to escape from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. Further, the Edogawabashi area is worth exploring on foot, as it has plenty of stone-paved alleys and traditional style Japanese buildings.

The only issue about this hotel is the location. It's neither right next to the JR train station (it's a 2-minute taxi ride from the Mejiro JR station) nor close to major business districts. Yet, if it were close to the station, then the hotel wouldn't have the tranquile
and private atmosphere.