A few months ago, I wrote about the steady disappearance of complimentary hotel shuttle buses that have become a rarity ever since the pandemic, but now I’ve seen these buses making a comeback.
Previously some hotels have operated shuttle buses between their locations in large metropolitan areas and the city center, but that quickly stopped during Covid and then it simply never came back until recently.
The reason why hotels offer shuttles, to begin with, is largely dependent on the location of the property, for example, airport hotels pretty much have to provide a shuttle to the terminal, and there is hardly any way around it. However, some airport properties are getting brazen and simply tell their customers to take a taxi or Uber, not offering anything.
In my previous article from October, I noticed this change with the hotels in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district, where pretty much all international and local chains offered buses before that had simply been discontinued:
Back then, I criticized some hotels, such as the Hilton Shinjuku, Park Hyatt Tokyo, and Hyatt Regency Tokyo, for the withdrawal of their shuttle service but my most recent experience this week showed that at least the Hilton and the Park Hyatt have finally reinstated their bus service.
The Hilton bus I saw waiting in the driveway of the hotel and also departed the Shinjuku Station stop.
Park Hyatt Tokyo’s minibus is also back in service and I’ve used it a couple of times now while staying there as well as when visiting their F&B Outlets.
Here is their current schedule:
*A complimentary shuttle bus service (between Shinjuku L-Tower and Park Hyatt Tokyo) is available daily.
*Guests will be required to wear masks.
Hours
From Hotel Entrance to Shinjuku L-Tower
11:00, 11:30, 12:00, 12:30, 13:00, 13:30, 14:00, 14:30, 16:00, 16:30, 17:00. 17:30, 18:00, 18:30, 19:00, and 19:30
From Shinjuku L-Tower to Hotel Entrance
11:15, 11:45, 12:15, 12:45, 13:15, 13:45, 14:15, 14:45, 16:15, 16:45, 17:15, 17:45, 18:15, 18:45, 19:15 and 19:45
The frequency of the shuttle is decent, although they have reduced it to twice per hour rather than the 20 mins departure cycle as it used to be in the past.
I asked the Park Hyatt to figure if the Hyatt Regency bus is operating again as well but unfortunately, that is not the case, as I was informed later:
All the while, the daily rate of the hotel climbed back to pre-Covid levels or even higher to make up for previously lost revenue.
Here is the notice on the website of the Hyatt Regency Tokyo:
The shuttle was always a very useful feature when staying at either the Hilton or the Hyatt Regency.
Sometimes there are hotels that are a bit on the outskirts of the city center but still want to attract travelers so a shuttle bus is offered to maintain a transportation link and attract visitors (especially tourists). This is not the case in Shinjuku which is very well connected even by public transport, but other destinations for sure.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, many hotels have taken the red pen to their shuttle services and cut those in the name of Covid, but even after the pandemic was long over, some properties never put the shuttles back into operation. Thankfully some did, as in the examples above.
Especially the shuttles in Tokyo were always very useful. Maybe we’re lucky, and eventually, all the hotels will eventually put the transport shuttles back into operation just like the Hilton, and Park Hyatt did. There is also the Shinjuku WE Bus that can be taken for 100 Yen and offers easy transportation around Shinjuku in case you’re staying there.
