Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel and Towers

Rooms and decor

The Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel and Towers connects straight into Yokohama Station through the Sky Building, so you never step outside or drag a bag through the rain — from Tokyo Station it is about 25 minutes on the JR Tokaido Line, then a 1-minute walk from the West Exit to the lobby. That lobby runs grey, white and gold under a 12-metre ceiling with public art on the walls. Marriott Bonvoy members point to the Club Tower King at $184 a night — 32 sqm on the 26th floor, reached by a separate Club Tower lift open only to Club guests and Platinum members and above. The room is cream, brown and gold in classic Sheraton style, with a 200×200 cm King Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed that reviewers call genuinely soft, Egyptian-cotton sheets and a 7 sqm marble bathroom holding a jacuzzi tub and a rain shower with Le Grand Bain toiletries. Wi-Fi runs at 300 Mbps.

Food and amenities

For dinner, reviewers steer you to Teppanyaki Sagami, the hotel's teppanyaki room, where the Kobe Beef Course is $122 a head — 8 courses that open with three pieces of sashimi and a hamaguri clam soup, move through seared foie gras, a poached lobster tail and 200 grams of Kobe Beef A5 cooked in front of you, then finish with garlic rice, pickles, miso soup and mango sorbet. The whole thing runs 1.5 hours. Chef Sagami is past 60 and has worked here since the restaurant opened in 1998; his hands do not shake, and the A5 marbling all but melts. Bonvoy Platinum and Diamond members get Club Lounge access — free snacks, a free cocktail happy hour from 17:00 to 19:00 and free breakfast. Beyond the food there is a 20-metre indoor pool, a spa and a 24-hour fitness centre.

Location and getting there

The other draw is using Yokohama Station as a base around Kanto. A morning train on the JR Yokosuka Line takes 25 minutes to Kamakura — the Great Buddha, Hasedera Temple and the Komachi-dori shopping street — and back by 17:00. From there the Tokyu Toyoko Line runs 30 minutes to Shibuya, past the Scramble Crossing and up to Shibuya Sky. Another day, the Romancecar from Yokohama runs 50 minutes to Hakone-Yumoto for onsen, Lake Ashi and the Hakone Open Air Museum. Reviewers love that you come back to the same room every night — no hotel changes, no hauling luggage.

Things to know before booking

The catch is the waterfront. The Sheraton sits 2 km from Cosmo Clock 21 and Minato Mirai, so you take a 4-minute Minato Mirai Line ride rather than walking, and there is no bay view here the way there is at the Minato Mirai hotels. The building opened in 1998 and only parts of it have been renovated since, so some corners feel their age. None of that touches the transit access, which is the reason to stay.

Our take

The Yokohama Bay Sheraton is the best pick for using Yokohama as a Kanto base — 1 minute from the West Exit, 6 rail lines, Marriott Bonvoy and Teppanyaki Sagami, scoring 8.7/10 at $170–184 (about $170–184) a night, roughly 30% cheaper than Minato Mirai. It is for business travellers, anyone who treats the station as a hub, and Bonvoy members who want the lounge.