Hi Deb

There are a few more recent reviews on Asiarooms.

Judy

Get off the Shinkansen at Shinagawa station. Go through the transfer gates, not the ones that take you to the exit. Look for signs for the Yamanote Line. My guess is that there will be English signage pointing which train goes to Meguro--platform 2 I think. It's about three stops from Shinagawa. At Meguro, looks like you want the West Exit.

The hotel's map is not too good and I suspect it's more than two minutes from the station: http://www.princess-garden.co.jp/index1.html

Try printing this out:

wikimapia.org/…2

If this works, the hotel will be top-center and the station near the bottom. It's about a quarter of a mile from the station.

I live near there and while I haven't stayed there, the hotel interior and the lunch buffet are decent, but it's a older place. I walk past it at least twice a week and there are always foreigners coming in and out. This is the hotel that Alberto Fujimori holed up in until 2005, after he fled from Peru.

Also the crappy hotel map makes it seem like it's right next to the Tokyu Store, when it's not, you have to walk up the street a couple minutes more. There's also a good liquor store Shinanoya across from it and the italian restaurant Italia that you will pass on the left when walking there from the station is pretty good too. The area around Meguro station is semi-residential/semi-commercial, and there are some good places to eat/drink, but there are very few "destination" shops, and I doubt it will be the highlight of your trip. If you need additional recs for the area please don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks heaps guys for your replies.

Roger: I have saved the excellent map reference you gave me and it is now stored on my laptop ready!

Judy: I have checked out those reviews and am feeling a bit better about our choice now, thanks.

RamenTokyo: great to hear your impressions of the hotel and surrounding area, thanks. We could not afford accomm in Shibuya but at least Meguro is only a few stops away from some of the 'tourist' stops so will be using the hotel as the "rest station" and not anticipating doing much in the area.

Feeling more confident about the train travel every day as I check out the forum and note all the great advice given here!

Deb