Day 6: Boat Rowing at Chidorigafuchi (Imperial Moat) & Meguro River night illuminations
My dad and I woke up early and headed back to Chidorigafuchi (the imperial moat). Unfortunately, we ended up taking the wrong train and arrived thirty minutes after the boat pier had opened.
A long line was already starting to form, but in typical Japanese efficiency the line moved relatively fast, and we were on a boat after 90 minutes.
Insider’s Tip: If you are with a friend, one person can stand in line while the other explores the Chidorigafuchi moat. You’ll have at least 30 minutes each to explore the nearby surroundings. This tactic was quite popular with the local Japanese, but please only does this if you are planning on sharing a rowboat.
At the front of the line was a helper that asked what kind of boat (make sure you choose rowboat for that postcard picture) and how long you’d like to ride. While most people opt for 30 minutes, you can purchase a 60-minute ticket, which I highly recommend for those relatively new to rowing.
I’ve never actually rowed an actual rowboat before and found it surprisingly tough. It looks much easier on TV, and I recommend you familiarize yourself with the basic techniques on rowing beforehand.
After flailing around for around 20 minutes and getting tangled in a few low Sakura tree branches, my dad took over and showed me how it was done.
Speaking of Sakura trees, you’re able to row right under some magnificent Sakura blossoms and even gently touch a few branches.
The views from the boat are incredible and can’t be beaten. Words cannot describe how stunning Chidorigafuchi looks like from the middle of the moat.
Do note that quite a few tourists will be taking your picture.
If you’re traveling solo or just want a good picture with your rowing companion, I’d highly suggest finding a nearby rowboat and ask if you can swap photos, the results were postcard perfect.
Unfortunately, we lost track of time and ended back at the pier over 20 minutes late. The guard didn’t seem to really care and merely took our ticket and let us on our merry way.
I cannot stress how important it is to arrive when the first and second waves of boats are being launched. Wait times of 3 hours are not unheard of in the afternoon, which I suspect is due to late arrivals from fellow clueless tourists.
Afterwards, we took the metro to the Imperial Palace and for a quick peek of the Imperial Bridge.
We then headed towards the Tokyo Tower and ended up stumbling upon a Buddhist ceremony at the nearby Zojo-ji temple.
With the Sakura petals getting blown around, it’s hard to imagine a scene that could be more emblematic of traditional Japan found even in the most modern of cities.
Unfortunately, there aren’t too many Sakura spots nearby Tokyo Tower beside Zojo-ji, the best place I could find to get a picture was on the roadside next to Volkswagen dealership.
We then returned to the Hyatt Regency for the evening cocktail hour, and later headed to the Meguro River for its world-famous Sakura illumination. We got off at Meguro station and walked to the river, which was illuminated by traditional paper lanterns.
It turns out we got off on the wrong Meguro station and had to quickly make our way over to the section of the river next to Naka-Meguro station.
Make sure to go to Naka-Meguro Station
Both sides of the river were blanketed by Sakura trees in full bloom illuminated by bright fluorescent lights.
If you fancy a drink, plenty of stalls were selling food and pink bubbly. The atmosphere was quite festive with locals and tourists alike all joining in one big party.
The place does get extremely crowded, but if you’re brave enough to weather the crowds, you’ll see one of the best Sakura illuminations within Tokyo, if not Japan.
At 10 PM sharp the lights are shut off, so do plan ahead if you’re making the Meguro River your last stop of the day.
Exhausted from another day of walking around the city we got back to the Hyatt Regency and promptly fell asleep.
The late evening rush
Coming into this trip, I noticed pretty much every travel publication highly recommended the Imperial Moat and Meguro River. Even with such media hype, both places wildly exceeded my expectations. Do make sure to get to the boat pier early as you don’t want to spend half your day waiting in line.
Review: Ritz Carlton Koh Samui – Excellent Rooms, but Poor Service
With its beautiful coastline, sandy beaches, and the infamous full moon party held on the nearby island of Koh Phangan, Koh Samui has always been on my bucket list.
Unfortunately, prices have skyrocketed in recent years due to the influx of tourists, and many old-timers insist the paradise island is a former shadow of itself. Nevertheless, when the Ritz Carlton Koh Samui opened in late 2017, I knew I had to visit one of Thailand’s most popular tourist destinations.
I’d previously applied for the Ritz Carlton Credit Card, which had an incredible signup bonus of three free nights of almost any Ritz Carlton in the world. Unfortunately, Tier 5 properties such as the Ritz Carlton Hong Kong, the world’s tallest hotel, were excluded and I had a hard time finding the perfect place to redeem my certificates.
With my certificates expiring at the end of the year, I decided to use my certificates for the newly opened Ritz Carlton Koh Samui, during the peak Christmas period.
Base rates at the Ritz were going for $600 a night for the base room, the terrace villa suite.
Upon arrival at Samui airport, I used the app NaviGo Samui which is the local version of Uber and paid around 400 baht, a fraction of the 2000 baht the Ritz Carlton was asking for an airport pick up service.
I was dropped off at the entrance pavilion, but with no bellhop present (one of the many minor service issues) I was a bit confused on whether I was in the right area. Upon climbing the stairs, the front desk agent quickly radioed for help, and I was offered a welcome drink of sweet coconut water, along with a cold refreshing towel.
The views from the welcome pavilion were stunning.
As a Marriott Platinum member, I was upgraded to an ocean view suite and was driven by buggy to my suite. Most of the non-villa suites are located on top of a hillside overlooking the ocean, meaning you’ll need a buggy to get around, which resulted in quite a few logistical issues that I’ll cover later.
The suite itself is huge and probably one of the largest standard rooms I’ve seen at a hotel. The suite is compartmentalized into three separate sections using a slide door mechanism.
The first section is bathroom which features a beautiful, but highly impractical bathtub, along with two sinks and plenty of closet space.
The bathroom and shower were located in separate rooms.
The king-sized bed was spacious and comfortable, but for an unknown reason, the hotel put a small lounging space in front of the bed.
The living area consisted of a small work desk and lounging area. Unfortunately, while the sofa looked aesthetically pleasing, whenever we sat on the couch the cushioned kept falling out.
Outside there is a balcony area with lay down area, which was similarly lovely to look at but lacking in the functional department as two people could barely lie down and the pillows not providing much support.
While I was grateful to be upgraded to an ocean-view suite, there was hardly any view as a bunch of trees covered all but a sliver of the sea. A quick phone call to the front desk the following morning resulted in a promise of a room with a much better view.
After taking a quick jog around the resort, I arrived back only to notice my baggage still hadn’t come after an hour. After pestering the front desk, my luggage finally arrived, with no explanation or apology given.
While waiting for my friend to arrive from a later flight, I headed back to the welcome pavilion to catch the amazing sunset.
The next day we explored the public areas of the hotel, many of which were unfinished and it was apparent they opened the hotel before it was fully ready.
One thing I was looking forward to was to snorkel in the “house reef,” which turned out to be an artificial reef in literally a pool.
The beach was frankly disgusting with trash lying around. The front desk assured me the beach was being cleaned daily, but it sure didn’t look like it.
Similarly while walking to the pool, I saw garbage bags lying on the side of the main path. I understand the hotel is still under construction, but for a luxury hotel, it was a bit odd to see everything disorganized.
Construction everywhere
The sand was incredibly coarse and rough, and parts of the beach not suitable for walking, even with the provided hotel sandals. If you’re looking for that perfect white smooth sand, the private beach will be a slight letdown.
However, the views are stunning with a rock formation butting right outside serving as a natural water breaker and leading to some incredible pictures of the waves crashing against the rocks.
Instead of a standard gym, the Ritz Carlton set up a Muay Thai boxing ring surrounded by your typical workout machines.
The design of the gym was pretty spectacular, and it even had free apples.
The pool area is the centerpiece of the hotel, with stunning views of the crashing waves nearby and lounging chairs within the pool itself.
On top of the pool area is a lounging area that seemed sparsely used.
The pool was also home to the most reasonably priced restaurant within the resort and each day we had lunch poolside, with the seafood pizza being particularly delicious and filling.
Breakfast was not included for award redemptions and priced at a sky-high price of 1500 THB per person (around $50), and we opted to snack on our food until the pool restaurant opened.
However, we were charged a 300 Baht fee to reheat foot brought in from a local Samui restaurant. To be fair the dishes were well plated, but the price seemed a bit stiff.
After lounging a few hours beside the pool, the room manager escorted us to our upgraded room, a pool villa right next to the swimming area.
Similarly to the regular suite, the room is divided into three sections: bedroom, living area, and bathroom.
I particularly liked the architecture of the bedroom ceiling and the subtle attention to detail, such as positioning the table to provide a perfect reflection of the pool.
Mirrorception
Additionally, the bathroom area has indoor plants, with the same small bathtub overlooking the veranda.
Outside there was a private veranda with two lounging chairs and an outdoor deck with a dining table.
The plunge pool was large enough to wade around in, although the weather was a bit chilly the first two days and diving into the pool was not the most comfortable of activities. On the last day of our stay the sun finally came out, and the weather warmed up enough to use the pool outside comfortably. As the sparkling wine flowed and the sound of waves crashing into the rocks in the background, we finally got to experience the Koh Samui magic briefly.
Around 15 minutes after 4 PM, a staff arrived with a buggy, and we headed a separate check out pavilion where I settled my bill of approximately $140 in food charges.
We then drove to our awaiting Navigo driver and headed back to Samui airport.
Overall, while the hard product was excellent, the same could not be said about the service here, particularly when compared to other five star Thai hotels. In fact, my friend even commented how her stay at a $100 a night hotel in Phuket has a vastly superior level of service, which is saying something.
One of the major issues was the slow buggy service. We’ve had multiple times where the buggies never actually game, and around half the time we just ended up walking to the main path and hailing any buggy driving by. If you plan on ordering food or any room service, be prepared to wait at least 30 minutes before a staff member shows up.
If you’re stuck in a standard suite this would be an issue as it’s located quite far from any of the common areas of the hotel within a rather tall hill, so walking would not be comfortable.
It’s no surprise that I later learned that the hotel is way understaffed to the tune of needing to hire at least 50% more workers.
A couple of times I saw local staff playing with their phones out in public, not to mention a relatively weak grasp of English that made communication difficult. For example, when my friend ordered a plate of Carbonara pasta that wasn’t on the menu, she was quoted 400 THB. However, later when the bill came we were instead charged 650 THB plus the obligatory tax and tip.
A silver lining is that the western trained staff and managers exhibited exemplary service that you’d expect at a luxury chain. Eventually, whenever an issue popped up, I began avoiding the locally trained staff and opting to go straight to them.
Internet speeds were also barely usable, hovering around 1-2 Mb/s, making it useful for just the bare essentials.
The rooms themselves at the Ritz Carlton are among the top of the line, with the base terrace & ocean view suite incredibly spacious, if not ideally located in a complex that looked more apartment block rather than a luxury resort.
The base suite rooms almost feel segregated from the rest of the resort, located all the way on the backside of the hill, and I wouldn’t pay even close to what they are currently charging.
The property is an excellent choice for those looking to burn their free nights that come with Ritz Carlton Card, especially if used in conjunction with an award redemption at the Conrad Koh Samui.
However, if you’re looking to get the Koh Samui experience, you’ll need to book at least an ocean view villa or hope for an off chance upgrade, which is slim.
It goes without saying that the ocean view villas are stunning and well designed and among the best rooms on the entire island of Samui.
But at over $1000 for an ocean view villa, such a high price demands perfect service, and in that regard the Ritz Carlton failed to deliver.
The current sign up bonus for the Ritz Carlton credit card is now two nights free for any Tier-4 property, including the Ritz Carlton Koh Samui.
