The official release date of Yamazaki Limited Edition 2021 and Hibiki Blossom Harmony was May 25, 2021. Some have gotten lucky, but most of us haven’t. If you must own a bottle, consider taking advantage of Hotel Metropolitan’s limited-time plans offering in-room bottle service.
JR East Japan’s original Hotel Metropolitan is in Ikebukuro. The hotel has announced some new plans that include:- 1 night stay for 2 in an Executive Deluxe King Room (non-smoking)
- A bottle of either Yamazaki Limited Edition 2021 or Hibiki Blossom Harmony delivered to your room (any time after check-in, which is 3PM earliest) alongside ice, water, soda, and Bar Orient Express glasses to keep
- Amuse-bouche
Plans that include Hibiki Blossom Harmony are 55,000 yen with all of the above, and plans that include Yamazaki Limited Edition 2021 are 70,000 yen. Those prices include tax and service fees as well.
Looking at Hotel Metropolitan’s rack rates, an Executive Deluxe King Room starts at 30,000 yen for 2 people. So the Hibiki and associated services equates to about 25,000 yen, and the Yamazaki around 40,000 yen. Depending on your mindset, that’s either a huge ripoff, or somewhat reasonable because you’re sort of paying for a whole experience rather than just a bottle.
If you fall into the latter group, be aware that there’s a catch. You can’t take the bottle home! Instead, after your stay, your bottle will be held for you at the hotel’s Bar Orient Express. You’ll be issued a Bottle Keep Card when the bottle is brought to your room, enabling you to come back and drink it in the future (and that’s not free either). So while you’ll “own” the bottle, you’re not exactly free to drink it whenever you want.
Reservations for stays from the night of June 9 to June 28 begin on June 7 at 12PM JST. Only 20 bottles of each are available, and I expect them to move quite quickly. You can book here for the Yamazaki LE 2021 plan, and here for the Hibiki Blossom Harmony plan.
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