Weekend at The New Sanno . Day 1

One of the nice things about being in the military are the many affordable hotels around the world. Right in the middle of Tokyo in an area called Hiroo is a really famous military hotel called The New Sanno. I went there once when I was younger with my best friend because she had a military ID. We had Sunday brunch and I remember thinking how nice the hotel was. For the past little while Mike has been trying to reserve a room for our anniversary weekend but it has remained full. Since the rooms, especially the family suites, are booked many months in advance you really have to be on the ball about making a reservation early. On Friday morning I got an email from a friend who had made reservations for 2 different family suites for the weekend but would not be able to use them. We were so excited and jumped on board to get out of Yokosuka and the lodge and have a fun weekend away with the kids. We left Friday afternoon and it only took us 1 hour to get there. It was fun driving on the different expressways, passing over many bridges and through many tunnels, seeing Tokyo Tower and finally making it into the heart of Tokyo. We felt a great sense of accomplishment after making it to the hotel without getting lost. The hotel was so much nicer than I remembered. It was like staying in a 5 star hotel. The rooms were SO NICE and it was only too bad we were only there for 2 nights. Inside the hotel are 6 different restaurants, conference rooms, a swimming pool and fitness center, a general store, a gift shop, a jewelry shop, a beauty salon, an APO (army post office), and a Navy Exchange. The parking was FREE which is a huge bonus because it costs so much to park your car anywhere in Tokyo. This means we can drive to Tokyo and park at the hotel anytime for free (even when we are not staying in the hotel). We spent the first evening having dinner and then playing in the pool. One third of the pool was divided from the rest of the pool and was only 1 1/2 ft deep so it was perfect for Abby and Emma. Emma used her floaties for the first time so she stayed in the big pool the majority of the time.