My parents (age 66 each) and I (age 35) just returned from 10 days in Asia which included 4 nights (Feb 7-10, 2008) at the Dai-Ichi Tokyo.

We booked two "renovated room with queen bed" rooms. The rooms were very nice and we were happy to find that the beds were actually Kings. It is true that there are only 2 english channels (CNNJapan and BBC world) but we didn't fly to Tokyo to watch television. I found the size and decor of the bedroom to be quite nice. The desk is a nice size, there are two nice lounge chairs and a small table near the window and the ~42" Plasma TV is a nice touch. The bathroom had a separate enclosed shower as well as a tub. Although the bathroom did not seem as new as the room, it was well appointed, very clean and all the toiletries you would need were provided in the case where you may have forgotten some items at home.

We did not dine in the hotel and instead chose to venture out in the city. We were lucky to have some friends in Tokyo who took us out to a number of good restaurants. I would be happy to share the names and locations for those who are interested.

The central location is great and we used the Shimbashi Metro station to take several shorts train rides to different areas in the city. Also, I recommend taking the NARITA EXPRESS from the airport to tokyo station. From there, you only need to buy a ~$1.50 ticket on the JR YAMANOTE line for a very short ride to Shimbashi station (which is a 2-3 minute walk from the hotel).

The place where Dai Ichi really excels is the staff and concierge services. No matter what kind of assistance we required, they were always eager to help and they could not have been nicer. They helped us with Narita Express return scheduling, JAL airline luggage transfer service booking, restaurant reservations as well as always helping us figure out the best way to get to different parts of the city (and they would mark each location on a map).

If you would like to stay in a nice, centrally located hotel with great staff at an affordable price I don't believe you can go wrong with the Dai Ichi Tokyo. Well done.

This hotel is below par. Heavy tobacco smell everywhere, including the "non-smoking" room. Half of the restaurants are in the basement.
I'm afraid it's anecdotal but this is an example of how cheap they can be: They offer a "breakfast included" deal but then they charge an extra 700 Y when I order cereals + fruit plate + yoghurt!
I travel to Tokyo every month and I usually stay at the Royal Park which has splendid restaurants and... a great breakfast. Too bad it was sold out this time.

As a world traveler you see some of the worst and the best. Some of the staff certainly goes out of their way for you and shows that they will try to use the rules to your advantage, on the other hand there is the Dai-ichi.
At 300$ a night you expect top notch service and at least some English, the Dai-ichi had neither.
Being that this hotel was on personal I was really excited and had high expectations...
The first day I had a do not disturb sign on and got called and woken not once but twice trying to schedule cleaning.
Then finally when we had an agreed time to get the room cleaned they showed up an hour early.
On the day of checkout they expected a 100$ additional fee to check out late even though it was new years and would do NOTHING to be flexible. The front desk staff had very broken english at best, the consierge was rude the only redeemable quality as the bell people who went out of their ways to make up for the main staff.

My wife and I spent 7 nights at the Dai Ichi Tokyo and had no regrets. The staff were outstanding, waiting to help you on anything. The concierge was very helpful and gave us great tips to get to Kamakura for a day trip. The Airport Limousine Bus stops at the Hotel so getting to/from the airport was easy. It is right next (connected via underground walkway) to the Shimbashi train station which has all three major train companies stop there (JR, Tokyo Metro and Toei), so you could take the JR NEX from Narita to Tokyo Station, then the JR Yamanote Line to Shimbashi. You can get to anywhere easily from Shimbashi. There are a ton of places to eat near by (try the stand up sushi bar a few block south, Miyako, both of us ate till we were full, with beer only $40 USD!! There is a 7 Eleven a block away that takes US ATM cards so getting cash was easy. Ginza is just a few blocks away (eat at the yakitori places under the train tracks near the Sony Building in Ginza, cheap and very good). The room was large by Japanese standards and bigger than some US hotels I have stayed in. The bathroom was huge with both a shower and a deep tub to soak in. We were on the side of the building that faces the train tracks, you can hear them but it never bothered us. Did not eat in any of the hotel restaurants or have room service, both were expensive (comparable to a nice hotel in the US). With so many great cheap places to eat near by you don’t have to. The only down side was there were only 5 channels on the TV. 2 were English (CNN International and BBC news) and the others were Japanese, although one kept showing the same program about an all women theatrical/musical group. I had wanted to watch some of those crazy Japanese game shows, but the available channels did not show any. Also they still use an actual key instead of a card key. That did not bother us, but thought that was unusual as even cheap hotels use card keys now. We would stay there again asked!!!

On a side note we were very intimidated by the train/subway system before we got there, but once you use it a couple of times its so easy to get around and is so efficient and cheap.