There are several ways for tourists to reach from the city to the airport or from airport to the city. In Europe, usually people have to take either train, taxi, chauffer driven car or bus. This is same in Japan but bus in Europe can be local bus or airport bus but local bus is not common in Japan.
Buses connecting the city centers and the airports in Japan are mostly airport bus which has fixed fare and does not have ordinary bus stops. Then, these airport buses do not only depart and arrive at main stations or bus terminals but also depart and stop at major hotels too.
Airport buses in Europe also stop on the way from airports to main stations but never seen a bus which stops in front of a hotel. Therefore if you take an airport bus from airport, you have to walk, take taxi or take a train from the bus stop which you get off to reach your hotel. On the other hand, if you stay at the hotel in Tokyo which airport bus calls, you do not have to walk at all.
There are around 50 routes connecting Narita airport, the primary international airport for Tokyo metropolitan area. I think there is no city outside of Japan in the world which has similar number of routes offered by airport buses.