Tokyo now has more genuinely great hotels than any city outside London and New York. In the last five years the market has added Aman, Bulgari, Janu, the Tokyo EDITION Toranomon and Four Seasons Otemachi - all at the top tier - and the older grande dames (Mandarin Oriental, Ritz-Carlton, Peninsula) have all been renovated. The result: a Tokyo hotel scene where the choice is harder than the booking. Below is how our advisors match six of the city's best hotels to six different kinds of trip.
Aman Tokyo - the quiet, Zen-in-the-sky flagship
Aman Tokyo occupies the top six floors of the Otemachi Tower and remains, seven years after opening, the most serene hotel in the city. Eighty-four rooms and suites with 33rd-floor views over the Imperial Palace gardens, a 30-metre pool overlooking the skyline, and the largest standard rooms in Tokyo luxury (700 square feet).
For a first Tokyo trip, this is our default recommendation. Ask for a room facing the Imperial Palace rather than the Skytree - the palace-view rooms watch the seasons change in a way the city-view rooms simply do not.
Bulgari Hotel Tokyo and Janu Tokyo - the 2023-24 arrivals
Bulgari opened in April 2023 across the top seven floors of the Tokyo Midtown Yaesu tower, a two-minute walk from Tokyo Station. Ninety-eight rooms, an Italian-Japanese kitchen by Niko Romito and one of the most spectacular hotel pools in the city (25 metres, overlooking the Imperial Palace).
Janu Tokyo, Aman's more social sister brand, opened in Azabudai Hills in early 2024. 122 rooms, a genuinely enormous wellness centre (nearly 4,000 square metres), eight restaurants and bars, and a more youthful energy than Aman. If Aman is the meditation retreat, Janu is the members' club.
Hoshinoya Tokyo - the ryokan-in-the-sky option
Hoshinoya Tokyo is the answer to the question 'can I stay in a proper ryokan without leaving the city?' A seventeen-storey urban ryokan in Otemachi, with a shoes-off floor plan, futon bedding, a natural onsen carved into the top floor, and a serious kaiseki kitchen. Eighty-four rooms, all in the traditional format.
Best for return visitors who want a completely different Tokyo hotel experience, or for honeymooners who want to preview the ryokan format before an onward Kyoto or Hakone trip.
The Tokyo EDITION Toranomon and Four Seasons Otemachi - the design counterprogramming
The Tokyo EDITION Toranomon (Ian Schrager's Ando-esque tower on the 31st floor with the Blue Bar and Jade Room by Tom Dixon) is the design choice - a much younger crowd than the Aman or Peninsula, and one of the best hotel bars in the city.
Four Seasons Otemachi opened in 2020 on the top floors of a business-district tower with 170 rooms, an infinity pool at 220 metres and est., a two-Michelin-starred French restaurant that has become one of the most-booked hotel restaurants in Tokyo. For travellers who want Four Seasons service consistency with a contemporary rather than classical feel.
How to actually decide
The Tokyo hotel choice matters less than the neighbourhood. Otemachi (Aman, Four Seasons, Hoshinoya) is quiet and business-district, closest to Tokyo Station for shinkansen departures. Ginza (Peninsula, Bulgari at Yaesu, Mandarin Oriental) is the shopping and dining core. Toranomon (EDITION, Andaz) is the buzz. Azabudai (Janu) is the newest neighbourhood, still finding itself.
For a first Tokyo trip we book Aman or Bulgari. For a repeat visit, Janu or EDITION. For a very short business trip, Four Seasons Otemachi wins on shinkansen proximity.
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