Tokyo Travel Guide
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Step Inside Design Hotels' Newest Addition: The Gate Hotel In Tokyo
Design Hotels opened their second member hotel in Tokyo (the first is the Park Hotel Tokyo) in August: The Gate Hotel Kaminarimon. We’re excited about this. Why, you may ask? Well, it’s a given that it's a sleek and 'purty' hotel with some great design features, but also because it's located on the edge of one of the city’s oldest heritage districts known as Asakusa, and the thriving, dizzying modern metropolis.
On one side you have the Kaminarimon entrance gate (Thunder Gate), which stands approximately 38 feet high by 38 feet wide, and, on the opposite end of the scale, there’s the Tokyo Skytree, the tallest freestanding broadcast tower in the world at 2,080 feet.
To make the most of this amazing view, the hotel has its minimalist lobby on the 13th floor (we hope none of you are toooo superstitious). There is also a 14th-floor terrace that’s open 24/7 to take in the scene.
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Skip Yoga for the Park Hyatt Tokyo's 'Good Night Sleep Stretch'
Final stop after the stretch
Sunrise yoga. Noontime meditation. Rush hour water aerobics. Really, we thought we'd heard of everything when it comes to lower impact fitness classes offered at hotels. That is, we thought we'd heard of everything until we got wind of the "Good Night Sleep Stretch" at the Park Hyatt Tokyo.
Sure, the hotel may be more famous for its cloud-high New York Bar where pivotal scenes of Lost in Translation were filmed, but unlike the bar with its evening cover charge, the Sleep Stretch is a free amenity for guests.
So what happens? Every Wednesday and Saturday night at 9pm in the Aerobics Studio of the hotel's Club On The Park, guests come together with an instructor to "relax and stretch [their] entire body before bed to promote a restful sleep." Simple and relaxing. And did we mention it was free?
[Photo: s.yume/Flickr]
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Dine at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo While Still Flying There
Signature at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo
So let's say you're flying long-haul from the US to Japan, and you're looking forward to a stay at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo. After arrival, you'll have a quick shower, a quick nap and then head down to the hotel's Michelin-starred restaurant to fill up and recover from jet lag, right?
Right. Except you can now begin that experience in advance of landing, since Japanese airline ANA just announced they've redeveloped their onboard menu to include offerings from Signature, the Mandarin Oriental's French-inspired restaurant. They'll hit the traytables of Business Class flyers from December through February, following September-November specials from a Michelin 2-starred ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) in Yugawara Onsen.
ANA won't be the first airline to partner up with Mandarin Oriental, either. German flag carrier Lufthansa signed up the Mandarin Oriental New York's Asiate chef to do something similar, but they were first with it. Still, better food in the skies is always the best news, especially where it involves Michelin-starred hotel restos.
[Photo: Mandarin Oriental]
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It Doesn't Open For Another Month, But Palace Hotel Tokyo Already Has Your Stay Planned Out
It's always 11pm somewhere in the world...
We like it when hotels tell us what to do. After all, they're the experts (or at least should be) on local activities, when to drink, where to visit—plus, it's always good to add a bit of structure to your hotel stay. And that's just what the newly refurbished Palace Hotel Tokyo is offering on their website—the home screen makes subtle itinerary suggestions like the best times to eat sushi, have a cocktail, visit the spa...or just laze in bed (one of our favorites).
Opening next month (May 17 to be exact), the 290-room Palace Hotel Toyko will be a re-envisioning of the original Palace Hotel, which opened in 1961 as Japan's first ever mixed use office-hotel building. That hotel was then razed in 2009 to make way for this newer, sleeker, more modernized version. Ten restaurants and bars, a Club Lounge, an Evian spa and free WiFi are some of the amenities the hotel is advertising, though we're mainly interested in the fact that all rooms supposedly have views of the gardens at Tokyo's Imperial Palace.
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Where to Score a Royal View in Tokyo
A quick tip for a stay at the ridiculously well located Peninsula Tokyo: pay the extra to secure a Deluxe Park View, because that "Park" bit actually means Imperial Palace gardens. They may be out of focus in the photo above, but can you blame us for being far more focused on a large Japanese breakfast spread at the moment?
Rooms on the park side of the hotel have commanding views of the Imperial Palace and its acres—bring mini binoculars to watch the processions, full of pomp, without having to even venture outside and join the throng of photo-snapping tourists.
At night the view is just as pleasant, since having all of these private gardens next door means it's one of the only areas in the metropolis to get truly dark—a luxury on its own.
[Photo: HotelChatter]
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A Valet for Each Car Door at the Hotel Okura Tokyo
Before you can step into the preserved 1960s modernist environment that is the grand lobby of the Hotel Okura Tokyo, you first must arrive. For many that means being driven up and around to the hotel's off-the-street- entrance, where there'll be one valet for each door that needs opening, and more still to whisk away your bags.
Anyone who has experienced classic 5-star service at a Japanese hotel can tell you that this is par for the course; the need to touch anything mundane—doors, luggage, room keys—can be erased completely by some attentive hotel staffs, and if you chose to stay at the Okura then you likely already know this.
This attention to detail, which starts at the arrival of your car, continues all the way through to the teacakes served at the hotel's patisserie. Essentially it's the art of perfection at practice.
[Photo: HotelChatter]
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How a Downtown Tokyo Hotel Handled the Earthquake
It's been a trying weekend for Japan, and the situation still remains dire with entire towns wiped out and massive rescue efforts under way. In Tokyo, life is attempting to return to normal, but limited public transportation schedules and the threat of electricity blackouts has stunted business. True to Japan's culture, however, the hotels of the city seem to be handling the crisis as gracefully as possible.
Last night, while routinely reading Twitter, we noticed that @thebaghag was relating her friend's story of being a tourist in Tokyo during the earthquake. It happened while he was staying at the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel, a popular hotel with amazing views, located in a Shibuya high-rise.
Naturally guests were evacuated, but hotel staff went above and beyond to pack for guests with departing flights:
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For the Sake of Hotel Art: The Park Hotel Tokyo's Tree of Life
Is the WiFi free? Does the gym have good machines? All these things get noticed when checking into a hotel, but what about the atmosphere of the place—specifically the art on the walls or on the floor? We're highlighting properties around the world that do their artwork right, and the specific pieces you should stare long and hard at when next you drop by.
Today: The The Park Hotel Tokyo's atrium piece by Kaïdin-Monique Le Houelleur.
Perhaps it's no surprise that, in a city so full of modern skyscrapers and buzzing technology, the artwork in Tokyo's hotels leans toward the organic. It can be a reminder of nature that re-center the guests. This is the way at the Park Hotel, where you reach the lobby half-way up the Shiodome Media Tower by traveling in an elevator with a view outside to the city quickly falling away beneath you.
The largest piece at the hotel is the handmade tree, by the self-taught French-Vietnamese artist Le Houelleur. She has done all of the art for the hotels, from the rooms straight down to little pieces near the elevators at the Park Hotel. Regardless, it's this patchwork tree that commands attention—a bit like the "tree of life" in The Lion King.
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The Last Bit of Frank Lloyd Wright's Tokyo Hotel is the Old Imperial Bar
Just as we promised, here is a look at the last remaining bits of Frank Lloyd Wright's grand 1915 design of Tokyo's Imperial Hotel.
This is the Old Imperial Bar, a smallish, tavern-like dining venue in the hotel, but totally tucked back on the mezzanine floor so that it's not some tourist-filled hotspot. Instead it's quiet and dark, the ideal place to order up the "Mt. Fuji," a cocktail recipe that's been in place at the hotel since the 1920s. We went out of our way to drop in on our own, and we don't regret the detour.
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What If Frank Lloyd Wright Designed a Hotel?
What if famous architect and designer Frank Lloyd Wright designed a hotel? Well, it's too bad he's deceased and it's even just as sad that he already did design a hotel, and it too is deceased. The pillar above is pretty much all that's left of the place that's visible, as a new hotel sits on the old location of Wright's grand Imperial Hotel Tokyo.
The Imperial Tokyo has had something of a tragic life, which, along with its reputation with luxury and superior service, has helped to make the Imperial into something of a legendary hotel. You see, the Imperial first opened in 1890, only to burn down. Then Frank Lloyd Wright received the commission to rebuild it, and the second Imperial opened with his design in 1915.
In 1923, an 8.3-magnitude earthquake damaged the hotel greatly and after many more years of use, it was demolished with its more decorative pieces—the entrance hall, most famously— carted off for display at the Meiji Mura Museum.
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For the Sake of Hotel Art: The Peninsula Tokyo's 'Void'
Is the WiFi free? Does the gym have good machines? All these things get noticed when checking into a hotel, but what about the atmosphere of the place—specifically the art on the walls or on the floor? We're highlighting properties around the world that do their artwork right, and the specific pieces you should stare long and hard at when next you drop by.
Today: The The Peninsula Tokyo's "Void" by Ben Jakober and Yannick Vu.
You've just checked in to The Peninsula and you head up in the elevator to your room floor, and the first thing that greets you when the elevator doors open are several windows that look out into....nothingness. You've just discovered one of the many artworks tucked around the Peninsula, but this is a major guest favorite. It's called "The Void" and it's literally the center of the hotel, the space they couldn't develop but could turn into an area for suspended sculpture.
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120 Years of Glory and Tragedy, and Tokyo's Imperial Hotel Still Has a Zen Garden
We'll give you three guesses as to where we took this photo of a perfectly serene little zen garden. Is it at a monastery in Japan? Noooo. Is it in the Karate Kid's backyard? Nope. Is it at a hotel in Tokyo? Bingo!
This zen garden is one of the first things that guests see when they arrive to the legendary Imperial Hotel. Long a favorite of diplomats, royalty and big-time businessmen, the Imperial has quite the history. In fact, it just celebrated its 120th Anniversary this month, on November 3. An abbreviated version of the hotel's stratospheric high times and tragic low moments (epic fires destruction!) can be found over on Wikipedia, but nothing beats being in the building yourself.
The Zen Garden can be overlooked if you rush into the energy of the luxurious lobby, but we think it's the perfect place to stop for a moment, get your bearings, and reflect on the history of the city in which you're standing. Good ol' Tokyo.
[Photo: HotelChatter]
