Big in Japan

• Park Hyatt Tokyo map
  Shinjuku — the 52-storey tower in West Shinjuku, made famous by Lost in Translation. The film's interiors are real: same lobby, same library, same New York Bar. Refined, calm, deeply established. Currently undergoing renovation through 2025.
• The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo map
  Roppongi — occupies the top nine floors (45F–53F) of Tokyo Midtown, the highest hotel in central Tokyo. Vast Mt Fuji views from west-facing rooms. Towers (51F) is arguably the city's most polished destination restaurant.
• Mandarin Oriental Tokyo map
  Nihonbashi — the lobby starts on the 38th floor, in a building styled after a forest. Famous for one of the world's most decorated hotel restaurants (K'shiki) and a spa with floor-to-ceiling Skyline views.
• Aman Tokyo map
  Otemachi — the most extraordinary lobby in Tokyo: a 30-metre-high atrium built around a stone garden, with washi-paper walls and a fireplace at its centre. Aman's Tokyo flagship occupies the top six floors of Otemachi Tower.
• The Peninsula Tokyo map
  Marunouchi — directly facing the Imperial Palace gardens. Old-school grand service, the Hong Kong-Peninsula tradition transplanted. Peter (top floor) and The Lobby are both Tokyo institutions.
• Four Seasons Otemachi map
  Otemachi — the newer (2020) Four Seasons, with vast windows opening to the Imperial Palace from above. Less famous than the sister Marunouchi property but considerably more refined.
• Bulgari Hotel Tokyo map
  Yaesu — the newest of the city's flagship hotels (opened 2023), occupying the top floors of the Tokyo Midtown Yaesu tower. Italian luxury, jewellery-house aesthetic, breathtaking Tokyo Station and Imperial Palace views.
• Janu Tokyo map
  Azabudai Hills — Aman's bolder, younger sister brand, in the city's newest mega-complex. Eight restaurants, an enormous wellness floor. The 2024 opening that Tokyo's hotel world is still talking about.
• Conrad Tokyo map
  Shiodome — the most dramatic bay views of any Tokyo hotel, looking across Hama-rikyū Garden, Tokyo Bay, and (on clear days) Mt Fuji. Cerise (28F) is the destination French restaurant.
• Andaz Tokyo map
  Toranomon — design-led Hyatt boutique brand, atop Toranomon Hills. The Rooftop Bar (52F) is one of Tokyo's most fashionable evening destinations.
• EDITION Tokyo, Toranomon map
  Toranomon — Ian Schrager's contemporary luxury hotel, with a stunning Tokyo Tower-facing rooftop. Younger, more design-forward atmosphere than the older grand hotels.
• InterContinental Tokyo Bay map
  Hamamatsuchō — bay-side, with sweeping Rainbow Bridge and Odaiba views. The classic IHG presence in Tokyo — comfortable, central, and well-priced compared to its peers.
• Hilton Tokyo Odaiba map
  Odaiba — directly on Tokyo Bay, with arguably the city's best view of the Rainbow Bridge lit up at night. Curved balconies on most rooms, a 1.5km waterfront promenade just outside. Family-friendly, with the Odaiba beach and Gundam statue a short walk away. The Tokyo Bay sunset stay.

• Hotel New Otani Tokyo map
  Kioichō — the hotel with the famous garden. A 10-acre Japanese garden, parts of it 400 years old (originally a samurai estate from the Edo period), is preserved in the heart of central Tokyo — ponds, stone bridges, waterfalls, surrounded on all sides by glass towers. Walk into the lobby and the city vanishes. The strawberry shortcake at SATSUKI (the lobby café) is itself famous. Right beside the Imperial Palace moat.
• The Imperial Hotel Tokyo map
  Hibiya — Tokyo's most historically resonant hotel, open since 1890. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed second building (1923) famously survived the Great Kantō earthquake on the day it opened. Wright's original lobby was demolished in 1968 but elements survive in the Old Imperial Bar. Direct view of the Imperial Palace.
• Hotel Okura Tokyo map
  Toranomon — the legendary mid-century-modern Japanese hotel (opened 1962, rebuilt 2019). The new lobby preserves the iconic original — the hexagonal lanterns, the plum-blossom screens, the soft modernist serenity that made Okura beloved of design pilgrims. Near the US Embassy.
• Palace Hotel Tokyo map
  Marunouchi — literally next to the Imperial Palace moat, with rooms whose balconies overlook the palace grounds (a privilege almost no other hotel in Tokyo offers). Quiet, refined, and arguably the most Japanese-feeling of the modern luxury hotels.
• Hoshino Resorts — The Brand Worth Knowing 星野リゾート
  Japan's most ambitious modern hospitality group, with four distinct sub-brands worth recognising. Hoshinoya (luxury — Hoshinoya Tokyo, Hoshinoya Kyoto, Hoshinoya Karuizawa); KAI (modern onsen ryokan across Japan); OMO (urban-explorer hotels designed for active travel — OMO5 Tokyo Otsuka, OMO3 Asakusa); BEB (casual lifestyle, for the younger generation). All four bring distinct identities while sharing the group's exacting Japanese-design standards.
• TRUNK Family map
  Japan's homegrown design-hotel brand. TRUNK(HOTEL) Shibuya (the Cat Street original — already mentioned) and the newer TRUNK(HOTEL) YOYOGI PARK (2023) — 25 rooms facing Yoyogi Park, exposed concrete and Nordic-Japanese minimalism, a rooftop infinity pool with the park as backdrop. Lifestyle-led, beautifully done.
• Hotel Niwa Tokyo map
  Suidobashi — a mid-priced Japanese boutique with a tiny rock garden in the lobby, traditional touches in every room, and a quiet personality that punches well above its price. The local-Tokyo alternative to the international chains.

You don't need to stay to drink and dine here. Some of Tokyo's most memorable evenings are spent in hotel lobbies and on hotel rooftops you can walk into.

• New York Bar & Grill (Park Hyatt, 52F) map
  The bar from Lost in Translation. Live jazz, glass walls overlooking the Shinjuku skyline, the most photographed cocktail in Tokyo. Cover charge after 8pm but worth it. Smart casual required.
• Old Imperial Bar (Imperial Hotel) map
  A small, dim, deeply atmospheric bar incorporating original 1923 Frank Lloyd Wright architectural elements that survived the Imperial Hotel's demolition. Sit at the counter and you're in a small surviving piece of Wright's masterpiece. Their signature Mount Fuji cocktail (created here in 1924) is a Tokyo classic.
• The Lounge by Aman map
  In the 30-metre Aman lobby — high tea in the afternoon, cocktails by night, surrounded by stone gardens and washi paper. One of Tokyo's most quietly luxurious afternoons.
• SATSUKI Lobby Lounge (New Otani) map
  Famous for two things: their "Super Strawberry Shortcake" (a Tokyo legend), and views directly into the 400-year-old Japanese garden. Best with afternoon light.
• Towers (Ritz-Carlton, 51F) map
  Tokyo's most polished destination restaurant — modern European with a wine cellar of legendary depth. Reserve weeks ahead for window tables. Also a quiet, more refined alternative to the New York Bar for sunset cocktails.
• Rooftop Bar (Andaz Tokyo, 52F) map
  Open-air terrace, Tokyo Tower glowing red in the foreground, the city stretching below. Younger, more design-forward crowd than the older grand hotel bars.
• Peter (Peninsula, 24F) map
  A theatrical room with golden chairs and a bar that feels like a stage set — superb cocktails, and the lights of Hibiya and the Imperial Palace below.
• K'shiki (Mandarin Oriental) map
  Two-Michelin-star Italian, 38th floor — open kitchen, dramatic city views. Worth the splurge for a special occasion.