Park Hyatt Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Park Hyatt Tokyo 4 Stars
"The 47th-floor health club in this luxury hotel offers stunning views of Tokyo and Mt Fuji."
Hotel Overview
Review of Park Hyatt Tokyo, by Nancy Lyon
The Park Hyatt Tokyo - whose 50 square meter guestrooms are the largest in Tokyo (a city famous for its miniscule sleeping compartments) - was as serene as a Japanese tea ceremony. Its walls were paneled in rare water elm which had soaked in the northern lakes of Hokkaido for two thousand years.
The- Park Hyatt Tokyo was designed as an exclusive residence for international business travellers in the heart of Shinjuku, Tokyo's glitziest business and entertainment district. This luxury hotel occupies the top 14 floors of the shimmering 52-story Shinjuku Tower. The luxury hotel is only a 12-minute walk from the busiest subway station in the world - Shinjuku Station: a million and a half daily commuters.
The facilities
After five days of sushi and sashimi and raw this and that and horseradish and seaweed for breakfast, I began to appreciate the runaway success of the Park Hyatt Tokyo's New York Grill. Now I know that it's really Angela's daring, inventive cuisine they're raving about. But my soul for a well-baked potato!
The rooms
It was a strange surprise to open my guestroom door at this luxury hotel and hear the soothing drones of a koto and see a still-life of pink magnolias and cherry blossoms filling the giant TV screen. Electronic flower arrangements! And how startling it was to gaze through my room's picture windows upon a panorama of solid rock - concrete blocks jammed so closely together it looked streetless, impenetrable. Welcome to Tokyo...
The room's giant bed was sheeted with fine Egyptian cotton and fluffed with duvets. I could have lived for a week in the marbled bathroom - hung with brushed cotton kimonos, lit with paper lanterns, stocked with padded slippers and yukata sleeping robes, arranged with woven straw and lacquer boxes encasing a toothbrush, hairbrush, shoebrush, razors, nail files - and read Shojun from cover to cover in the extra-deep soaking tub, or on the computerized, electronically-heated padded toilet cum bidet.
Facilities
Awards
"Gold List", Conde Nast Traveller 05-07; "World's Best Business Hotel", Travel+Leisure 06;"World's Best Hotels", Travel+Leisure 06Who stays here?
Supported by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, the hotel was the real star of Sophia Coppola's Lost in Translation. Sir Elton John, Nicole Kidman and Mariah Carey have also stayed here.
Come for...
- Views to Mount Fuji
- The Club on Park spa
- The New York Grill and New York Bar
Not Suitable for...
- Travellers looking for small, solitudinal stays
Children
Rollaway beds for children can be added to most rooms and cribs are provided free. Interconnecting rooms are good for keeping families together, and babysitting service can be provided when parents need a break. The hotel also provides complimentary juices and cookies for children to keep them smiling.
Eating in
The New York Grill is famous for three reasons - the incredible steak (especially the Wagyu beef which is the best money can buy), the stunning views of Tokyo and the cityview tables where Japanese men propose to their partners. Kozue has slick, contemporary interiors and serves hearty, traditional Japanese dishes, and Girandole is an informal French brasserie.
The Press Say
"It retains a reassuringly traditional view of Mount Fuji, yet presses all the right buttons for design sophisticates." Telegraph 08"Seminal contemporary hotel on the 14 floors of 52-storey Shinjuku Park Tower with views towards Kanto Plain and Mount Fuji. Featured in Sofia Coppola's recent film, Lost In Translation." Conde Nast 05
Reviews
Review of The Park Hyatt, by Caroline Major
The Park Hyatt Tokyo is a popular city hot-spot. It's often filled with smartly dressed locals meeting and dining in the bamboo garden, having rather grand lunches in Girandole and in the oh-so-fashionable New York Grill, looking out over the Shinjuku skyscraper district and Mount Fuji to the south. The public areas are spacious and light with Louvre-like pyramids topping each of the three towers. On a bling day, have your sunglasses handy.
The hotel features a fabulous onsen, or traditional baths. Separate for men and women, this special place is the business. Wash first in the showers then head into the inner sanctum of cleanliness (not forgetting it's next to godliness!) for an immersion in the 41-degree water. When you're done, a dip in the 21-degree refreshing pool will get your heart racing and you'll be ready for the sauna. Repeat the circuit until you're exhausted - then head outside to pamper yourself with the luxurious Aesop body lotions. Stretch out with the latest in the international style magazines and a cup of tea while Tokyo seethes below you.
The corridors here, with their sea-green walls, are some of the most enveloping luxury hotel corridors ever. Let your imagination carry you away and it can feel as though you're swimming to your room. Inside, they are the biggest Tokyo has to offer, with views to the south of pulsing Shinjuku and Mount Fuji in the distance. To the north, the Tokyo megopolis continues.
Rooms are spacious and you'll want for nothing. There's a walk-in wardrobe and a sizable bathroom stocked with wonderful Aesop botanicals from Australia. They smell divine and will leave your skin feeling better than when you walked in. Lather up and sink back into the tub to watch the ubiquitous flat-screen TV - after you've satisfied yourself that you know what every function on the washlet toilet does. Once you're clean, either head for the New York Grill at the top of the tower or snuggle into bed with one of the books from your shelf and read about Japanese culture while tucking into the delicious Park Hyatt branded minibar goodies. The home-made rice crackers are divine. It's a comfortable place to be.