This is a deluxe urban sanctuary enveloped by a 7-hectare Japanese garden. Although the location is the prettiest of any hotel in Tokyo, it is also inconvenient, requiring costly taxi rides to most business districts. (The nearest subway station, Edogawabashi on the Yurakucho Line, is a 15-minute walk away, though it's a nice stroll alongside the cherry-tree-lined Kanda River.)
The sawtooth 13-story building of polished stone wraps around extensive gardens with streams, pools, a pagoda, traditional structures housing quaint Japanese restaurants, and a waterfall. The hotel shares the garden with Chinzan-so Plaza, a popular wedding venue. Whereas the newer Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi is unabashedly contemporary, this 1992 property exudes old-world luxury and is one of the most beautiful European-style hotels in Tokyo.
Green marble and rich woods mark the two-story lobby, where tall windows provide sunlit views of greenery. Opulent Asian artwork, from rich textiles to woodblock prints, interplays with Venetian chandeliers and huge floral bouquets to provide a comfortable yet elegant setting.
Dining, largely imported, ranks among the best in Tokyo. Besides a bistro offering Mediterranean favorites in a casual setting, the hotel boasts Il Teatro, which draws from the Four Seasons Hotel Milan to create a unique concept in Italian
cuisine. Miyuki presents contemporary interpretations of traditional Japanese cuisine in a refined setting, with sushi and teppanyaki counters off to one side. A bar and lounge are also on hand. Guests seeking a unique culinary experience wander out to Kinsui, a traditional Japanese kaiseki restaurant in the gardens, or to one of several rustic restaurants spread on garden grounds dishing out noodles, barbecue and tempura. Room service runs nonstop.
On the hotel's lower level is one of the most inviting spas in any hotel anywhere. It seduces its patrons with a workout room, a glass-enclosed indoor pool with skilled landscaping and a retractable roof, whirlpool, sauna, and traditional onsen featuring spring water trucked in from Ito hot springs on the Izu Peninsula. Nine treatment rooms, including rooms for couples, offer a mind-boggling list of services, including fire-and-water purification treatments, sake-and-rice detoxification treatments, wasabi skin treatments and seaweed body wraps. Even the locker room showcases beautiful bleached woods, fine tiling and more marble. The hotel's parfumerie and tog shop provide finishing touches.
The largest meeting room accommodates 600 buffet-style, and the 12th-floor business center, with free use by hotel guests, produces bilingual business cards. Rounding out the offerings are a wedding hall, a chapel and an amphitheater.
Accommodations are large for Japan (beginning at 45 sq m) and the equal of any in quality. Rooms facing the garden are more expensive, with cheaper rooms facing the city. Asian artwork, thickly padded carpeting, fanciful pricey minibars, complimentary high-speed data ports, and 32-inch HDTVs with CD/DVD players, as well as hookups for MP3 players so guests can listen to their own music, elevate these rooms well above the ordinary. Beds are dressed with fine linens, and duvets and are within ready reach of controls for TVs, drapes and lights. Marble-faced baths feature soaking tubs, thermostatically controlled stall showers, magnifying mirrors, mini-TVs and bidet toilets. Two rooms are outfitted for the handicapped, and more than half are for nonsmokers.
The large multilingual staff takes care of guests' wishes with expert efficiency. This exquisite retreat is ideal for visitors seeking a chic hideout away from the hubbub of central Tokyo. For guests who would rather look upon greenery than cityscapes, do not wish to sleep 40 stories above ground, and prefer Asian and European antiques and furnishings to contemporary design, this hotel wins hands-down compared to similarly priced hotels, including the Ritz-Carlton, Park Hyatt, Mandarin Oriental, and Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi. With its peaceful garden setting, extensive recreational facilities, superb service and comfortable guest rooms, it really is in a class of its own.
