“You can see Mount Fuji this morning,” a waiter notes as I look out the window over breakfast on a particularly bright Saturday.
Such views come as standard at the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo At Otemachi.
Designed as a love letter to the Tokyo skyline, the 200-metre-high hotel offers a new perspective on the world’s largest city through floor-to-ceiling windows.
It is not the tallest hotel in Tokyo, but it is an impressive building with a 20-meter swimming pool, a Michelin-starred restaurant and one of the best cocktail bars in the world. All the bars have panoramic windows that offer the best views of the enchanting cityscape.
It is located on the top floors (34-39) of the Otemachi One tower in Tokyo’s gleaming Otemachi financial district.
Ailbhe MacMahon checked into Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo At Otemachi Above: Panoramic city views from a Premier Studio
The interior of the 190-room hotel was led by designer Jean-Michel Gathy, who wanted to merge Japan’s past and present in the project. Above, the reception
The hotel, which opened in 2020, overlooks the Eastern Gardens of the Imperial Palace of the Emperor of Japana sumptuous view that greets you as soon as the elevator doors open to the panoramic lobby on the 39th floor.
The interior of the 190-room hotel was designed by designer Jean-Michel Gathy. He wanted to merge Japan’s past and present in the project. That started with an entrance with vermilion red walls, inspired by the ‘torii’ gates of Shinto shrines.
Guests can take guided tours of the hotel’s private art collection. For example, the front desk welcomes you to Yukiko Oshima’s rockwork in a shallow pond, reminiscent of Japanese Zen gardens. There are also ink drawings by Nobuko Kawahara and detailed works of Ikebana, the ancient Japanese art of flower arranging.
For those keen to learn more about the blossoms, the hotel offers a shuttle service to the best cherry blossom spots in spring, and can decorate bedrooms with fresh ‘sakura’ branches for 30,000 JPY (£158/$199).
Not that the rooms need any further embellishment.
Ailbhe’s Deluxe Room – Imperial Garden View, has a ‘dreamy’ print of moving fabric
Above: A rock installation by artist Yukiko Oshima in the lobby
The hotel entrance, where guests take the elevator to the lobby on the 39th floor
The hotel occupies floors 34 to 39 of the Otemachi One Tower
An exercise in elegance, my Deluxe Room is decorated with lamps made of Japanese ‘washi paper’ and a dreamy print of moving fabric, created by photographer Namiko Kitaura.
When you unlock the door, the blinds on the large windows automatically open, creating an extra theatrical effect around the hotel’s stunning views.
This urban panorama is also central to the Pigneto restaurant.
It has a large outdoor terrace and a lunch and dinner menu that highlights a different Italian region every month.
Breakfast is also served here, with a menu ranging from fluffy pancakes to a Japanese breakfast of rice, miso soup and fish (6,700 JPY/£35/$44 including buffet).
But the gastronomic gem in the hotel’s crown has a Michelin star iswhere French chef Guillaume Bracaval prepares clever French dishes using Japan’s rich pantry. 95 percent of its ingredients come from the island’s sustainable land and sea.
Restaurant Pigneto, above, has a sky-high outdoor terrace and a menu that spotlights an Italian region each month
The Michelin-starred Est, where Ailbhe enjoyed a 10-course tasting menu of ‘masterful dishes’
Ailbhe enjoyed a cloud-shaped meringue dessert at Est, left, and the Jerusalem artichoke and caviar dish seen right
Inspired by the 19th century ‘Japonisme’ movement in Europe, the space dazzles with gold leaf accents, while a glass wall frames chefs at work in the kitchen.
There, they masterfully prepare dish after dish as part of the 10-course tasting menu (30,000 JPY/£157/$199) – smoky abalone cooked with butter and layered with cabbage leaves; palate-cleansing slices of kombu; nutty Jerusalem artichoke, pan-roasted and topped with caviar and a dashi broth.
The desserts are by chef Michele Abbatemarco, who draws inspiration from nature and the art world for his delicacies: cloud-shaped meringue, followed by flower-like petit fours made from untreated Japanese honey.
Sommelier Yuji Uesugi tells me all about Japan’s booming wine scene as he pours Minaki sparkling saké and Tamba Sauvignon Blanc from Kyoto (25,000 JPY/£131/$166 per wine pairing).
More unique drinks await you at the sultry Art Deco-style cocktail bar Virtù, officially Asia’s 20th best bar.
On recommendation, I try one of the bar’s most popular drinks, a smooth and sweet ‘Yuzu Nagi’ with yuzu gin (3,500 JPY/£18/$23).
The Art Deco cocktail bar Virtù, pictured, is officially the 20th best bar in Asia
The hotel’s spa features a sleek pool with a mirrored bottom
Later, charismatic bartender Graham Kimura, who has tattoos of his favorite liquors, presents a brilliant list of recommended bars in Tokyo, giving an insider’s look at the city’s world-famous nightlife.
Detoxification takes place via the hotel’s spa, with its relaxing ‘ofuro’ bath [a high sided, small tub built for full body immersion and relaxation]steam bath and sleek swimming pool with mirror bottom.
In a treatment room with even more panoramic views I relax in a ‘Yakusugi’ [Japanese cedar] massage, which promises to provide the “serenity of forest bathing” and help with jet lag.
When the treatment is over, I see the sun setting over the city. Tokyo’s skyline, anchored by distant Mount Fuji, is a contender for the best in the world—and it’s hard to think of a more beautiful place to admire it than this.
