This Tokyo Lodge Has an Intimate Omakase Restaurant, a Huge Spa within the Sky, and Mount Fuji Views

A resort not often renders me speechless, however I used to be amazed after I arrived at Aman Tokyo this Might.

Getting into the Thirty third-floor foyer, I first observed the hovering white washi paper ceiling, the crown of the towering area’s very good trendy Japanese design. Relatively than standing at a desk to test in, I used to be instantly sat in a cushty chair within the foyer and given a refreshing towel and a cup of tea to take pleasure in as I accomplished the method. It’s clear from that second that each side of the keep is fastidiously crafted in a method that may solely be described as good hospitality. And even with out the impeccable design by Kerry Hill Architects and better-than-five-star service, the views alone can be a purpose to remain at Aman Tokyo. From the foyer (and later, I found, from my room), you’ll be able to gaze out over the limitless Tokyo skyline, all the best way to Mount Fuji. 

Because it first opened in December 2014, Aman Tokyo has gained a status as one of many Japanese capital’s most luxurious and unique resorts — and it’s turn out to be a Journey + Leisure reader favourite, ranked amongst our prime resorts in Tokyo within the World’s Finest Awards. Perched on the highest flooring of the Otemachi Tower in Tokyo’s Otemachi enterprise district, the resort is greatest for grownup leisure and enterprise vacationers. Tucked between skyscrapers, Aman Tokyo was the model’s first city resort, however the property has the distinctive Aman resort really feel because of ryokan-style rooms, a serene spa, and a sky-high pool that overlooks the cityscape.  

Right here, our assessment of Aman Tokyo. 

The Rooms

Eighty-four visitor lodging vary from the Backyard View, Deluxe, and Tokyo suites to the signature Aman, Grand, Metropolis, and Panorama suites. I stayed in an 829-square-foot Tokyo Suite, with wooden, washi paper, and stone anchoring the peaceable area with a contemporary Japanese aesthetic. The complete room — from the desk to the king-sized mattress to the sunken dwelling space — was positioned for optimum views of floor-to-ceiling home windows looking on the town and past. I might have sat within the window seat, pressed in opposition to the glass, for hours, watching the lights twinkle because the solar set throughout the skyscrapers, the Imperial Palace Gardens, and Mount Fuji. Each room guarantees unbelievable metropolis views, however I extremely suggest first-timers e book a room with a Mount Fuji view — it was magical to get up to the sight of the long-lasting volcano every morning. 

Behind a sliding door, the big rest room has two sinks, a rest room with a state-of-the-art bidet, a standard furo tub (with useful directions for utilizing it!), and all of the facilities you could possibly want, together with a mini Marvis toothpaste. Even the in-room minibar was a murals, with completely wrapped Shiranui orange juice (maybe one of the best orange juice I’ve ever tasted) among the many curated beverage alternatives. 

Meals and Drink

Aman Tokyo’s 5 meals and beverage shops present numerous eating experiences. Beginning on the backside, La Pâtisserie by Aman Tokyo is positioned on the B2 ground of the Otemachi Tower, providing a beautiful show of French pastries. (I had the mille feuille, packaged with the utmost care so it wouldn’t tip en path to my room.) Outdoors within the Otemachi Forest, The Café by Aman presents lunch and dinner in a ravishing, glass-walled area looking on the plush greenery. 

Upstairs off the foyer, The Lounge by Aman is the resort’s upscale tackle a foyer bar with all-day eating and afternoon tea that highlights seasonal flavors (proper now, it’s a peach-themed afternoon tea menu for summer time). Avra, an Italian restaurant that highlights seasonal, native produce, can be positioned off the foyer with window tables that provide unbelievable Mount Fuji views. That is additionally the place you’ll be able to take pleasure in breakfast within the morning (until you favor room service). I used to be delighted to strive my first conventional Japanese breakfast, a multi-dish meal resembling a jewel field of savory seafood bites, pickled greens, recent fruit, miso soup, and rice. 

Lastly, the resort’s omakase restaurant, Musashi by Aman, is tucked above the foyer with eight seats surrounding the Hinoki cypress wooden counter. Omakase is already an intimate meal model, with the chef figuring out the menu every day after which making ready every chunk proper in entrance of you, however this dinner provided one thing extra — a connection to this place and to the chef that goes past the everyday eating expertise. 

Grasp Chef Musashi delicately prepares every morsel of the meal with fish chosen from the market that morning and rice he cultivates and harvests himself in his hometown within the Yamanashi Prefecture. Chef Musashi even makes use of his rice to brew the restaurant’s sake, and the Musashi by Aman further dry sake was the right praise to the excellent meal. The 21-course parade of seafood was fantastically choreographed, with standout dishes together with stewed fatty tuna, grilled miso fish, marbled flounder nigiri, and an uni hand roll.

Friends ingesting sake have been offered with a field of 20 crystal sake cups in several shapes, patterns, and colours to select from — a small, however considerate element that elevated the expertise much more. 

Actions and Experiences

Aman Tokyo presents a spread of actions within the Otemachi neighborhood and past, from a behind-the-scenes have a look at sumo to artwork gallery excursions. I took a standard rickshaw experience (aboard an opulent pink velvet and glossy silver chariot) by means of the neighborhood on a sunny morning, and my information taught me all concerning the space, impressively carrying the rickshaw as he jogged. Wellness-seekers will need to take a look at the resort’s yoga and Pilates studio, health middle, and conventional Japanese baths — and all company ought to go to the 98-foot heated indoor pool with breathtaking metropolis views. The stone-column-lined pool is gorgeous through the day, however the poolside beds and calming water are even higher at evening when you’ll be able to see the Tokyo Tower lit up amid the opposite glowing buildings simply outdoors the large floor-to-ceiling home windows. 

The Spa

With 26,900 sq. toes unfold over two flooring, the Aman Spa is the most important, most complete resort spa in Tokyo. Earlier than the remedy begins, company can spend an hour having fun with the baths, showers, and steam rooms for a Misogi expertise based mostly on a standard Shinto bathing ritual. Onsen-style baths have skyline views, too, and there’s one thing oddly serene about watching the fast-paced metropolis from excessive above within the heat stone pool. Therapies vary from holistic, one-day wellness applications to facials, massages, or physique therapies that purpose to floor, purify, and nourish the physique.

I selected the Aman Tokyo Signature Journey, a 150-minute head-to-toe expertise beginning with a full-body scrub and a 90-minute therapeutic massage. After the remedy, the discomfort of my 14-hour flight and intense jet lag felt like a distant reminiscence; if solely each long-haul flight might be adopted by a day on the Aman Spa. 

Location 

Aman Tokyo is positioned on the highest six flooring of the Otemachi Tower in Tokyo’s Otemachi enterprise district, a few 10-minute stroll from the Imperial Palace and Imperial Palace East Gardens. 

It’s proper by Otemachi Station, which is served by 5 subway traces, and it’s only a quick stroll to Tokyo Station, which is served by subway and prepare traces, together with some shinkansen or bullet trains. 

Haneda Airport (HND) is a few 40-minute drive from the resort, and Narita Airport is about an hour away. 

The best way to Get the Most Worth Out of Your Keep 

The beginning fee at Aman is $1,260 per evening, putting it among the many costlier resorts in Tokyo. Now’s a incredible time for American vacationers to go to Japan because of favorable dollar-to-yen alternate charges.