THE TRIP
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The short answer
At a glance
Shibuya from far above, the city at full volume
Give each day one neighbourhood and never cross the city twice, and the hotel you choose is the one that makes that easy.
Here’s what I tell my clients about Tokyo: the neighbourhood matters more than the hotel, so choose the first, then the second. It isn’t a city with a centre you sleep in and radiate out from, it’s twenty-three wards that each act like their own downtown, and Shibuya and Asakusa have about as much in common as Brooklyn and Kyoto, forty minutes apart. That’s a lovely problem, because every one of those neighbourhoods is a holiday in itself. So I’ve organised this list the way I think about it, by the mood you want. Marunouchi and Otemachi are grown-up and quiet, right beside the Shinkansen. Shinjuku is the city at full volume. Roppongi and Azabudai are for the newest hotels and the museums. Pick the mood, and the rest follows.
Tokyo rooftops from above, a small temple roof among the towers
Signs and neon on a Tokyo shopping street
Aman Tokyo · Otemachi · from $700 a night
I stayed here for three nights in November 2023. It takes the top six floors of the Otemachi Tower, with a soaring atrium of stone and paper that I still think about, and the spa view is the best in the city. If you want Tokyo quiet and grown-up, right beside Tokyo Station and therefore the Shinkansen, this is the one I’d start you with.
Four Seasons Otemachi · Otemachi · from $700 a night
The other great address in the neighbourhood, and the smaller, calmer one. I slept here for a night in September 2025, and the 20-metre pool on the 39th floor looks out over the Imperial Palace gardens. It’s the choice when you want an easy, polished stay and a concierge who can get you into the restaurants that won’t take a booking from a stranger.
Park Hyatt Tokyo · Shinjuku · from $700 a night
It reopened in December 2025 after a long renovation, with rooms starting around $800 a night at launch, and it still has the New York Bar on the fifty-second floor, which is the reason a lot of my clients ask for it by name. Shinjuku is the best base if you want the city at full volume, with the trains, the neon and Golden Gai on your doorstep.
Hoshinoya Tokyo · Otemachi · from $700 a night
This is the lovely surprise: a modern ryokan in the middle of an office district, with tatami floors, shoes off at the door and a hot spring on the roof, fed from a bore sunk below the building. If you only get one ryokan night in Japan, or you’re coming for the first time and want a taste of it before the countryside, this is a very good way in.
Janu Tokyo · Azabudai · from $700 a night
Aman’s younger and livelier sibling, which opened in 2024 in Azabudai Hills, in the part of town for museums and the newest hotels, with rooms starting around $1,100 a night. I’d offer it to the couple who want Aman’s calm with a bit more buzz around it.
Asakusa · The old city
This is the wildcard, and it’s for the person who’d rather feel the old Tokyo than sleep in a tower. You get atmosphere and lower prices, with one trade-off I’ll be honest about: it’s forty minutes from everywhere else. But at seven in the morning, with Nakamise-dori’s shutters still down and nobody there, it’s one of my favourite hours in the whole country. I’d treat it as the neighbourhood for a day and a dawn walk, and keep your bed in Otemachi.
I book Tokyo through Virtuoso, Hyatt Privé, Four Seasons Preferred Partner and Marriott STARS, which here means my clients typically enjoy a high floor rather than a low one, breakfast for two, a property credit and the concierge relationship that gets the restaurant bookings, wherever they apply. Have a read of the Tokyo Rolodex for the whole city, the Tokyo Primer for what to know before you book, and my four days in Tokyo for how the days fit around your hotel, and then tell me your dates.
What you ask me most
Where is the best area to stay in Tokyo for a first visit?
Marunouchi and Otemachi if you want quiet and the Shinkansen on your doorstep, or Shinjuku if you want the city at full volume. Both put you on a train line that makes the rest of Tokyo easy.
How many nights do I need in Tokyo?
Four at the front of a two-week Japan trip, and no fewer. You’ll lose a day to the flight and the jet lag, and a neighbourhood a day is the pace that makes Tokyo feel joyful instead of relentless.
Is Shinjuku or Shibuya better to stay in?
Shinjuku for transport, neon and Golden Gai, and the most choice of hotels. Shibuya is for youth and energy, and I’d rather put you in Shinjuku or Otemachi.
Is Asakusa a good place to stay?
It’s the old city, with the most atmosphere and lower prices, but it’s about forty minutes from everywhere else. I’d pick it for a second stay, or for someone who values the early mornings over the convenience.
When is the best time to go to Tokyo?
Late October to early December, when the ginkgo avenues turn yellow and the air goes clear. Late March to mid-April is blossom, and January and February are the quiet secret, with the lowest hotel rates of the year.
Which Tokyo hotels have the best views?
The spa view at Aman Tokyo is the one I’d rank first, the Park Hyatt’s New York Bar on the fifty-second floor is the classic, and the Four Seasons Otemachi’s pool looks over the Imperial Palace gardens.
Tokyo Tower against a late-afternoon sky