Where to stay
Where to stay in Tokyo
For a visitor, Tokyo's hotels cluster in a few districts: Marunouchi, Otemachi and Nihonbashi around Tokyo Station; Ginza and Hibiya beside it; Toranomon, Roppongi and Akasaka to the south-west; Shinjuku and Shibuya in the west; and Shinagawa and Takanawa on the line south. The choice that matters most is whether you want the station and the Imperial Palace on the doorstep, for trains and calm evenings, or the west's later nights and busier streets.
How to choose
A first visit
Marunouchi, Otemachi and Nihonbashi: central, calm, and the trains to everywhere at Tokyo Station
Food
Ginza and Hibiya: the densest choice of counters and restaurants on foot
Quiet
Mejiro and Bunkyo: old gardens in a residential quarter
Nightlife
Shinjuku and Shibuya: the city at its busiest, late into the night
Close to the trains
Shinagawa and Takanawa: the Shinkansen and a short ride to Haneda
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Have it reviewed for USD 85Marunouchi, Otemachi and Nihonbashi
The business district between Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace, with the old merchant quarter of Nihonbashi to the east. Towers, wide pavements and the palace moat and East Gardens for a morning walk or run. Busy with office workers on weekdays, calm in the evenings and at weekends.
- Suits
- A first visit with onward trains, and a calm, central base
- Bear in mind
- Quiet at night and at weekends; the liveliest streets are a short ride away
- Getting about
- Tokyo Station (Shinkansen, Narita Express to Narita in about 55 minutes) and Otemachi, on five subway lines; Haneda is about 35 to 40 minutes with a change
Marunouchi, Tokyo
HotelPalace Hotel Tokyo
パレスホテル東京
On the Wadakura moat, opposite the Imperial Palace gardens
Marunouchi, Tokyo
HotelThe Tokyo Station Hotel
東京ステーションホテル
Kingo Tatsuno's 1914 station, rooms looking into its domes
Otemachi, Tokyo
RyokanHoshinoya Tokyo
星のや東京
A tower of small inns, with a spring from 1,500 m down
Otemachi, Tokyo
HotelAman Tokyo
Kerry Hill's thirty-metre atrium above Otemachi — the one that proved a city Aman could work.
Otemachi, Tokyo
HotelFour Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Otemachi
Thirty-ninth floor upward, with the best bath view in Tokyo on a clear Fuji morning.
Yaesu, Tokyo
HotelBvlgari Hotel Tokyo
The top seven floors of Tokyo Midtown Yaesu, and one of only three Three-Key hotels in the city.
Bulgari
Nihonbashi, Tokyo
HotelMandarin Oriental, Tokyo
The top floors of César Pelli's Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower, looking out over Tokyo Bay one way and the Imperial Palace gardens the other.
Ginza and Hibiya
The shopping and dining streets of Ginza, and Hibiya Park and its theatres beside the palace grounds. Department stores, sushi counters and bars in every block, with the Kabuki-za at the east end. Lively until late but not rowdy, and quiet off the main avenues.
- Suits
- Food, shopping and evenings out within a walk
- Bear in mind
- Crowded on Chuo-dori at weekends
- Getting about
- Ginza, Hibiya and Ginza-itchome (subway) and JR Yurakucho, one stop from Tokyo Station
Uchisaiwaicho, Tokyo
HotelImperial Hotel, Tokyo
帝国ホテル 東京
Japan's state guest house of 1890, facing Hibiya Park
Yurakucho, Tokyo
HotelThe Peninsula Tokyo
Ginza 1-chome, Tokyo
RyokanFufu Tokyo Ginza
ふふ 東京 銀座
Atami's spring water, piped to suites above Chuo-dori
Ginza, Tokyo
HotelThe Tokyo EDITION, Ginza
Toranomon, Roppongi and Akasaka
The newer towers of Toranomon and Azabudai, Roppongi's museums and nightlife, and the hill of Akasaka, Nagatacho and Kioicho around the Diet, Hie Shrine and Sophia University. Hotels here sit high above the city, with views to Tokyo Tower and, on clear days, Mount Fuji. Roppongi is loud at night; Toranomon and Kioicho are quiet.
- Suits
- Views, galleries, and a quieter business-district base
- Bear in mind
- Spread out and hilly, with no single centre; Roppongi's late nights are not for everyone
- Getting about
- Toranomon Hills, Roppongi, Tameike-Sanno and Akasaka-mitsuke (subway); Tokyo Station is about 10 minutes by car
Toranomon, Tokyo
HotelThe Okura Tokyo
オークラ東京
Yoshiro Taniguchi's 1962 lobby, reproduced by his son
Toranomon, Tokyo
HotelThe Tokyo EDITION, Toranomon
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo
HotelJanu Tokyo
Aman's second brand, opened 2024 in Azabudai Hills — louder than an Aman, and deliberately so.
Roppongi, Tokyo
HotelThe Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo
Nagatacho, Tokyo
HotelThe Capitol Hotel Tokyu
ザ・キャピトルホテル 東急
Kengo Kuma's rebuild of the Beatles' Tokyo Hilton
Kioicho, Tokyo
HotelExecutive House Zen, Hotel New Otani Tokyo
エグゼクティブハウス 禅
Bamboo, charcoal and washi above a 400-year-old garden
Kioicho, Tokyo
HotelThe Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho, a Luxury Collection Hotel
The top seven floors of the tower that replaced Kenzo Tange's saw-toothed Akasaka Prince, with a double-height sky lobby on the 36th.
Shinjuku and Shibuya
The west's two great junctions: Shinjuku, with its skyscrapers, Golden Gai and Shinjuku Gyoen, and Shibuya, with its crossing, shops and the green of Meiji Jingu and Yoyogi Park between them. The busiest, most neon-lit Tokyo, open late every night.
- Suits
- Nightlife and energy, and the Romancecar to Hakone from Shinjuku
- Bear in mind
- The stations are vast and crowded; further from Tokyo Station and the Shinkansen
- Getting about
- Shinjuku and Shibuya on the Yamanote line; Tokyo Station is about 15 minutes on the Chuo Rapid from Shinjuku, and the Narita Express takes about 80 to 90 minutes to Narita
Shinagawa and Takanawa
The hill of Takanawa above Shinagawa Station, with large hotel gardens and Sengaku-ji temple, and the new Takanawa Gateway quarter below. Residential and quiet, away from the main sights.
- Suits
- Early Shinkansen trains and flights from Haneda
- Bear in mind
- Most sights and restaurants are a train ride away
- Getting about
- Shinagawa (Shinkansen and JR), Takanawa Gateway and Takanawadai; Haneda is about 15 to 20 minutes on the Keikyu line from Shinagawa
Mejiro and Bunkyo
A leafy, residential district of universities and old gardens in the north-west of the centre, along the Kanda river, near Waseda and the Rikugi-en and Koishikawa gardens. Quiet day and night.
- Suits
- A garden and quiet, away from the business districts
- Bear in mind
- Off the main sightseeing routes; most trips start with a taxi or the subway
- Getting about
- Edogawabashi (Yurakucho line), about 10 minutes' walk; Tokyo Station or Ginza about 25 minutes by taxi
More on Tokyo
Q&A
Marunouchi and Ginza, either side of Tokyo Station. They are central, calm by Tokyo standards and on the lines to everywhere; Palace Hotel Tokyo looks over the palace moat, and the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo and The Peninsula Tokyo face Hibiya Park, a short walk from Ginza.
Ginza, with Marunouchi beside it, for a calmer, central base near Tokyo Station and the Shinkansen; Shinjuku for nightlife and the Romancecar to Hakone. Most of our places are on the east side, in Ginza, Marunouchi and Toranomon.
By Tokyo Station for the Shinkansen or the Narita Express: The Tokyo Station Hotel is inside the station building. For an early flight from Haneda, Shinagawa and Takanawa are about 15 to 20 minutes away on the Keikyu line; JW Marriott Hotel Tokyo is above Takanawa Gateway station.
Three or four nights cover the main districts at an easy pace, with time for a day trip to Nikko or Kamakura. Tokyo is big enough that one well-connected base is usually better than moving hotels.