Where to Stay in Tokyo: The Best Hotels, District by District

Tokyo has more good hotels than any other city in Asia, and it is too large for the choice of district to be an afterthought. A hotel in the wrong place means an hour a day on trains. The city’s best hotels fall into five areas, each with a character of its own. This guide follows the map.

Marunouchi and Otemachi: the centre

The district between Tokyo station and the Imperial Palace is the most practical base, with the shinkansen, the airport trains and most metro lines within a few minutes. It is a business quarter, quiet at night. Aman Tokyo occupies the top of the Otemachi Tower, with a lobby as high as a cathedral. Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Otemachi has the palace views and a spa with a pool. Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi is small and personal, and is home to Sézanne. Palace Hotel Tokyo, Japanese-owned, faces the palace moat and has balconies, a rarity. Hoshinoya Tokyo is a ryokan in a tower, with a hot spring on the roof. The Peninsula Tokyo, at the edge of Ginza, is the choice for shopping.

Nihonbashi and Yaesu: the old merchant city

East of the station, Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo stands in Nihonbashi, the district of old department stores and food shops, and has some of the best restaurants of any hotel in the city. Bulgari Hotel Tokyo, opened in 2023 above the Yaesu side of the station, is the newest and most glamorous.

Toranomon and Azabudai: the new city

The towers that have risen south of the palace in the past decade form a district of their own. The Okura Tokyo, rebuilt in 2019 with its celebrated modernist lobby recreated, is the most Japanese of the large hotels. The Tokyo EDITION, Toranomon, by Kengo Kuma, is the liveliest. Janu Tokyo, in Azabudai Hills, has a very large wellness floor and teamLab Borderless next door.

Roppongi: the view

The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo occupies the top floors of Tokyo Midtown, with museums below and Mount Fuji on the horizon on clear days.

Shinjuku: the west

Park Hyatt Tokyo, in Kenzo Tange’s tower, defined the high-rise luxury hotel in Asia when it opened in 1994 and has recently been renovated. It is the furthest from the station and the closest to the Tokyo of films.

How to choose

For a first visit, or with onward train journeys, stay in Marunouchi or Otemachi. For restaurants and nightlife on the doorstep, Toranomon and Roppongi. For atmosphere, Nihonbashi or Shinjuku. For a taste of the countryside without leaving town, Hoshinoya, or continue to Nikko by train. Our Tokyo guide covers the city itself, and the Michelin Guide Tokyo 2026 its restaurants.