MEET ME IN…
High-tech meets nature at the Palace Hotel Tokyo – this sleek urban retreat excels at bringing the outside in
…the Palace Hotel Tokyo – it’s the perfect spot from which to explore the city
OLD MEETS NEW
THE VIBE
A short walk from Tokyo’s central business district (all skyscrapers, cobbled streets, fashionable restaurants and high-end retail), but another
world away, is the 19thcentury Imperial Palace, its forest, moat and gardens all
overlooked by the Palace Hotel Tokyo. Originally built
in 1961, the Palace was reborn as a contemporary luxury hotel in 2O12, with its past now referenced with the clever upcycling of its original materials
and artworks.
EAT EAST
THE FOOD
With ten bars and restaurants inside the hotel,
be prepared for a lot of belt-loosening. We swerved the two European menus in favour of the tempura, sushi,
teppanyaki and kaiseki restaurants. Our favourite was the teppanyaki, where our dinner was cooked on the hot plate in front of us:
fig and aubergine with melted cheese, fresh scallop and prawn salad, and the most tender Wagyu beef
with garlic rice and mushrooms. Exquisite.
THE OUTSIDE, INSIDE
THE LOOK
Despite its urban setting, floor-to-ceiling windows
frame the manicured parkland outside, soft green
carpets are like moss underfoot, indoor bonsai trees change colour with the seasons, and the air is perfumed with oils of lavender, eucalyptus, lemon and cypress. Decorated in
warm forest colours, the 29O rooms are big in size
(rare in Tokyo) and on comfort, with fine bedlinen and marble bathrooms. In the futuristic Evian Spa, the revitalising massages are a great jet-lag booster.
BRANDS & BEYOND
SHOPPING
Head to Ginza (1.5km southeast of the hotel) for upmarket shopping and
supersized Japanese department stores. Dover Street Market Ginza stocks the world’s most progressive fashion brands, but at prices that will make you weep. For smarter shopping, designer resale store Ragtag has three outposts, the largest and best in Harajuku and Shibuya. Look out for great deals on home-grown brands Kolor, A Bathing Ape and Hysteric Glamour,
plus Comme and Yohji.