The Four Seasons, Marunouchi
Luxury at its boutiquest, there are just 57 rooms and suites at the Four Seasons in Marunouchi. It is so central that the hotel
looks straight down over the multiple tracks leading from Tokyo Station, giving a mesmerizing panorama from the bar
and ekki French/Japanese restaurant. Rooms' windows bring the city inside, while the contemporary furnishings and thoughtful
details (a little card encourages guests not to be afraid of the toilet), create a cosy, friendly feel. Spring water is
delightfully hot in the hotel's private granite tub, where you can alternate a shower and steam with your soaking. The
bijou Spa is home to facials, massages including reflexology and the Raku dry massage as well as shiatsu. Kenzoki are
exclusively at this spa and if you're a fan of the White Lotus range you'll love their White Lotus Cosmic Cosmetic Treat.
A dreamy experience of fragrance, music, massage and facial so delicate you may wonder if the treatment was a hallucination,
it is impossible not to drift off in a world of your own.
Spring water is delightfully hot in the hotel's private granite tub, where you can alternate a shower and steam with
your soaking. The bijou Spa is home to facials, massages including reflexology and the Raku dry massage as well as shiatsu.
Kenzoki are exclusively at this spa and if you're a fan of the White Lotus range you'll love their White Lotus Cosmic
Cosmetic Treat. A dreamy experience of fragrance, music, massage and facial so delicate you may wonder if the treatment
was a hallucination. It is impossible not to drift off in a world of your own.
www.fourseasons.com/marunouchi
Superior Room from Y65,100++ (US$602); Kenzoki White Lotus Cosmic Cosmetic Treat 60-minutes Y19,950 (US$185); Shiatsu
50 minutes in-room Y12,600 (US$117), in-spa 10,500 (US$97).
The Peninsula
Between the Imperial Palace and Ginza, The Peninsula's trademark ground floor lobby - in a city where most hotels' lobbies
are sky high - brings diners, afternoon tea sippers and guests bustling together under the stunning 1,313 crystal lights
of the chandelier. This chandelier ressembles fireworks, fireflies or an inside-out jellyfish, depending on your point of view.
Rooms are full of gadgets, refreshingly clearly labeled and easy to use: sink back into a hot bath and press the button
for spa lighting and music, and you may be forgiven for thinking you've already made it to the spa.
A floor above the lap pool with Jacuzzi and outside lounge chairs on the 5th floor, The Peninsula Spa by ESPA has cozy
thermal suites in the changing rooms where crystal steam rooms, saunas, aromatherapy experience showers and ice fountains
(the Jacuzzi is by the pool) cosset pre-treatment. Then it's into the beautifully dark relaxation room where your therapist
will pick you up. Eight rooms decorated with Japanese screens are home to Peninsula Ceremonies (in Japanese, Oriental,
Ayurvedic or European flavors), and the exclusive Keihatsu Enlightenment Massage taken from the foundation of Shiatsu
3,000 years ago.
www.peninsula.com/tokyo
Superior Room from Y60,000 (US$555); ESPA Body Massages 50 minutes from Y23,000 (US$213); Keihatsu Enlightenment
Massage, 1hour 50 minutes Y47,000 (US$435). The spa (and heat, water and relaxation) facilities are open to non-hotel
guests, with a minimum treatment time of 1 hour 50 minutes.