Mandarin Oriental Tokyo

Rooms and decor

Deluxe rooms start at 55 sq m, dressed in a contemporary Japanese style — warm cream tones, Hinoki wood around the bathroom, and a natural-stone soaking tub. Rooms on floors 30 to 38 look out over the Tokyo skyline and the Sumida River as it runs past Nihonbashi. One review puts it plainly: "the biggest bathroom I have stayed in across Tokyo, with a hot soaking tub and a view over the city."

Food and amenities

The spa on floor 37 has taken Best Hotel Spa in Asia from several international travel titles, with 8 treatment rooms and ESPA products. Its signature treatments blend the Japanese onsen tradition with Western massage. The Signature restaurant on floor 38 serves Modern French food under a panoramic 360-degree view, and reviews call it "the best in years."

Location and getting there

Mitsukoshimae Station connects straight into the hotel on a one-minute walk — the Ginza and Hanzomon lines make the rest of the city easy to reach. Ginza is a 15-minute walk, Shibuya 15 minutes by train, and Ueno 10 minutes. For Hamarikyu Gardens, take the Water Bus from the Nihonbashi pier, about 15 minutes — the prettiest way to reach the autumn colour by the water.

Things to know before booking

Rates open at roughly $540 a night and climb toward $1,430, so this is firmly a top-tier stay. Nihonbashi goes quiet after 9pm, with shops and restaurants closing early and little open late — a poor fit if you want nightlife. The hotel opened in 2005, so the rooms are not the newest in town.

Our take

This is the hotel that explains why Mandarin Oriental scores highest of our five — 9.3/10 on Agoda, with the spa, the service and the rooms drawing the steadiest praise. Nihonbashi, the historic district it sits in, was the point from which every road in Japan was measured back in the Edo era — a fitting address for a stay this composed.