Otemachi

HOSHINOYA Tokyo

★★★★★

HOSHINOYA Tokyo asks a provocative question: what would a traditional ryokan look like if it were built as a skyscraper in the middle of Tokyo? The answer, from the Hoshino Resorts group, is a slender 17-story tower in Otemachi, wrapped in a lattice of interlocking metal patterns inspired by Edo-era kimono fabric, which feels from the moment you enter like a world apart from the financial district around it. You remove your shoes at the entrance, before a wall of wooden shoe lockers, and pad around the entire building on tatami mats. Each floor is treated as its own small ryokan, with just a handful of rooms around an Ochanoma lounge, a communal sitting room where tea, snacks and sake are served throughout the day and evening by staff dedicated to that floor. Rooms have tatami floors, low sofas and beds, washi paper screens filtering the light, deep baths and a calm, contemporary-traditional aesthetic. At the top of the tower is the hotel's most remarkable feature: an open-air onsen bath, sunk into the building and open to the sky, using mineral-rich hot spring water drawn from 1,500 meters beneath Tokyo. The dining room in the basement serves an inventive Japanese tasting menu, and the hotel offers cultural programs for guests including tea ceremony in kimono and rooftop morning martial-arts sessions. Guests wear the hotel's own kimono around the building if they wish.

HOSHINOYA Tokyo is for travelers who want the ryokan experience — the hospitality, the ritual, the slower rhythm — without leaving the city. It is a genuinely different way of staying in Tokyo: you settle into your floor's lounge with a cup of tea, change into kimono, soak in the rooftop onsen at dusk as the skyscrapers light up, and return to a quiet tatami room. The staff, trained in ryokan service, are warm and attentive and happy to explain customs to first-time guests. Rates are quoted per person, as is traditional for ryokan, and are at the high end of the market; meals may be booked separately or as part of a plan.

There are a few things to know. The onsen is gender-separated and, as in all Japanese hot springs, used without swimwear after washing thoroughly at the showers; tattoo policies vary by property, so check before you book if this applies to you. The shoes-off rule applies throughout, and the atmosphere is quiet, so it is less suited to families with very young children. Room sizes are generous for Tokyo but this is not a resort with a pool, gym or multiple restaurants; the experience is intimate and focused.

The location in Otemachi is excellent for sightseeing: Tokyo Station, the Shinkansen and the Imperial Palace East Gardens are about ten minutes on foot, and Ginza, Nihonbashi and Kanda are close by. HOSHINOYA Tokyo also makes an ideal introduction to ryokan before a trip to Kyoto or the countryside, or a memorable final night in Japan.