Yaesu (Tokyo Station)

Hotel Ryumeikan Tokyo

★★★★★

Hotel Ryumeikan Tokyo stands in Yaesu, on the east side of Tokyo Station, about three minutes on foot from the Yaesu North Exit, and its biggest asset is that position. Tokyo Station is the terminus of most of Japan's bullet trains, including the Tokaido Shinkansen to Kyoto and Osaka and the Tohoku, Joetsu, Hokuriku, Akita and Yamagata Shinkansen to the north and the Japan Sea coast, and it is also served by the Yamanote, Chuo, Sobu, Keiyo and Keihin-Tohoku lines, so you can reach almost anywhere in Tokyo or Japan with little effort. The Keiyo Line runs to Maihama for Tokyo Disney Resort in about fifteen minutes. The hotel is run by the family behind the Ryumeikan inns, a name in Tokyo hospitality since the Meiji era, and it brings a ryokan sensibility to a modern city hotel: Japanese-inspired interiors in natural tones, a quiet lobby away from the station crowds and service that is attentive without being formal. Room types include singles, doubles, semi-doubles and suites, with non-smoking rooms throughout and wheelchair-accessible rooms available. The hotel has its own restaurant, so breakfast before an early train is easy. Reception is open 24 hours, check-in is from 14:00, earlier than at many Tokyo hotels, and check-out is at 11:00. Staff speak English, the hotel accepts all major cards, and it offers a full range of accessibility features, including an accessible elevator and multi-purpose restrooms. Nihonbashi's department stores and the Marunouchi and Ginza districts are within walking distance.

Who should stay here? Travelers who will use the Shinkansen, who want a peaceful, Japanese-feeling hotel without ryokan prices, and anyone who values a central base for both business and sightseeing. The Imperial Palace East Gardens are a fifteen-minute walk through Marunouchi; Ginza, Nihonbashi and the Tsukiji Outer Market are close; and Asakusa, Ueno and Shinjuku are direct train rides away. Arriving from Narita on the Narita Express or from Haneda by limousine bus is simple, since both stop at Tokyo Station.

The trade-offs: standard rooms are compact by international standards, as in most central Tokyo hotels, and the views are of neighboring office buildings. Yaesu is a business district that gets quiet in the evenings, although the station's underground malls, Ramen Street and Character Street are open late and only a few minutes away. There is no pool, spa or gym on the scale of the luxury hotels around Marunouchi, which is part of why prices stay reasonable.

Room advice: book a double or suite for more space if you are staying several nights, and ask for a higher floor for quiet. If you plan an early bullet train, this is one of the easiest hotels in Tokyo to leave from; you can walk to the platform in minutes. For more Japanese tradition, pair a stay here with a night at HOSHINOYA Tokyo in nearby Otemachi; for a livelier base, the Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier is a short taxi ride away.