Aman Tokyo

In short… A peaceful, temple-like space high above the city’s financial district—and in my opinion, the most perfect expression of Japanese design and hospitality.

Imperial Palace Gardens

The surroundings… The Aman is in the Otemachi neighborhood, Tokyo’s financial district, close to Tokyo Station and directly above the Otemachi Station, which is connected to five subway lines. I loved our morning walks to the Imperial Palace gardens, and its proximity to Ginza. On our way to the ATM in the lower level of the building, we discovered a whole food court world, which looked fantastic.

Even the hallways are meditative

The vibe… The hotel’s lobby is on the 33rd floor of Otemachi Tower, and as soon as the elevator doors open, there’s a hushed, almost temple-like feeling that seems to affect everyone upon arrival—a reverence sets in. Six floors high, it’s designed to look like a traditional Japanese paper lantern made with washi paper and shoji wooden frames, with a central mirror pool and a beautiful ikebana arrangement. This sets the stage for everything else—nothing is loud or boisterous, not the bar or the pool or the cigar lounge. It’s the most zen hotel I’ve ever been in.

The rooms… Pared down, almost monastic, the room is a continuation of the meditative, quiet, temple-like qualities throughout the hotel. It has all the Japanese touchpoints—shoji sliding screens instead of doors, blond-wood walls, dark stone bathroom with soaking tub, and a low bed. Housekeeping leaves a new robe (a yukata) for you daily, and they arrange the belt (obi) in the most beautiful way. Every night they leave a lovely gift, from a colorful wooden spinning top to a tenugui (the most versatile piece of fabric that can be used as a wrap or a kerchief).

Musashi by Aman and its selection of sake glasses

The food & drink… As soon as we booked the hotel, we tried to reserve Musashi, their renowned eight-seat omakase restaurant run by Chef Musashi, who has his own farm where he grows the vegetables and rice he cooks with, and also uses that rice for making the most delicious sake. It was going to be our first night in Tokyo in almost 10 years, and we knew that we wouldn’t want to leave the hotel to go out—but we also didn’t want to eat at their Italian restaurant, Arva. When we arrived, we asked again and were thrilled when they said there’d been a cancellation. The dinner was epic… one of the best omakase meals we’ve ever had—super varied with sushi, of course, but also cooked dishes—all served on a beautiful hinoki wood counter.

Arva and The Lounge

On our second night, as much as we still didn’t want to leave the hotel, we knew we needed to break out and explore—but we figured we’d do that after having a drink at their cocktail bar. After one saketini, Matt decided to look through the bar menu just to see what they offered, expecting just snack food. Instead, we discovered an amazing menu with Chinese options (Peking duck!), Italian (Bolognese!), and Japanese. We’d never seen such a great bar menu, so we decided to order a second drink and stay put. Our eel Hitsumabushi was incredible—it came in a hotpot and there was so much we could have just had that, but we also ordered the wagyu sirloin donburi, which the bartender said was his favorite—and it was delicious. When you’re staying at a hotel this perfect, which you really don’t want to leave, it’s so great to have options onsite that don’t make you feel like you have to stress over finding a great place to eat.

The wellness… There’s a lovely spa area with an onsen, sauna and steam room (note—it’s textile free). It isn’t huge, but it gets the job done! And there’s nothing quite like gazing out over Tokyo while sitting in a beautiful tub. We both had massages, which were fantastic.

Is it family-friendly? Personally, I think of this as a more adult hotel, but I did see one family with their very clever child who looked around 8 and seemed very happy to be there. It isn’t a hotel that has adjoining rooms—another reason there aren’t many families booking there.

Be sure to… swim in that pool. Even if you’re overbooked during your trip, you need to make time to experience it. Bring a book, sit on one of their lovely beds, and when you come back from your swim there will be the prettiest snack of dried fruit and tea waiting for you.