Tokyo hotels offering something new
These fresh additions to the scene offer chic accommodation for a stay that’s out of the ordinary.
1. Muji Hotel
What was previously an office tower in the glitzy Ginza district has been converted into a multistorey Muji clothing and homewares store and the brand’s first hotel in Japan (China already has two). Like the shop, the hotel is blanketed in oak and furnished sparingly. The aesthetic is “anti-gorgeous, anti-cheap”, says Eriko Kojima, a spokesman for UDS Corp, which operates the hotel, meaning guests won’t feel overwhelmed by design pomposity. There are 79 rooms, including eight that measure just 13sq m to 14sq m. The larger ones come with double-size bunk or queen beds. And if you covet any of the amenities, such as the aroma diffuser, they’re all sold at the store, an escalator ride away. The lunch menu at the hotel’s Wa restaurant changes every few months to reflect cuisine from far-flung parts of Japan. Guests also can opt for smoothies at the juice bar in the store’s ground floor, or pop into the diner in the basement for Japanese comfort food such as a grilled onigiri or rice ball; from about $200 a night.
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2. Hotel Koe
Apparel company Stripe International turned a former shopping centre in the heart of Tokyo, in Shibuya, into a cool and subdued (by day, at least) haven. A cafe wraps around the main floor of the hotel while the first-floor concept store sells everything from chic coats to chopstick holders. On weekend nights, the check-in desk morphs into a DJ booth playing music curated by Masaya Kuroki, the founder of fashion brand Maison Kitsune. The 10 rooms, with labels from S to XL (and sized accordingly), come with platform beds and glass-walled bathrooms. The guest-only breakfast room turns into an afternoon tearoom, then a moody cocktail bar; from about $200 a night.
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3. BnA Studio
At this art-focused hotel, each of the five guestrooms was designed by a different up-and-coming Japanese artist. It’s situated in the off-the-beaten path neighbourhood of Akihabara, a good 30 minutes by metro to the city centre though close to several manga and anime stores. All accommodations have kitchenettes and washer-dryers, but that’s where the similarities to each other end. Among the options are the Zen Garden, with a painted gold chain-link fence; and Hailer, above, where a gold-leaf mural of the wind and thunder gods features shades of street art. For visitors curious about Tokyo’s underground art scene, the BnA hotel promises access. Sabrina Suljevic, the hotel’s marketing manager, says you may even be invited to a “secret party happening down the road in a weird laundromat”; from about $250 a night.
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4. The Knot
It took Yasuhide Hosono, president of Tokyo investment company Ichigo Inc’s Ichigo Estate real estate unit, more than a year to persuade the former owners of a hotel building to sell, mostly because they did not understand the concept of a lifestyle hotel. “We wanted to invest in an old business and turn it around,” says Hosono.
The Knot, in the middle of the neon-lit neighbourhood of Shinjuku, now has a huge open-floor lobby that includes a “sandwich director” and an in-house bakery that makes, among other items, fluffy shokupan, or Japanese milk bread, with mascarpone.
Of the 409 guestrooms, some overlook Shinjuku Central Garden and others the city’s urban sprawl. Sign up for cycle and photography tours led by local professionals, such as Tomohiro Sakata, an urban-life photographer. Rent Tokyobike bicycles in adult and kids’ sizes; bike tours cost about $65. The staff also can help guests access cinema screenings (some with English subtitles) and other events held at Shinjuku Central Garden; from about $240 a night.
• hotel-the-knot.jp/tokyoshinjuku
The Wall Street Journal