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This is a lively, downtown hotel with a fancy new lobby and reception area, an attractive buzz in the upstairs restaurants and an outdoor pool for the summer. Being part of the ANA group, one of Japan’s leading airlines, keeps the folks rolling in. The hotel has a faithful clientele of Japanese and people who have felt better received here than at other, more snobbish, hostelries. It’s a short walk from the many delights of the Akasaka entertainment area.
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The Capitol Tokyu has the great merit of a fine location, with a grand Shinto shrine complex on one side and the spiffy new prime minister’s office—all glass and steel—on the other. The hotel has a long tradition of involvement in national politics. It also boasts a grill, the Keyaki Grill, which was long seen as the best in the city. These days the Keyaki is fighting to get its reputation back after a spell of neglect. The hotel is within striking distance of Akasaka, which is another plus.
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This hotel was planned during the Bubble years, and it has the imprint of that era, when Japanese money ruled the world and to be grandiose was normal. This is a big, burly hotel, with enormous reaches of empty space downstairs and a lively trade in couples coming in for the weekend— over the Rainbow Bridge. Odaiba is popular with Tokyoites, and close by is the head office of Fuji TV. But for out-of-town Westerners, the Grand Pacific Meridien is distinctly off the beaten track.
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This huge, rambling hotel was built at the time of the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, and it has a very large garden with pools and goldfish and waterfalls. The New Otani is run in style and boasts big conference rooms downstairs. It attracts a lot of people to its hilltop location—its original revolving rooftop restaurant still functions, giving the cocktail-hour customers a changing view of the city. This is a place for discreet business meetings.
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Thanks to its vigorous management (it’s owned by Mitsubishi), this hotel has pulled itself up from obscurity a few years ago to become one of the most popular hostelries in town for visiting businessmen, Japanese and Western alike. Its location, close to the Hakozaki downtown air terminal and only a few minutes from the Tokyo Stock Market, has helped to pave the way for its rise. Stay here and you can hop on to an early morning bus one minute away to rush out to the airport. Perfect for departures.
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