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Yokohama city centre is one hour from Tokyo, and the harbour city offers a totally different atmosphere. Spend a weekend there, sampling its museums, boulevards and open seafront—and stay at this ancient hotel. The New Grand Yokohama has its share of memories, dating back to the 1920s. General Douglas MacArthur stayed in the hotel at the outset of his long tour of post-Second World War duty. > Hotel New Otani
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big banks’ headquarters in Otemachi. The Palace boasts a decent bar at the top, with a view of the moated plaza and its black pines.
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This smaller, highly elegant hotel was set up by Seiji Tsutsumi, a poet-businessman, back in his halcyon years in the 1970s when he got the idea that the fabled Ginza district should boast at least one hotel right in the middle of the action. This is not necessarily an advantage in an age when young people in Tokyo—who are the trend-setters—head for other parts of town, such as Roppongi, Nishi Azabu and Shibuya. Management has a fight on its hands to recapture the glitter of its early years.
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The Imperial is an historic [name] in the hotel business in Tokyo. The original Frank Lloyd Wright building was torn down in 1968 and replaced with a rather soulless structure overlooking Hibiya Park. It’s probably the best place to stage a banquet or a giant convention. The hotel has an array of restaurants, one of the most attractive small bars in the city and gives easy access to the Ginza, one minute away. Watch out for the rebuilt main lobby, replacing a much criticised design that resembled a train station.
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This is the only hotel in Tokyo with two [name]s, one in Japanese and one in English, and it has, in fact, two faces. On the one hand it is a writers’ hotel for the Japanese clients, who favour its No No Bar. On the other it’s a great location for visiting foreigners who want to be close to Jimbocho and Kanda, the second-hand bookshop centres. All in all, it’s more like a Parisian Left Bank hotel than anything else. Its hilltop location, set back from a busy main street, is blessedly quiet.
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