Hoshinoya Tokyo

Hoshinoya Tokyo is an 84-room ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) in a 17-storey tower in Otemachi, a 10-minute walk from Tokyo Station, with an indoor and open-air hot-spring bath on the top floor. It suits travellers who want to live by ryokan customs from the moment they land, without leaving central Tokyo: for a first night in Japan, or for two or three nights before heading on to Hakone or Kyoto.

A ryokan on every floor

Hoshino Resorts, the Japanese hotel group that also runs the KAI ryokans, describes the house, opened on 20 July 2016, as a "high-rise ryokan". Each of the 14 guest floors forms a small ryokan of six rooms, linked by a tatami corridor (traditional straw and rush mats) to an ochanoma, a shared tea lounge on the floor, open 24 hours. Seasonal snacks and drinks are laid out there at any hour. Shoes stay at the ryokan's entrance and no slippers are provided: you walk the tatami in socks or barefoot, wearing the kimono-style room wear designed by Jotaro Saito, which you can keep on for a stroll around the neighbourhood.

Rooms

The room table sets out three types. All have a bathtub, a separate shower and toilet, bamboo and chestnut furniture, and bedding made for the house.

• Sakura, 41 to 47 m², has two beds 105 cm wide: for two friends, or a couple who prefer separate beds.
• Yuri, 41 to 49 m², has a 180 cm king bed: the couples' room, for two or three nights.
• Kiku, 83 m², is the corner room at the end of each floor, facing due south, with three beds, a dining table and a walk-in wardrobe. It is the only room that sleeps three: a family with one child, or a long stay.

Children under 12 can share their parents' bed, within the room's maximum occupancy.

The 17th-floor hot spring

The baths are fed by the Otemachi spring, a salty water drawn from 1,500 m underground, rich in sea-water and seaweed minerals, from ground that the sea once covered. On the 17th floor, a cavernous indoor bath opens onto an open-air bath where all you see is a patch of sky framed by the walls. The baths open from 3 pm to 11.30 am the next day, local time, which leaves time for a soak in the evening and another on the morning you leave.

Bathing is Japanese-style, naked, after washing; our guide to onsen etiquette explains each step. A spa offers treatments using seasonal plants and a wellness programme pairing warm baths with fermented foods.

Dining

The house restaurant, led since May 2023 by executive chef Ryosuke Oka, serves dinner from 5.30 pm on the theme of half-forgotten Japanese home recipes, at 28,000 ¥ (about 158 €) per adult before tax and the 10% service charge, with a vegetarian menu at the same price if booked three days ahead. Sushi Otemon, an eight-seat counter on the first basement floor that opened in March 2025, serves sushi in the Edomae tradition of old Edo, in two sittings at 5.30 and 8 pm, at 30,000 ¥ (about 170 €) per person before tax and service. Both must be booked by 8 pm the day before, and each party chooses one dinner only.

Breakfast, Japanese with grilled fish or Western, is served from 7.20 to 9.20 am, local time, and is booked the day before. Our April 2027 rate is room only: we add dinner and breakfast to suit your evenings in Tokyo.

Activities

The ryokan offers activities by reservation: tea ceremony, the art of incense, a sky-high morning kenjutsu (swordsmanship) session, an evening of gagaku court music, making a seasonal miniature garden, a cruise on Tokyo's rivers and a rickshaw tour.

Location and what to do nearby

The ryokan is at 1-9-1 Otemachi, in Chiyoda ward, right above Otemachi subway station (exit A1 for the Marunouchi Line, C1 for the other lines) and a 10-minute walk from the Marunouchi North Exit of Tokyo Station. Haneda Airport is about 20 minutes by taxi, Narita about 60 minutes.

The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, on the old enclosures of Edo Castle, are a few minutes' walk away; entry is free and they close on Mondays and Fridays. From Tokyo Station, shinkansen (bullet trains) run to Odawara, the gateway to Hakone, and to Kyoto. Our Tokyo page covers the districts and sights.

How it compares in Tokyo

Of the four hotels in our Tokyo selection, Hoshinoya Tokyo is the only ryokan and the only one with a true hot spring. Aman Tokyo, a few streets away, has suites of at least 71 m² and a spa with onsen-style baths, at a markedly higher price. Park Hyatt Tokyo and The Okura Tokyo are Western-style hotels, in Shinjuku and Toranomon.

Our Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto and Osaka in 12 days itinerary starts here.