4 Seasons Lodge Tokyo at Otemachi evaluate

Standout options

• Spacious and fantastically designed rooms that evoke a way of place … however with up to date sensibilities
• Gorgeous public areas that embrace a foyer with a number of the greatest views in Tokyo and a cocktail lounge that feels each occurring and unique
• One of many metropolis’s greatest spas, the place remedies incorporate high-end Valmont and Omorovicza merchandise
• Employees members who know every visitor by identify inside an hour of check-in and who proffer (wonderful) personalised ideas for issues to do (and locations to eat) across the metropolis

Drawbacks

• The situation is central and simply accessible, however its setting within the monetary district can really feel slightly quiet within the night and on weekends.
• These trying to pattern conventional Japanese delicacies is not going to discover it on the lodge’s important eating places, which skew extra European.
• The excessive worth level will likely be past many vacationers, however these in a position to splurge ought to think about a keep.

The vibe

Perched on a number of high flooring of a skyscraper overlooking Tokyo’s Imperial Palace grounds, the 4 Seasons Lodge Tokyo at Otemachi exudes an aura of rarefication and supplies a welcome respite from the busy metropolis streets and subway stations beneath.

Stepping out of the elevators into the Thirty ninth-floor foyer, the very first thing that catches the attention is a dramatic water function that appears to drag the skin surroundings indoors and displays the altering mild all through the day.

Simply past, on the all-day cafe and restaurant referred to as the Lounge, you would possibly spot enterprise vacationers speaking offers over espresso or cocktails through the week or well-heeled locals stopping in with buddies or household on the weekend for particular events like a winter strawberry afternoon tea.

Within the night, the cocktail bar, Virtu, comes alive with {couples} perusing the menu of handcrafted cocktails, practically every impressed by a legend or fairy story, whereas Michelin-starred Est is the place to impress both a colleague or a date with a dinner of French-inspired dishes created with rigorously chosen seasonal Japanese components.

Irrespective of why you are right here, rely on the pleasant workers to supply heat however polished service with the clear intent to make your keep as snug and memorable as attainable with every interplay.

Remember to lookup from the reception desk to admire the sun-inspired cupola, whose inside is embellished with the Japanese characters for the seasons created in free-form calligraphy by artist Nobuko Kawahara. Slightly below, an clever floral show primarily based on the standard Japanese artwork of flower association creates a pure focus for the area.

The room

My 4 Seasons Suite — Imperial Backyard View had, true to its identify, an uninterrupted panorama to the west of the Imperial Palace grounds and, on the winter mornings of my keep, a crystal-clear vista all the way in which to a snow-cowled Mount Fuji.

At over 800 sq. toes, there was loads of floor to cowl. To the precise of the entry lobby was a powder room, whereas to the left was the big closet with area for baggage, hanging garments and loads of drawers, together with the protected.

The in any other case open ground plan included each a small front room and the bed room with washi-paper and wooden-latticed sliding doorways main into the toilet, all envisioned by architectural agency Denniston’s lead designer, Jean-Michel Gathy.

The lounge comprised a pillow-populated sofa and armchair together with a small desk and chair that doubled as a workspace because of a console with plugs and shops galore. The palette was principally metal- and mineral-toned with accents of ochre, gold and lapis lazuli. Above all of it, on the wall, fossil-like items of artwork had been rigorously affixed to evoke a way of transient magnificence.

The minibar, in the meantime, held a number of snacks like nuts spiced with black pepper and honey together with a number of Japanese-produced spirits, together with Keys & Bricks vodka and Sakurao gin, a Nespresso espresso maker and kettle and Narumi china with which to take pleasure in scorching drinks.

Backed by an ornamental wall with a print by artist Namiko Kitaura resembling a breeze-blown silk scarf and dealing with the wall of home windows, the king-size mattress was wearing sateen sheets with the model’s emblem embroidered into the shams.

To both aspect was a panel of controls for the lights and curtains together with nightstands — a Bluetooth speaker and the telephone on one aspect, and a pill for making the most of the lodge’s facilities on the opposite. The lengthy, low desk set in opposition to the home windows held vases with flowers and a big flat-screen tv.

The toilet had burnished black stone flooring and counters, with partitions clad in attractively striated grey limestone. Two sinks punctuated the room-length vainness counter, anchored alongside a mirrored wall, and had been provisioned with Diptyque hand cleaning soap and lotion.

There have been additionally Diptyque merchandise ready within the walk-in bathe, which had each an overhead and a wall-mounted handheld showerhead. The separate water closet held a Toto rest room with a panel of controls for numerous features.

The standout function, nevertheless, needed to be the deep soaking tub close to the window … all the higher for soaking within the views whilst you soaked in heat waters with supplied yuzu-scented tub salts.

Foods and drinks

The 4 Seasons Lodge Tokyo at Otemachi is house to 4 eating places and bars, all with phenomenal views because of their location on the Thirty ninth ground.

The Lounge is adjoining to the reception space and the elevators and is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friends can tuck right into a gamut of worldwide fare like a smoked salmon and quinoa salad ($21), a wagyu cheeseburger ($33) and Tokyo shoyu ramen ($26) in addition to plentiful petits fours and cookies for takeaway. The Lounge additionally serves the lodge’s signature afternoon tea ($59-$79 per individual), which might fluctuate seasonally.

Pigneto, the lodge’s all-day restaurant, is situated simply previous the Lounge and serves a lavish breakfast unfold earlier than transitioning into an Italian eatery for lunch and dinner. Continental breakfast ($36 per individual) features a number of chilly objects from the buffet, together with contemporary fruit, each day altering pastries like a seeded croissant filled with candy pink bean paste and numerous pickled greens over steamed rice.

The total breakfast ($45 per individual), in the meantime, consists of each cold and warm buffet choices in addition to some a la carte dishes like avocado eggs Benedict or contemporary grilled fish of the day with steamed rice and miso soup.

The Italian lunch and dinner menus present acquainted choices like fried calamari with aioli ($25); linguine with prawns, zucchini and tomato ($31); and a wide range of handmade pizzas ($19-$41); in addition to desserts like home made tiramisu ($15) and gelato ($14).

Meander throughout the reception space and thru a book- and curio-lined hall to get to the lodge’s important cocktail bar, Virtu, and the Michelin one-starred restaurant, Est.

Virtu epitomizes a cosmopolitan lodge watering gap, with moody lighting, loads of intimate cubicles and window seats, a vigorous bar with bottles stretching to the ceiling and a counter the place the mixologists theatrically assemble libations impressed by each legends and fairy tales.

Topped by a rose-shaped ice dice usual from cranberry and ginger, La Belle et la Bete (Magnificence and the Beast) is a heady concoction of Hoji tea-infused vodka and liqueur with fragrant bitters and ginger beer ($22). The Smoked Ume Customary mixes Michter’s bourbon, Japanese whiskey and bitter plum-infused brandy to supply some chew, completed with mellow smoked hinoki bitters after which smoked with cherry wooden earlier than a garnish of bitter plum, cherry and orange peel ($23).

Drink up, then head subsequent door to elegant Est, the place the eating room is hushed however vigorous, creating an atmosphere without delay intimate but energetic by which company can savor chef Guillaume Bracaval’s 10-course up to date French tasting menus composed of hyper-seasonal (there are apparently 72 seasons!) Japanese components, 95% of which come from throughout the nation ($200 per individual).

Your meal would possibly begin with a fluffy beignet filled with Swiss chard and white cheese and a chew of Spanish mackerel cured with salt and sugar, then garnished with a kumquat and inexperienced pepper crust.

The array of tastes to come back consists of delicacies like succulent Hokkaido abalone in beurre blanc and Jerusalem artichoke puree with tarragon and butter completed with a quenelle of briny French caviar. Anticipate a dish centered round a juicy filet of fish, equivalent to seabass from the coast of Kyushu, over cauliflower puree with shiitake and maitake mushrooms, however depart room for the unctuous filet of Hokkaido wagyu beef with a tangy yuzu-kosho crust.

You are virtually to the end line, however not earlier than candy bites by pastry chef Michele Abbatemarco, like chestnut mousse and vanilla-bean ice cream with mizkan citrus gelee and a smattering of mignardises made with sweets of various provenance and cacao focus.

Earlier than you balk, decide to the wine pairing, if solely to pattern hard-to-find bottles, together with a bespoke sauvignon blanc from the Kyoto prefecture made only for the restaurant and an earthy Kusonoki pinot noir from Nagano.

Facilities and repair

Throughout from reception on the Thirty ninth ground, the 4 Seasons Lodge Tokyo at Otemachi has a wellness middle with a spa, gymnasium and kitted-out locker rooms.

Friends enter by means of a hushed, dim hall the place numerous merchandise starting from teas and skincare merchandise to jewellery, exercise garments and pajamas are on show.

In case you’re coming for a remedy, you may be requested to fill out an info sheet whereas having fun with a cup of scorching or chilly tea (your selection).

Prepare for the spa with a exercise within the light-filled gymnasium, taking within the surrounding skyscrapers as you pump iron on the LifeFitness weight machines or get some cardio in on the ellipticals or treadmills. Perk up with an espresso or cup of tea, or just seize a towel and bottle of water from the supplied facilities.

After, head to the locker room for a rinse in one of many bathe suites, then don your bathing swimsuit and seize one of many cushioned daybeds that encompass the black-tiled pool with its reflective steel backside as you ponder the Tokyo skyline some extra.

Again within the locker room, use one of many conventional open seated showers to clean your self as clear as attainable earlier than wallowing within the scorching waters of the window-side ofuro, or conventional soaking tub.

After you modify right into a gown and slippers within the locker room, your therapist will escort you to one of many 5 remedy rooms, which have blond wooden flooring and paneling plus monumental home windows so you’ll be able to both have mild streaming in or ask for the shades to be lowered for a extra soporific setting. With the clang of a standard spherical orin bell, your expertise will start.

Numerous skincare remedies incorporate well-known worldwide manufacturers, equivalent to a Valmont “Redefinition Facial” to erase these advantageous strains introduced on by jet lag and journey (75 minutes, $246); and an “Omorovicza Blue Diamond Facial” that energizes the pores and skin with peptides earlier than a copper and lactic acid peel completed with a soothing rose-scented masks (90 minutes, $353). The signature “Yakusugi Forest Renewal” physique remedy incorporates an exfoliating scrub and moisturizing physique oil made out of historic cypresses from the island of Yakushima that may slough away impurities after which evoke a meditative mind-set (120 minutes, $389).

As you would possibly count on at such a high-end lodge, the workers’s consideration to element on the 4 Seasons Lodge Tokyo at Otemachi is virtually flawless, mixing 4 Seasons’ well-known worldwide service requirements with conventional Japanese hospitality.

The concierges will likely be comfortable to do every thing from securing you tickets to a sold-out artwork exhibition to recommending the fanciest sushi restaurant in Ginza (or a spot for affordable and attractive gyoza in Shinjuku). Listening to you want to head to Tokyo station, the bell desk would possibly simply give you the lodge automobile for the short journey, complimentary.

Wait workers on the numerous bars and eating places will know you by identify as quickly as you have got checked in for a reservation (or simply dropped by for breakfast) and could have your favourite espresso or cocktail order prepared for you in your second go to. They will even patiently stroll you thru any particular dishes or flavors on the menu or just cease by to ask about your day as you admire the view of Mount Fuji within the distance. It is like having your very personal polished however genial hometown squad at your beck and name for something you would possibly require.

Out and about

Though the encircling neighborhood is a monetary district that will get busy by day however tends to empty out by night time, the 4 Seasons Lodge Tokyo at Otemachi sits atop the sprawling Otemachi subway station, the place you’ll find every thing from comfort shops and informal izakayas to upscale sushi counters and bustling cafes.

You may merely stroll throughout the road to discover the Imperial Gardens if the climate is sweet or hop on the metro to succeed in different neighborhoods, together with Asakusa, Shinjuku or Shibuya, in 20-Half-hour. Ginza, with its fancy vogue boutiques, is only a 10-minute drive away.

Accessibility

The 4 Seasons Lodge Tokyo at Otemachi has wheelchair-accessible parking and an accessible entrance by way of its street-level driveway, in addition to a ground-floor entrance that’s accessible to wheelchairs with no steps (and check out the lacquer box-inspired lighting scheme and decor whilst you’re down there).

There are additionally lower-height buttons within the elevators, that are huge sufficient to accommodate wheelchairs, as are the visitor room flooring’ hallways.

The general public areas, eating places and bars on the Thirty ninth ground are all accessible for wheelchair customers, with no stairs concerned. Nonetheless, entering into the pool or scorching tub requires the usage of stairs, and there’s no chairlift. The identical is true of the ofuros within the locker rooms.

The lodge has a single wheelchair-accessible Superior Metropolis View room with wider areas to accommodate a chair, a lowered toilet counter, a roll-in bathe and bathroom seize bars. Listening to-impaired company may request visible notifications for the door and alarm clock.

Testing

The 4 Seasons Lodge Tokyo at Otemachi seamlessly melds conventional Japanese components, together with ikebana floral shows and calligraphy-inspired designs, with a up to date sense of hospitality. It mainly looks like Tokyo writ small right into a lodge expertise that may depart you feeling each cosseted in consolation and but uncovered to the enjoyment of the Japanese capital.

Its central location, which is well accessible by public transportation, makes it a superb selection for each leisure and enterprise vacationers. And whereas its phenomenal wellness services, together with a class-act gymnasium, a calming pool and a halcyon spa, will assist vacationers beat any lingering jet lag, the fanciful cocktails at Virtu and memorable dishes at Est (together with the banter of the bartenders and servers) will make you are feeling proper at house, regardless of how removed from house you truly are.

Associated studying: