Park Hyatt Tokyo Reopens After a Massive Renovation

I might really feel my coronary heart fee rising because the elevator whooshed towards the forty first ground of Tokyo’s Shinjuku Park Tower, a trio of hulking granite-grey monoliths designed by the late Japanese starchitect Kenzo Tange. In a number of moments, I might step into the refreshed Park Hyatt Tokyo, a landmark resort that, on the tail finish of 2025, emerged from a 19-month, top-to-bottom renovation—essentially the most formidable in its three-decade historical past.

Had it been every other five-star keep, I might’ve been wanting ahead to the modifications: a ritzy new bar, maybe, or refreshed suites that will now really feel forward of their time. Right here, nonetheless, I quietly hoped that the majority of it had remained simply how I remembered it from earlier visits.

Opened in 1994 because the model’s first outpost in Asia, the Park Hyatt Tokyo is as a lot a popular culture artifact as it’s a place to sleep. Immortalized on the silver display screen in Sofia Coppola’s moody cult flick “Misplaced in Translation” (which I rewatched for the umpteenth time on the flight over), the resort, with interiors by American designer John Morford, grew to become a portal into a selected Tokyo fantasy, a world of neon haze, Suntory Time, and off-key karaoke leaking from tinny audio system. A model of that Tokyo nonetheless exists in pockets, however as town barrels forward at breakneck velocity, it feels more and more elusive.

That nostalgia, although, helps clarify the thrill across the resort’s return. Few reopenings have generated as a lot anticipation—or scrutiny—as this one. “Our friends have a deep emotional connection to the resort and plenty of have been returning for many years,” Fredrik Harfors, the resort’s common supervisor, tells Journey + Leisure. “We felt a robust sense of duty to keep up that unique design spirit. Sustaining the integrity of key moments within the visitor journey was important.”

For that, Hyatt tapped Sanjit Manku and Patrick Jouin of Paris-based design agency Studio Jouin Manku, who additionally spearheaded the overhaul of the emblematic La Mamounia resort in Marrakech. “We approached the venture like archaeologists who uncover greater than they construct,” Manku tells Journey + Leisure of the redesign course of. “Inspiration got here from the emotional expertise the Park Hyatt Tokyo creates. There’s a really particular sensation when one rises above a metropolis that by no means stops. The horizon expands. The thoughts turns into quiet. That feeling is common and timeless. We needed to assist it reasonably than change it.”

That grew to become clear the second the elevator opened to the Peak Lounge, a bamboo backyard within the sky beneath an origami-angled glass ceiling, from the place Tokyo’s neon jumble unfurled in all instructions. The lounge’s furnishings had been softened with curvy sofas and roly-poly membership chairs, however that sensation of floating above town felt acquainted. The tightly calibrated welcome felt like a déja-vu, too: from the open sweep of the lounge previous the chrome-framed Le Corbusier chairs parked precisely the place I remembered them, by way of the book-lined library, and on to the hushed, windowless reception. Even the marginally unsettling bronzes and jester pencil drawings by Mieko Yuki had been nonetheless on show. For a resort that had simply been stripped to the bones, remarkably little felt displaced.

The extent of the refurbishment grew to become clear solely in my room, which simply vaguely resembled the idiosyncratic abodes of the previous. A lot of Morford’s oddball-but-endearing design particulars—the spider-legged paper lanterns by the mattress, the framed Yoshitaka Echizenya artworks above the bathtubs—had been eschewed for a glance that performed issues slightly safer. The outcomes are extra modern and, undeniably, sleeker.

Nonetheless, over the weekend I spent right here, it was straightforward to slide again into that acquainted, nostalgia-tinged headspace. One night, I ended by the New York Bar for drinks and dinner. It was buzzing as ever, and the workers was unfailingly heat (if barely rusty, which I’m certain will resolve itself as soon as the reopening jitters fade). Most significantly, that outdated sensation remained: the sensation of being sealed off from Tokyo’s madcap rush, suspended excessive above all of it.

Someplace towards the top of “Misplaced in Translation,” Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) tells Bob Harris (Invoice Murray), “Let’s by no means come right here once more, as a result of it would by no means be as a lot enjoyable.” I had the same inkling earlier than checking in, however now I’m not satisfied she was proper. The Park Hyatt Tokyo could not be frozen in its early-2000s second, but it surely nonetheless occupies a singular place within the metropolis’s resort scene. It doesn’t depend on essentially the most lavish rooms or a constellation of Michelin stars, however on the more and more uncommon means to form a temper that few, if any, rivals have managed to copy.

Learn on for my evaluate of the Park Hyatt Tokyo after its landmark renovation.

The Rooms

The guestrooms, now pared again to 171 from the unique 177, have obtained essentially the most noticeable makeover. Due to their sky-high perch—all rooms sit on or above the forty second ground—they’re nonetheless amongst Tokyo’s finest in terms of views, finest savored after darkish with the curtains extensive open.

Inside, the modifications aren’t fairly night-and-day, however apparent however. Morford’s signature turquoise-green carpet has been swapped for one a number of shades lighter; the straight strains have been smoothed with spherical edges, and the general colour palette of beiges and tender grays brings the rooms, for higher or for worse, nearer to the broader Park Hyatt home fashion. I’m glad at the very least a number of the peculiar decor particulars had been preserved: I noticed one of many unique wood geese resting on the redesigned coal-black TV and minibar console in my room; the dried magnolia leaves nonetheless float above the newly leather-clad headboards, and within the suites’ dwelling rooms, Isamu Noguchi’s unique washi lights nonetheless solid a tender glow.

“The rooms and suites now embrace life,” Manku says of the modifications.. “They provide consolation that’s felt within the physique. Furnishings curves towards you. Mild is formed to disclose reasonably than to dominate. In a method, the resort feels extra human.”

Bogs have been recast as nicely. The nostalgist in me would have fortunately saved the brown-orange checkerboard ground tiles, a kind of delightfully quirky particulars that made the outdated rooms really feel so unmistakably of their time. The brand new design, in response to Manku, takes inspiration from the Japanese onsen, with double vainness sinks and a separate, marble and chrome-covered moist room housing a deep bathtub and rain bathe. In contrast to at different Park Hyatts, the place bogs come stocked with the model’s signature Le Labo toiletries, the Tokyo outpost doubled down on its partnership with Aesop (they had been the primary resort to distribute the model in Japan again within the day). You’ll now discover Aesop’s bergamot and geranium leaf-scented shampoos and bathe gels in all rooms reasonably than simply the suites (as was the case pre-renovation).

Tech, mercifully, has gotten an improve too, with USB-C shops, wi-fi phone-charging pads, and modern brushed-copper management panels embedded into the headboard beside the mattress. The look is slick, although a delicate backlight on the buttons would have helped me when fumbling for the sunshine change at 3 a.m.

Meals and Drink

The resort’s bars and eating places have at all times been top-notch, so that they had been good to not tinker with them an excessive amount of. Girandole, lengthy a fixture for date nights and energy breakfasts, stays the social centerpiece, however has tightened up the Parisian brasserie vibe with the assistance of French super-chef Alain Ducasse (it’s now referred to as Girandole by Alain Ducasse). The refreshed menu isn’t overly chi-chi, and contains trendy spins on brasserie staples resembling vol-au-vents, veloutés, and soufflés (the upside-down cheese souffle had me considering a second order); many made with Japanese produce. The worldwide consolation meals from Girandole’s earlier iteration have been rerouted to the in-room eating menu.

Design-wise, it’s nonetheless a fantasy of deep pink velvet, shiny granite and mirrored partitions. Even the black-and-white portraits of European cafe-goers, shot by German photographer Vera Mercer, nonetheless peer down from the now-iconic collage lining the double-height ceiling. The most important change has been the addition of a pink Italian marble bar at its middle, which doles out martinis and Roederer bubbles at evening, and turns right into a buffet counter within the morning.

On that observe, the breakfast—additionally served right here—stays a standout. Ducasse has launched a group of so-called “Écrin”, out there from the menu or on the aforementioned buffet counter, the place they’re displayed as glass jewel bins stuffed with bite-sized creations spanning every part from Kristal caviar to charcuterie and creme caramel. My favorites: the cherry tomatoes with fennel shavings and goat cheese, and the leek mimosa with slivers of pickled pink onion.

Most iconic, nonetheless, is the New York Grill, the 52nd-floor steakhouse and jazz bar with eye-popping views over just about the entire metropolis. It performed a serious function in Misplaced in Translation, and has turn out to be one in every of Tokyo’s top-ticket ingesting dens since. To my (and everybody’s) aid, even after a floor-to-ceiling renovation, it re-emerged just about the identical, with each black-and-chrome element, right down to the leather-clad Bellini cab chairs, restored to its former glory. After all, the steak—completely marbled ribeye, sirloin, tomahawk, you identify it—was wonderful, however the actual spotlight was the Hokkaido burrata with persimmon and finger lime, which had me spooning up the cream to the final drop.

For native taste, there’s Kozue, chef Nobuhiro Yoshida’s walnut-clad kaiseki kitchen, which has additionally been left seemingly untouched. It’s a alternative spot for sashimi, shabu-shabu, and soba noodles—all served on beautiful lacquerware and porcelain sourced from across the nation.

Accessibility and Sustainability

The resort gives a number of accessible rooms inside its 2 Twin Beds Metropolis View class. Situated on the forty second by way of fiftieth flooring, these 538-square-foot visitor rooms characteristic bogs with deep soaking tubs and an accessible bathe configuration. Many of the public areas, together with all eating places, have ramps to make them wheelchair accessible, and the resort permits information canines inside.

Calling a resort of this caliber sustainable could be a stretch, however the Park Hyatt makes eco-moves the place doable. They’re massive on accountable seafood sourcing, and also you’ll discover licensed sustainably caught fish marked on the menu. Water bottles within the rooms are constructed from recyclable aluminum, and rooms are nearly solely freed from single-use plastic.

Location

The resort’s perch within the western finish of Tokyo’s Shinjuku district has at all times been slightly awkward, particularly provided that a lot of its five-star friends stand smack in the course of a few of Tokyo’s buzziest areas. Central Shinjuku, with its top-table eating places and limitless designer boutiques, is a 15-minute stroll away, whereas attending to mall-packed Shibuya will take you about half-an-hour on foot. The inexperienced expanse of Yoyogi Park, a favourite for early-morning runs, sits about 10 minutes from the foyer; and a taxi to Haneda Airport will take you round 40 minutes when you keep away from the morning commuter rush.

Find out how to E-book

The resort is a part of Hyatt’s World of Hyatt loyalty program, which permits members to earn and redeem factors for every keep, and gives further perks like free upgrades and late checkout, relying in your membership tier.

Nightly charges at Park Hyatt Tokyo begin from $1,145.

Each T+L resort evaluate is written by an editor or reporter who has stayed on the property, and every resort chosen aligns with our core values.