1 Hotel Tokyo Offers a Serene Stay Amid the City’s Frenetic Energy
As a New Yorker for going on almost two decades now, it’s safe to say I’m inured to the frantic pace that this city and others like it possess. In fact, more often than not, I find myself traveling on vacation to other places that contain a similar, barely contained explosive energy—it’s why I planned a trip to Tokyo this March, perhaps the only other city on the planet that can rival NYC for sheer amount of stimuli.
But just as I wouldn’t recommend anyone coming to New York to stay in the oversaturated melee of Times Square, nor did I want to be stuck navigating the neon lights of Shinjuku, or swimming in the sea of people at the Shibuya Crossing. For as much as I crave the Bret Easton Ellis-approved bright lights and big city, that’s not what I want needling my eyeballs as I try to fall asleep (probably at a dreadful hour thanks to the famously difficult transpacific jet lag). So you can imagine my delight in finding out that 1 Hotel Tokyo, a favorite zen-like hotel chain of mine, was not only opening in the city just a few days before I arrived, but doing so in Akasaka, an upscale but relatively calm neighborhood not far from the Imperial Palace, known for a mix of lively restaurants and a high concentration of office towers.
Many of 1 Hotel’s calming and eco-friendly hallmarks are present in this newest addition, the brand’s first in Japan. There are living walls, sustainable design (the property has earned CASBEE S certification, the country’s highest rating for environmental performance), and a trademark Bamford Wellness Spa. But its location high inside Akasaka Trust Tower (the 211-room hotel is located on the 38th through 43rd floors), makes the contrast between its wholly urban exterior and the airy, oasis-like calm inside that much more pronounced—more so than any of the other locations I’ve visited, which include West Hollywood and Central Park.
That sense of comfort starts as you enter the hotel’s greenery-covered ground-floor lobby. It continues upstairs during check-in, when you’re served an oshibori, the warm, scented towel that’s a traditional sign of greeting in most Japanese hotels. But it’s most apparent in the quiet room, which, with its weathered wood accents and a warm palette of stones and creams, is an instant shoulder-relaxer. Happily, they’re also roomy: not a given in a city like Tokyo, which is known as much for its expansive geographic size as the Lilliputian dimensions of many of its hotels.
My room, for example, billed as a Garden Two Queen, was roomy enough not only for the requisite two beds, but also a full-sized couch and a small dining table, as well as a shower, separate tub area, and—that most hallowed of Japanese room amenities—a Toto toilet, complete with heated seat. (And with pricing starting at $799 a night, it’s a relatively competitive rate for a five-star stay in an accessible neighborhood.)
The more public spaces of the hotel are similarly cozy, though decidedly livelier. Just like the West Hollywood property, the lobby here is scattered with plush couches and oversized chairs, ideal to take in the sweeping city views below. NiNi, the all-day restaurant, is also light-flooded, and its breakfast buffet, with an ample spread of Japanese and Western dishes, is a popular morning hangout for guests. I recommend ordering additional items off the breakfast menu, by the way: the custardy, soufflé-like French toast, served with roasted Mikan orange and chantilly cream, was one of my more memorable bites of the trip.
While most visitors will be out exploring during the day, Spotted Stone, the gin-focused bar in the lobby, is a convivial and chic spot for a nightcap. With one of the largest collections of Japanese gin in the city and a commitment to zero-waste cocktails (spent coffee grounds and citrus peel juicings are just a couple of their innovations), you’re also unlikely to find flavors like these at other Tokyo watering holes.
Unsurprisingly, the most zen-like space is the Bamford Wellness Spa, which focuses on holistic treatments using the eponymous brand’s products. The spa menu here is fairly focused—five types of massages and facials, along with longer wellness journeys that combine treatments—but for a city spa, it’s probably sufficient. After a 14-hour flight and lugging suitcases through multiple terminals, I opted for the 60-minute Japanese bamboo massage, a signature treatment that was designed specifically for this 1 Hotel outpost. As someone who’s often very ticklish during massages, being kneaded by a warm stick of hollow bamboo trunk was a revelation: I actually relaxed instead of tensed.
After staying at the property, I’d recommend this hotel to a range of travelers, from families who’d appreciate the large rooms to couples who should absolutely take advantage of the spa’s duo services. While the 1 Hotel can certainly accommodate business travelers, I can imagine one might look longingly at the gin bar or the indoor pool and wish for a full cancellation of meetings.
Many properties claim to feel like a home away from home, and as frequent travelers know, it’s easier for smaller, boutique hotels to convey that sense of warmth and cultivate a true sense of place. But though 1 Hotel is a chain with a deliberate, breezy aesthetic and strong sustainable values that encompass a wide range of international properties, I still found this location to feel both uniquely Japanese as well as homey. Maybe it was the basket of free apples in the lobby that guests can grab as they walk out the door—the same way I do at home. Maybe it’s the staff that greets you with a “Welcome home!” as you arrive back at the front door. But ultimately, this considered sort of service isn’t meant to be overanalyzed; if anything, it’s meant to help you think less, because everything is taken care of. That is a rare comfort, and one worth returning for.