Four Seasons Hotels in Tokyo

The location is great, right next door to Tokyo Station and walking distance to the Imperial Palace. The staff in this hotel are fabulous, very polite, helpful and attentive without being intrusive. Check in was a nice easy process and I was kindly shown to my room. The room itself is fine, I've stayed in better Four Season Hotels but there was nothing wrong with the room I was given. The bed was comfy but the pillows I found were way too soft. I'm sure however if I'd asked they would have replaced them with firmer options. They also had limited charging sockets near the bed but not close enough for shorter cables so I had to charge my phone on the other side of the room. The shower was powerful, there was a nice deep bath but no bath salts and the bathroom amenities are not miniatures but rather large dispensers, great to save on plastic waste. Robes, hair dryer, tea and coffee facilities and mini bar are all provided. It appears they don't offer a pressing service because when I requested this they suggested an iron and ironing board to be brought to me instead. I personally don't mind ironing my own clothes so this was fine for me. WiFi was very good. The gym and restaurant are located on floor 7. The gym was nicely equipped for a hotel gym and had just about enough kit to get a decent workout in. They had a selection of cardio options as well. There are tin bottles of water and towels readily available. The hot pool was nice to relax in after and they also had a steam room and jet massage shower. Breakfast I had both as room service and in the restaurant. The menu was the same in both but you had more freedom on portion size with the continental option in the restaurant. I also had dinner room service whilst at the hotel. Room service was quick, normally arriving within 30mins of the order being placed. The food was well prepared and delicious. My only constructive criticism would be, it would have been nice to have had more choice, I found the room service menu limited, and I'd like to have had more local Japanese options, especially sushi. All in all a good hotel with fabulous staff in a great location. It wasn't however perfect with the points mentioned above so I can only award this hotel a 4* rating.

I am lucky enough to stay at a high-end hotel once or twice per year. Let me start by saying I am indifferent between most high-end chains and standard Westins/Marriotts/Hiltons, etc. Four Seasons hotels are different--you can always see and feel what you are paying for. The new Four Seasons at Otemachi exemplifies this. Needless to say, the public spaces and rooms are beautiful. Both the design and execution of the design are magnificent. If you are a connaisseur of construction quality, you will see what I mean. In terms of fit and finish, it is to a building what a Lexus is to a car. More important than the physical space, though, is the staff. Within a day of being here, it seemed to be that everyone knew who I was (so behave yourself, because you don't want to develop a bad reputation here). I ate breakfast (it comes with the room) here, as well as one lunch in the Italian restaurant and one dinner at the bar. The food, while generally not Japanese per se, had Japanese flair. The smoked salmon in my first-day breakfast salad was special, as was the veal salad and turbot with edamame pure' I had for lunch. The Japanese breakfast featured cod marinated in miso, which is something I enjoy, and it did not disappoint. The Waygu burger I had for dinner was better than fine but didn't quite match my favorite in Los Angeles, which is the burger at the bar of Cut. The waitstaff was attentive without hovering, and the bartender, Keith Motsi, was named the best bartender in Asia last year. I am not surprised. He won me with his familiarity of Hemingway's drinking habits, and his perfectly executed, bone dry, stirred martini (he rinses both the carafe and glass with vermouth before pouring in the gin). The pool is stunning, although I am mildly disappointed that it has no deep end. Alas, shallow pools seem to be the way it is with all hotels these days. New hotels usually have to go through a shakedown period before they find their footing, and it was pretty clear to me the Otemachi Four Seasons is already well grounded. Currently, it is expensive, but not crazy expensive. I wish them much success.