Some hotels are just made for staying in, and the corner suite of The Peninsula Tokyo is one of these. From the moment you enter and see the views offered from your living room and dining table, you know that you will not leave this 116-square meter suite if you can manage it. It has perhaps one of the most unique views in Tokyo.

You see, there are so many hotels on top of buildings in Tokyo these days so height is nice but nothing unusual. All of them offer wonderful glimpses of some part of this sprawling 21st century metropolis from their premium rooms.

THE CORNER SUITE OF THE PENINSULA TOKYO

However, the corner suite of The Peninsula Tokyo is just right. It’s high enough so that you can see the Imperial Palace from above. Yet it is also low enough so that you can appreciate the details all around. As far as hotel views are concerned, this is a sweet spot.

Every luxury hotel in Tokyo also has a unique design for its suites. The designers of The Peninsula Tokyo have chosen to put the living room and dining area in the best spot in each deluxe suite.

THE BEST PLACE FOR YOGA IN TOKYO

This area, with full floor-to-ceiling windows, has the widest frontage on the Imperial Palace. It’s perfect for room service meals at any time of day or night. Or for reading newspapers in the morning or doing yoga in the afternoon.

Yes, the suite has a yoga mat and a stretch pole. Obviously, someone has realized that practicing yoga and other wellness routines in front of one of the city’s most iconic views will result in incredible satisfaction and a desire to return to this same suite on the next visit.

THE JOYS OF DRESSING UP

The other unique aspect of this deluxe suite is its spacious dressing room, done beautifully with mirrors and wood paneling. Adjacent to the living and a buffer for the bedroom, it’s practically the size of an average guest room in Tokyo. So there is more than enough space for all the luggage and all the clothes of the fussiest fashionista guest.

In fact, it’s a joy to unpack the bags because you know right away that there is enough space for everything — and more. No need to share closets with the companion or to try and fit all toiletries in one dressing table. There is enough room for everything and everyone. In fact, there’s enough space for an extra bed in this dressing room, even if there is no such intention. This is how big it is.

The marble and stone bathroom too is a bright space with the bathtub located right by the window. In my suite, which was on the side nearer the palace than Hibiya Park, I could still see the Imperial Palace while I soaked in the tub. Now. How many hotels can offer a bathtub with a view of a palace?

READ ABOUT WHERE TO ORDER SOME OF THE BEST STEAKS IN TOKYO

A ZEN BEDROOM IN TOKYO

Interestingly, the living room and the dressing room are both wide and spacious but the bedroom is an intimate cocoon in comparison. It’s relaxing and simple in a very Zen way. No clutter and all seamless design. Moreover, it offers quiet views from its relatively smaller windows. Also, the door between the dressing room and the bedroom is one heavy slab of wood. It’s just right for shutting out the rest of the world every night for a calm sleep and sweet dreams.

For the record, the latter isn’t difficult at all, in the deluxe suite of The Peninsula Tokyo. After all, you have the prospect of a room service Japanese breakfast curated by a Michelin two-star chef to wake up to the next day.

Read more about the best hotels and resorts in Japan in Travelife Magazine.

READ ABOUT A LUXURY HOTEL IN SPAIN WITH ONLY FIVE BEDROOMS

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To tell you the truth, my expectations for dinner at Peter, the fine dining restaurant of The Peninsula Tokyo, were high, but not high enough to be swept off my feet. This swanky restaurant at the top of a luxury hotel with arguably the best location in Tokyo is named after a real person. Peter was a valued top executive of The Peninsula Hotels group. It is a lovely idea and such a nice way to pay tribute to a loyal and hardworking man. Nevertheless, there is nothing in this name to hint at a particular cuisine or food type. Or to inspire gastronomic dreams.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

However, although the name may have conjured nothing more than a neutral feeling at the outset for me, the interiors certainly impressed at first glance. Few restaurants have the luxury of enough space to create a 21st century high-tech fairy-tale atmosphere. But this is exactly what Peter is like.

Alighting from an elevatory that takes you straight to the top from the lobby, you enter a large room with mood lighting and tinges of blue and purple. The first thing you see are life-sized silver trees at the bar. It’s a bit like being in a disco in winter all year round — and it’s so pretty to see. So bar clients sit under this canopy of silver glitter with a view of the busy Harumi Avenue below.

ABOUT PETER OF THE PENINSULA TOKYO

Meanwhile, the restaurant proper is basically a sophisticated venue with tables arranged by the floor to ceiling windows to maximize the views. There are several more tables around a walkway that resembles a fashion runway. It’s perfect for events and parties. And on regular days, it makes for an interesting feeling to get to your window-side table via this catwalk that is visible to most other diners.

This is the kind of restaurant you dress up for, if you so want to. It’s the right place to use that designer dress just hanging in the closet for ages. And I can tell you that walking across that catwalk in fashionable attire is definitely a good way to start a special evening.

WHERE TO HAVE LOBSTER BISQUE IN TOKYO

Lovely as the design was, the revelation that night was the food. The starters were wonderful, and the lobster bisque was particularly memorable. However, the best part of the evening was the delicious steaks. These were among the best I’ve had in Tokyo in recent memory.

The cuts of meat on offer were unparalleled, even by Tokyo’s high standards, both for quality and unique provenance. These were not at all the usual good wagyu beef. In fact, they were mainly cuts not found on a typical steak menu.

A RIB EYE FROM OKINAWA

For example, there was a rib-eye from Okinawa on the menu. Okinawa? Who would have thought Okinawa would ever be associated with amazing steaks? Of course I had to have this. I was not disappointed either. I’d never heard anyone praise Okinawa beef in any way. And yet that evening, I had steak from Okinawa that was so delicious that I stopped talking to my companions.

READ ABOUT BREAKFAST PLANNED BY A MICHELIN TWO STAR CHEF IN TOKYO

“This is definitely a restaurant for a special celebration,” we all said to each other. Peter is not cheap, by the way. But neither is it crazy expensive by Japan fine dining rates. And the steaks are so good that we all felt we’d enjoyed a meal of excellent value. Hearts and stomachs were definitely full, and we will certainly be back.

More importantly, this was probably the best steak I’d had in a very long time. And in a city like Tokyo, that’s a big statement and a tough act to beat.

See more about the best hotels and ryokan in Japan in Travelife Magazine.

SPAIN’S NEWEST LUXURY HOTEL HAS FIVE HECTARES AND ONLY FIVE ROOMS

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At its peak, the New York Grill of the Park Hyatt Tokyo was easily one of the best restaurants in the world. This was in the late 1990s and the hotel had just opened to great acclaim. It literally changed the landscape of the hotel industry. Until then, there was no hotel on the planet that made ultra-stylish modern interiors with extreme attention to details for the luxury market.

THE PLACE TO SEE AND BE SEEN IN TOKYO

Meanwhile, the New York Grill set the standard for contemporary fine dining. I do not exaggerate when I say that everyone who was anyone in the world wanted to eat here. The waiting list for a table at the New York Grill was as long as several months. There were lots of people hoping for confirmed dinner reservations and also for a table for Sunday brunch. Sunday brunch at the New York Grill was the best in Tokyo. Of course, the wait was worth it.

In the late 1990s, this was the destination restaurant for people who had already been everywhere and done everything. First, there was the location. There were few restaurants that occupied the entire floor of the top of a building in Tokyo in those days, so this fact alone made everyone’s jaw drop. I think the massive open kitchen also made it to restaurant design history. Three sides are either open or walled in glass so there is no place to hide messy preparations. This ushered in the era of performance cooking, where your food is on show from preparation stage to plating and serving.

IF VIEWS COULD KILL

The views from this restaurant were — and still are — a crowd drawer. You see, when you get out of the elevator on the restaurant floor, immediately you are eyeball to eyeball with incredible views of Tokyo. These are not just any views either. The New York Grill is housed in a dome that is three or four storeys high. So you have this incredible feeling of being in the sky from the height relative to outside, and then also from the height inside.

Then there was the wonderful food. I’ve known many of the New York Grill chefs and each one had a way of combining the best of Japanese ingredients into great Western-style comfort food. This has always been the go-to place for steak-and-sides for dinner.

Then for lunch, including on Sundays, the chefs always created a truly fancy appetizer and dessert buffet. Diners could have their fill of both and they chose a main dish in between. This was so enjoyable and a long Sunday brunch at the New York Grill was my favorite weekend activity for a very long time.

LIVING IN ELECTRIC DREAMS

Finally, the electric atmosphere of the New York Grill was a great crowd drawer. It was always full of Japanese celebrities, New York billionaires, Hollywood movie stars and European supermodels. All the American movie stars visiting Tokyo stayed at here, so it was not unusual to see one of them in the next table. In fact, this is how Sofia Coppola ended up choosing to shoot her movie “Lost in Translation” at the Park Hyatt Tokyo. She’d stayed here several times.

This made for a real adrenalin rush, to enter a restaurant full of movers and shakers and beautiful people. If you were not part of this crowd, you suddenly felt you had joined anyway.

For a time, I ate here several times a week. In fact I was always looking for an excuse to eat here because life seemed more perfect after a meal at the New York Grill. I kid you not. I always left the restaurant with a much better feeling about the world than when I entered it. And this is probably the best reason to eat in any restaurant.

Because I ate there all the time, I had a hotline for booking tables. In those days, as I have already written, the restaurant was completely full for months. However, when possible, they always left one table or two empty for sudden VIP arrivals. So if I was lucky and no VIPs had claimed this table, it was usually mine. This is how the New York Grill became my “kitchen.”

FINE DINING AMIDST THE PANDEMIC

Fast forward to September 2020 and we are in the middle of the worst pandemic mankind has seen in about 100 years. The world has become a place of lockdowns and misery in a matter of months. So if there was any perfect time for me to revisit the New York Grill, it was probably in these COVID-19 months. I have already mentioned how my perception of the world always changed after eating here. Well, last September was a good time to get my current worldview altered even slightly.

Fortunately, the New York Grill did not disappoint. The best thing about it was that it was exactly the same as I have always remembered it. Absolutely nothing had changed. So if someone had tied a blindfold around my eyes, I would still be able to find my way to my favorite table.

READ ABOUT THE LOST IN TRANSLATION SUITE OF THE PARK HYATT TOKYO

PARADISE FOUND IN TOKYO

In this current world where everyone’s lives have been turned upside down, the New York Grill was still the paradise it has always been. Even the menu did not seem to change much, Why change a good thing that works, after all? So the steaks and the sides were as good as always. I ordered a rib-eye grilled medium, and as always I asked the kitchen for rice instead of potatoes.

I was so thankful that night that some things indeed never change. The New York Grill was an oasis of normalcy and a vestige of the old world we had before the pandemic. This was a most precious thing, and it gave me a real break away from all these months of thinking about COVID-19.

JUST LIKE THE GOOD OLD DAYS

In fact, the restaurant was full that evening and as lovely and lively as ever. And the waitstaff who came to take our order also said: “We served over 100 covers at lunch today. And we’ve managed to keep the appetizer and dessert buffet too.” Wow. That sure sounded like a pandemic had never happened..

Nevertheless, these days are also all about safety. Masks, temperature checks and sanitizers were all in place. So perhaps “the best of the old world and the new world” is a more accurate description for this restaurant. And for now, this is probably the most perfect combination of all.

Read more about the best hotels and restaurants in Japan in Travelife Magazine.

A HACIENDA HOTEL OPENS IN SPAIN AMIDST THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

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To escape the heat in Tokyo, we decided to spend a few days in Hakone, favorite summer destination of many Japanese. For this mini break, I booked a corner suite at the Hyatt Regency Hakone. This modern resort hotel is very popular as a weekend retreat. Many people love its clean lines and warm interiors.

At the same time, the hotel team is enthusiastic and friendly. So it’s a nice break, especially during the pandemic, to stay at this hotel with a cheerful and yet relaxing atmosphere. The team is even dressed in matching blue and white shirts, emphasizing further the resort feeling.

THE HOTEL IS FULL

Apparently, many people had the same idea. The Hyatt Regency Hakone is booked to safe capacity and everyone is enjoying the cooler climate. When we arrived, afternoon tea was in progress in the lounge. I peeked into the lounge and there were happy faces everywhere. Observing my keen interest in the lounge, the bell boy said: “We also host drinks for guests in the lounge every evening.”

Not too many hotels offer complimentary drinks every night to guests, but this is a tradition at the Hyatt Regency Hakone. Regular guests look forward to having a glass of wine, on the house, before they go on to dinner.

CORNER SUITE WITH A VIEW AT THE HYATT REGENCY HAKONE

Our suite was in the annex, which is where the spa and the hot springs also are located. It was a large corner suite with a most innovative design to further maximize space and utility.

Also, this hotel has a main building and two annex buildings. One of the annex buildings has Japanese style rooms. This building also has the rooms that guests with dogs can book. Yes, the Hyatt Regency Hakone actually has dog-friendly rooms.

For one thing, the bedroom is enclosed completely in smokey glass with sliding doors that open onto the living room. This allows for a free and easy flow through the suite, while also keeping privacy. You can sleep cocooned in comfort in the evening and open the entire room up to views of trees in the day.

WINTER GARDEN IN HAKONE

The most interesting feature of this suite is perhaps the winter garden. Few hotels have such a feature in their rooms, after all. Here, the suite bar and a dining table are placed on a pretty terrace completely enclosed by windows and glass.

The windows all open up so you can enjoy fresh air on a fine day — and most days in Hakone are fine. The air is pure and clean so it’s wonderful to be able to open the windows.

I also love the bathroom, which is connected to a spacious dressing room and double sink area. It has a large bathing area and a deep Whirlpool jacuzzi tub that’s perfect for soaking.

READ ABOUT THE BEST NEW HOTEL IN SPAIN

WELLNESS RETREAT IN THE MOUNTAINS

Very nicely, too, the hotel has provided a proper yoga mat and yoga DVDs in the dressing room. So guests who want to do their own mini wellness retreat while staying at the Hyatt Regency Hakone can do yoga in their suite while enjoying the beautiful view of greenery.

Read more about the best hotels in Japan in Travelife Magazine.

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Hokkaido is an outdoors destination. Visitors generally arrive expecting to spend most of their waking hours amidst nature since the island is known for this. In the winter, serious skiers and beginners alike flock to the ski slopes just near the Kiroro Tribute Portfolio. There are easy slopes for new skiers and steep slopes for the serious downhill skiers.

Outside of winter, visitors head for the hills and parks for hikes and cycling. Hokkaido is a trekker’s paradise, full of beautiful trails without crowds.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES IN AT THE KIRORO TRIBUTE PORTFOLIO HOTEL IN HOKKAIDO

On our recent stay at the Kiroro Tribute Portfolio, we generally fell into this same enjoyable pattern. I spent my mornings on a Segway, zipping through the forests. In the afternoons, we explored some hiking trails. One of the most popular things to do in Kiroro in the summer is to do a short hike to a waterfall.

However, one day, I felt like just relaxing and doing something creative for a change. This was when the concierge said to me: “Why don’t you do some crafts at our Activity Center?”

ARTS AND CRAFTS AT THE ACTIVITY CENTER

The Kiroro Tribute Portfolio has a large activity center that’s the hub for all the fun indoors and outdoors. However, I said: “Crafts at the activity center? Isn’t that just for kids?”

The concierge replied: “Not at all. Of course we have a lot of children signing up for crafts. However, adults can also do all kinds of crafts. Many people end up enjoying these activities actually. Arts and crafts are probably therapeutic.”

READ ABOUT THE LOVELIEST NEW HOTEL IN SPAIN

Taking his word for it, I decided to sign up for arts and crafts at the activity center. The crafts room is a bright and airy room with a center table filled with materials.

Participants choose a space for themselves and select what they wish to make from a list of options. Of course, there were several children hard at work on decorating music boxes and candles. Interestingly, I was not the only adult who’d decided to stay indoors for a change and get creative.

PAINTING CUPS AND SAUCERS IN HOKKAIDO

I chose to design my own cup and saucer, thinking this would be a good and practical memory of my stay at the Kiroro Tribute Portfolio Hotel. For this, I got a plain cup and saucer and a set of watercolor markers.

I couldn’t believe it. I said to the lady in charge of the crafts room: “We only use watercolor markers? How is this possible?”

She smiled at me and said: “The watercolor markers are non-toxic so they’re safe to use. At the same time, the color clings quite nicely to the pottery. Just make sure not to smudge your designs.”

I spent about two hours designing my cup and saucer. It was so easy to get engrossed in this task. As the concierge said, crafts are really therapeutic.

THE BEST SOUVENIR OF HOKKAIDO

When I was done, the lady carefully placed my masterpieces into a box. “When you get home, bake this in the oven for several minutes and then your cup and saucer will be fine.” She included a sheet of simple instructions along with this.

The cup and saucer turned out fine, as she promised. I use these everyday. And whenever I do, I always remember my enjoyable holiday at the Kiroro Tribute Portfolio Hotel in Hokkaido.

Read more about the best hotels and resorts in Hokkaido in Travelife Magazine.

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Kyoto is not a city usually associated with afternoon tea. For one thing, this is hardly a Japanese tradition. However, on a recent visit, we discovered a unique version in a most extraordinary hotel. This all came about by accident, too.

After a short walk around Ninenzaka, a famous old street near Gion, we returned to the Park Hyatt Kyoto to take refuge from the summer heat. We’d been too busy to have lunch and it was already mid-afternoon, which is neither here nor there time for a meal.

This was when the hotel concierge suggested: “Why don’t you try our afternoon tea?” I’d been hearing about this unique pairing of sweet and savory treats with assorted fine teas. So this was the perfect thing to do.

LOBBY OF THE PARK HYATT KYOTO

We sat in the corner of the lobby lounge, which is a wood paneled space filled with books and art. It’s a wonderful place to spend some time in, just relaxing over cups of tea. It’s cozy and intimate — perfect to escape the summer heat or to keep warm in the winter.

It turns out, the Park Hyatt Kyoto version of afternoon tea is a five-course event paired with tea. It can really stand in as a late lunch instead. So we were very pleased to have followed the suggestion of the concierge.

FOOD AS AFTERNOON TEA

Every course was a work of art, and the teas were delightful. We began with a plate containing two bite-sized morsels. One was a terrine of foie gras and passion fruit. Meanwhile, the other was a financier topped with fresh mango and ringed with grated coconut.

AFTERNOON TEA AT THE PARK HYATT KYOTO

One piece was savoury and the other was sweet. This turned out to be a very balanced combination of tastes, especially when drunk with a slightly acidic tea. The chef paired this with a rose hip blend from Kyoto, from the Herbalist Club Miyama.

VEGETABLES & SEAFOOD

Following a traditional multi-course meal, we then had the afternoon tea version of salad and seafood. The chef sent out a perfectly formed summer vegetable terrine and a corn waffle topped with scallop and sea urchin. We ate this with green tea wafers and cups of a green tea and ginger blend from Kotoshina in Kyoto.

EGGPLANT AS TONKATSU

The main course followed, and this was probably my favorite. A Kamo eggplant was fashioned into a deep fried cutlet and served with olive green tapenade. This was so similar to the Tonkatsu, which is everyone’s favorite Japanese comfort food.

PEACH PALATE CLEANSER

Prior to the last course, we had the equivalent of a palate cleanser. Slices of fresh peaches were arranged nicely in a basket and sprinkled with sake granite. It was a lovely pairing of sweet fruit and spicy alcohol.

READ ABOUT THE BEST NEW HOTEL IN SPAIN

CHERRY SOUFFLE FOR DESSERT

Finally, the chef sent out dessert. Or at least the equivalent of it in this afternoon tea multi-course pairing. He made a cherry and ricotta cheese soufflé which was warm, sweet and filling all at once. A slice of chocolate covered jelly accompanied the soufflé. Guessing what to do with this, we dipped the chocolate sticks into the soufflé’ and this turned out wonderfully.

The tartness of the cherry in the soufflé also complimented our last tea. We happily drank cups of tea in a beautiful red color, a blend of hibiscus and Shiso. Everything was fruity and tart and yet also sweet and comforting.

We were full after that. But what a delicious and relaxing way to spend Saturday afternoon in Kyoto.

Read more about the Park Hyatt Kyoto in Travelife Magazine.

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Foodies staying at the new Park Hyatt Kyoto are in for a special treat. If they order a Japanese breakfast during their stay, the famous 150-year old Kyoyamato Kyoto kaiseki restaurant will be cooking.

ABOUT KYOYAMATO RESTAURANT IN KYOTO

Kyoyamato is one of the most famous kaiseki restaurants in Kyoto. It’s also one of the most beautiful in a pretty crowded city. The old capital of Japan has narrow streets lined with long and narrow wooden houses. In these houses, the people of Kyoto lived, worked, played and served food.

Amidst these less than spacious conditions, there are some special restaurants known for their food, service and beautiful surroundings. The Kyoyamato is one of these. It’s lovely wooden structures are set in a traditional Japanese garden that dates back to the Edo era. One of the reasons to book a meal at Kyoyamato is to enjoy its gardens.

POSSIBLY THE BEST ROOM SERVICE BREAKFAST IN KYOTO

Until the Park Hyatt Kyoto opened, this kaiseki restaurant was only serving lunch and dinner. However, now, it makes breakfast too, just for guests of the Park Hyatt Kyoto. Those who order the Japanese breakfast set at Kyoto Bistro or via room service get the special Kyoyamato Japanese breakfast set.

Kyoto Bistro is the the all day dining restaurant of the hotel. It’s also the breakfast restaurant. However, those who wish to have breakfast in private, enjoying the views from the room, can dial room service.

This is exactly what we did every day. We ordered the Kyoyamato Japanese breakfast via room service at 9 AM. This was brought over daily by two lovely ladies bearing one table each, each full of bento boxes.

WHAT IS A KYOYAMATO BREAKFAST?

What’s in a Kyoyamato breakfast, you might be wondering?

In many ways, it looks like a typical luxury ryokan breakfast. However, when you eat it, you realize that the ingredients are very good and the taste of each tiny dish is excellent.

KYOYAMATO BREAKFAST AT PARK HYATT KYOTO

Genmai tea

Grilled eggplant with dashi jelly & sesame sauce

Japanese Miyama egg omelet with grated radish

Kurokawa squash with baby potatoes

Wheat gluten cake

Simmered radish

Sautéed wagyu beff tendon and burdock

Kyoto tofu with bonito flakes

Sautéed baby sardine and Fushimi pepper

Roasted fish cake and cod roe

Simmered kelp with bonito flakes

Japanese pickles

Miso marinated silver cod

Lotus roots with simmered sweet potato

Koshihikari rice from Tango

Miso soup with Shijimi clams and Mitsuba lead

It has the usual assortment of cold appetizers to start. These are mostly tofu and vegetable dishes since Kyoto is famous for its vegetables. Then it also has the simmered egg roll found in sushi restaurants and ryokan breakfasts.

READ ABOUT THE PARK HYATT NISEKO IN HOKKAIDO

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE EGG

This egg dish looks so simple to make but it actually isn’t. Only the best Japanese restaurants are able to make a proper one. Meanwhile, the main course is usually grilled fish accompanied by rice, pickles and miso soup. In this case, the miso soup had tiny clams.

READ ABOUT THE BEST NEW HOTEL IN SPAIN

As a finale, Kyoyamato includes a plate of fresh seasonal fruits in a very restrained way. There are no huge platters of assorted fruits, as you will find in Western countries.

This is Japan, after all, where everything whispers rather than shouts. So the dessert at breakfast is two modest slices of seasonal fruit. Today we had one grape and one slice of a peach. But these were the tastiest fruits I’d had in a long time.

Read more about the best hotels and resorts in Japan in Travelife Magazine.

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“What a beautiful room,” I exclaimed, as soon as I entered the garden suite of the Hotel Chinzanso in Tokyo. Just like many Tokyo residents spending the summer in Japan amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, we had decided to book a staycation at a hotel in the city.

Tokyo has many luxury hotels. However, for many people living here, the Hotel Chinzanso occupies a special place full of nostalgia and good memories.

HOW TO TIME TRAVEL

So many new hotels have sprouted up all over Tokyo. Many of them occupy the upper floors of skyscrapers and upscale buildings. However, the old-fashioned Chinzanso, with its sprawling estate, is a testament to the fact that some good things should never change.

This hotel is a great favorite among Japanese aristocrats. For one thing, it is located in a quiet and genteel residential neighborhood, away from the tourist areas of Tokyo. Also, it is perhaps the most spacious hotel in the city. When you’re at Chinzanso, you feel like you’ve traveled elsewhere both in location and time. You see, this hotel with its garden full of history harks back to the days of Old World Japan.

A BEAUTIFUL GARDEN IN TOKYO

I booked the premiere garden suite because it comes with a view of the gardens. I love waking up and seeing the gardens and the temple first thing in the morning. The gardens are also easy on the eyes as I enjoy my room service breakfast. Even when I’m working on my laptop on the desk in the suite, I feel that the entire Tokyo is literally at my fingertips.

In the evenings, I often can’t take my eyes off the pagoda in the garden. It’s lit up dramatically and it makes quite a picture. In the distance is the skyline of Ikebukuro, a modern suburb of Tokyo. Meanwhile, in the foreground are the lush gardens of Hotel Chinzanso.

ABOUT THE GARDEN SUITE OF CHINZANSO

The hotel has many kinds of suites, each with its own decor. The garden suite I stayed in was a combination of Western and Asian interiors, with Japanese accents. It was very comfortable to spend several days here, just relaxing away from the heat and the stress of the pandemic.

The furniture are classic antique-style pieces merged with chintz, everything in elegant proportions. Meanwhile, the main bathroom is massive by Tokyo hotel standards, and there’s a second bathroom in the foyer. Even with years piling on it, the Hotel Chinzanso is so impeccably maintained that the rooms look fresh.

READ ABOUT SPAIN’S MOST ROMANTIC NEW HOTEL

It was so easy to feel at home here, especially as room service was excellent. I stayed three nights and only checked out with the greatest reluctance on the last day, determined to find some reason to return to this beautiful garden suite again someday.

Read more about the best hotels and resorts in Japan in Travelife Magazine.

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It is often said that the true beauty of picturesque Kyoto lies in the minute details that are often unnoticed by eyes that are untrained to appreciate modest aesthetics. Nowhere is this more evident than at Tawaraya, Japan’s most famous ryokan (traditional inn), right in the heart of the city and one that has been welcoming travelers for over three hundred years

STAYING IN A JAPANESE RYOKAN

As with everything at the Tawaraya, there is nothing so obvious or uncouth as a registration procedure upon arrival. There are 19 rooms here but somehow the 77-plus staff – yes, that’s a ratio of almost 4 staff members per room – knew who we were and which room we had booked. At the main entrance, before heading for our room, we took off our shoes and promptly forgot about them for the next 15 hours.

Kyoto itself is very richly steeped in the past, and it has one of the most closed and conservative societies in Japan. But a stay at the Tawaraya is like a temporary gate pass into this society, and entering the inn is literally akin to completely leaving today’s world behind.

From the brightness of the afternoon – most guests at Japanese inns do arrive before sunset to relax and have a bath before dinner – you suddenly find yourself in a dark maze of corridors and rooms, with a glimpse of greenery or of a pocket garden every now and then.

So we passed through tatami mat rooms and carpeted corridors adorned with antique cabinets and tables on our way to our room on the first floor. This room – it had a foyer, a small outer room with a study table and a main room that functioned as living room, dining room and bedroom – looked out onto a small walled garden with maple trees and grounds carpeted in moss.

WHERE TO GO IN KYOTO

Tawaraya is about a 15-minute taxi ride from Kyoto Station. We chose to stay here, amidst a myriad of options in one of Japan’s most-visited cities, partly because of its proximity to Kyoto’s historic Nishiki market and the enclaves of culture around it, where artists, art dealers and food enthusiasts congregate. It’s the perfect spot for discovering the soul of Kyoto on foot.

“This street is home to three famous ryokan,” our taxi driver told us, as we passed Nishiki market and entered a narrow one-way street lined with a combination of old shop houses and modern buildings converted into art galleries, chic stores and trendy cafes. And soon we stopped in front of a wooden compound of structures with a simple entrance that first curved right before making a sharp left into the entrance proper, raised one step above the ground.

From the outside, it looked more like the well-appointed home of a samurai family in the olden days than a famous inn in 2012. However, a simple and unobtrusive sign confirmed we had reached our destination. Then, like clockwork, as soon as we got out of our taxi, a team of two men and a lady in a kimono appeared to welcome us to our “home” in Kyoto

FAMOUS GUESTS OF TAWARAYA

This was not luxury as we knew it. The room was adequate but in no language could this ever be called large. It was barely furnished and practically unadorned, save for a simple vase of flowers and an old screen on a faded wall. In fact, with a quick glance, I could immediately discern corners and surfaces that were slightly fraying at the edges.

But it is precisely this feeling of old fashioned Japan – a patina that just cannot be created or faked – that has prompted connoisseurs of Japanese culture to place Tawaraya at the very top of their destination lists for centuries. Japanese aristocrats, relatives of the imperial family, and even the heroes of the 19th century Meiji Restoration all used the Tawaraya as their base when visiting Kyoto from Tokyo.

Japanese aristocrats, relatives of the imperial family, and even the heroes of the 19th century Meiji Restoration all used the Tawaraya as their base when visiting Kyoto from Tokyo.

Ordinary Japanese who understand the value of the highly prized Japanese sense of wabi sabi (roughly translated as an appreciation of faded simplicity), too, choose a stay at Tawaraya as one of the experiences of a lifetime.

Tawaraya is well known the world over as well, for its hospitality and cuisine. Its roster of guests reads like a lesson in history, and it includes the French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre, the British suspense novelist Alfred Hitchcock, composer Leonard Bernstein and actor Marlon Brando.

Meanwhile, Apple founder Steve Jobs reportedly loved the Tawaraya experience so much that he stayed here several times. On his last visit, just several months before his death, he took his son to the Tawaraya for a final family-bonding trip to Japan.

Apple founder Steve Jobs reportedly loved the Tawaraya experience so much that he stayed here several times. On his last visit, just several months before his death, he took his son to the Tawaraya for a final family-bonding trip to Japan.

REAL KYOTO FOOD

Many ryokan in Kyoto offer the Japan experience, but few can truly offer both a pedigreed experience and an exceptional Kyoto dinner in the way that Tawaraya can. This inn has been in the same family for over 300 years, and its mistress is the 11th generation innkeeper.

Meanwhile, in true Kyoto fashion, the multi-course kaiseki dinner consists of dish after dish of local vegetables and tofu, supplemented by seasonal fish from western Japan. It ends with a plate of the choicest of seasonal fruit. For this stay, for example, we were each served one large and juicy fig that had been lightly stewed in sugar and spices.

After dinner, it was time to turn the dining room into a bedroom, and this just could not happen with two attendants and two guests in the room at the same time. We were therefore encouraged to explore the public spaces of the ryokan while the attendants undertook the mundane task of preparing the beds.

AFTER DINNER ENTERTAINMENT

For this “escape” we had three modest options: a small rooftop terrace for moon-viewing, with comfortable chairs and pots of tea; a tiny library on the second floor with several corners to park one’s self momentarily; or an even tinier reading space on the ground floor that offered a sliver of a view of an indoor garden.

We visited all three in search of trivia and clues about the people who had spent their nights in this historical house, and were rewarded with an autobiography of the actress Lauren Bacall that she had dedicated and signed during her stay.

We returned to our room after about half an hour to find everything laid out for us. There were two Japanese-style beddings on the floor – Tawaraya is famous for its mattress, made from the floss of 10,000 silk cocoons, and its comforters, which are reportedly made from feathers plucked from the breasts of live geese – and enough hot tea and cold water to last the night. Again, everything was comfortable but nothing was superfluous.

A JAPANESE BREAKFAST

In the morning, our room attendant knocked on the door exactly at 730 AM, as agreed upon, to begin the preparations for breakfast. The breakfast at the Tawaraya is something of a conversation topic among lovers of the good life in Japan because the rice and the boiled tofu they serve to “nudge the stomach awake” are supposed to be among the best in Japan.

The rice served at Tawaraya is from this year’s harvest, straight from the fields of Kyoto itself, while the tofu is reportedly delivered early every morning by a dedicated supplier who has been doing so for centuries.

We were at the center of old Kyoto but, ironically, we’d hardly known it. At the end of our stay, we realized that our expectations of luxury and space had been drastically scaled down even if, unfortunately, the room rates did not exactly follow suit.

By then, we’d spent over fifteen hours in a rather confined space, during which time – in a cramped city of over 1.5 million people – we’d heard almost nothing but the chirping of the crickets, the graceful shuffling of feet, and, yes, one ambulance passing nearby.

This was the center of old Kyoto but, ironically, we’d hardly known it, even if we’d not been unaware of it even for a minute. At the end of our stay, we realized that our expectations of luxury and space had been drastically scaled down even if, unfortunately, the room rates did not exactly follow suit. But once we had adjusted to the hefty bill coupled with the minuteness of everything, we were completely enchanted by the Tawaraya experience.

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