HOTEL FACT SHEET
OVERVIEW
Palace Hotel Tokyo commands some of the city’s most exclusive real
estate and stands as the heir to a legacy dating back more than half a
century as one of the city’s most iconic hotels.
The contemporary iteration of the property debuted in May 2012 after a
three-year reconstruction at an investment of USD 1 billion. Re-built
entirely from the ground up, the hotel features 284 exquisite guestrooms,
10 distinctive restaurants & bars, Japan’s only evian SPA and extensive
meetings & events facilities.
Imbued with understated luxury, sophisticated restraint and subtle
Japanese touches throughout, the hotel stands as a tribute to design and
omotenashi (Japanese hospitality). It was the first wholly Japanese-owned
and managed hotel to garner the prestigious Forbes Five-Star rating – the
industry’s most coveted mark of distinction and one which the hotel has
held since 2016.
Drawing deeply from the country’s history, arts and culture, the much-
lauded property continues to redefine luxury in Japan with grace, elegance
and authenticity.
With 2022 marking the property’s 10
th
anniversary, the celebratory year
marks the start of another decade of Palace Hotel’s commitment to
offering an unparalleled experience of Tokyo with its distinctive omotenashi.
LOCATION
The hotel’s singular moat-side setting across from the Imperial Palace
gardens - a 3.5-square-kilometer green space in the heart of the city -
delivers an incomparable perspective on Tokyo’s natural splendor from
every single guestroom, its spa and nearly all of its restaurants and bars.
Claiming prime frontage at 1-1-1 Marunouchi, the hotel also offers its
guests centrality in the prestigious Marunouchi district.
Just beyond the hotel’s entrance is Marunouchi Naka Dori. Tantamount
to New York City’s Madison Avenue and London’s Bond Street, the tree-
lined boulevard is an upscale dining and shopping destination for
tastemakers.
Less than a ten-minute stroll away is Tokyo Station, one of the country’s
most enduring cultural assets. The Marunouchi side of the station, closest
to the hotel and iconic for its classic red-brick facade, underwent a five-
year restoration and preservation project to emerge as an architectural
destination in 2012, the same year that Palace Hotel Tokyo debuted.
LOCATION continued…
HOTEL ADDRESS
TELEPHONE
WEBSITE
Situated adjacent is KITTE, another meticulous redevelopment that
honors its roots while adapting to the modern era. Designed by starchitect
Kengo Kuma and located on the site of the original Tokyo Central Post
Office which opened close to a century ago, the shopping, dining and
office complex was unveiled in 2013 and is home to an array of concept
stores which showcase Japanese design. It also features a restoration of
what was formerly the postmaster’s office as well as a rooftop garden
perfect for trainspotting.
1-1-1 Marunouchi
Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-0005
Japan
+81 3 3211 5211
www.en.palacehoteltokyo.com
CHAIRMAN
PRESIDENT
SENIOR MANAGING
DIRECTOR &
GENERAL MANAGER
HISTORY
Mr. Takashi Kobayashi
Mr. Daisuke Yoshihara
Mr. Masaru Watanabe
The 23-story hotel succeeds two previous hotels on the site – Hotel Teito
(under separate ownership) and Palace Hotel. Each was razed to make way
for its successor.
Hotel Teito opened in 1947 in what was formerly the Forestry Office of
the Imperial Household. The government building was converted into a
hotel to meet the growing demand for accommodations from overseas
travelers in post-war Japan.
The property was eventually sold into the private sector in 1959 and
redeveloped as Palace Hotel, which officially opened in 1961 as a lead up
to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
The 450-room Palace Hotel was an esteemed property. Leading artists
from Japan and around the world performed there. British expats in Japan
organized a festival at the hotel in anticipation of a state visit by Queen
Elizabeth. And from 1972 to 1991, 284 ambassadors each took their turn
traveling by horse & carriage from the hotel to the Imperial Palace for the
formal presentation of their credentials to the Emperor.
HISTORY continued…
ORIGINAL OPENING
RE-OPENING DATE
While the original Palace Hotel may have been razed to make way for the
next iteration, not all was demolished. Some of the 1.6 million Shigaraki-
yaki tiles (produced in kilns in Shiga Prefecture) that once adorned the
original exterior were incorporated into the new interior design. The
original bar counter from Royal Bar, designed by legendary bartender
Kiyoshi Imai, was also lovingly restored.
Click here for more information on the hotel’s history.
1 October 1961 (Palace Hotel)
17 May 2012 (Palace Hotel Tokyo)
ACCOMMODATIONS
IN-ROOM AMENITIES
266 guestrooms and 18 suites offer picture-perfect views of the Imperial
Palace gardens and the surrounding Tokyo skyline.
Accommodations range in size from an ample 45 square meters to a
spacious 255 square meters.
Most of the hotel’s guestrooms have open-style bathrooms with separate
soaking tubs & showers, and more than half feature private balconies – a
true rarity in Tokyo.
With leafy carpet motifs and earthy color palettes throughout, the hotel’s
luxuriously cozy and contemporary interiors invoke its proximity to
Tokyo’s much-loved natural splendor.
In addition to the usual comforts that come with the finest luxury
accommodations, uniquely Japanese touches include bath linens made in
Imabari – a city in the Ehime prefecture of Japan renowned for the quality
of its towel manufacturing since it began nearly 130 years ago – and high-
quality Jugetsudo brand teas by Maruyama Nori, a venerable Japanese
brand founded in 1854 in Tokyo’s historic Tsukiji district.
Accompanying the Jugetsudo teas as part of the in-room tea presentation
are nambu-tekki cast iron teapots as well as tea cups handmade in Tochigi
prefecture in the Mashiko-yaki style of pottery, which dates back to Japan’s
Nara period (710-784 AD). The lacquer tea cup saucers originate from
Sabae, a city in Fukui prefecture known for the emperor-commissioned
Echizen lacquerware it began producing over 1,500 years ago.
Bath amenities are by British brand Bamford and for the youngest guests,
the hotel offers, upon request, a range of children’s amenities, including
toothbrushes, pajamas, slippers, bathrobes, umbrellas, stickers, origami and
hotel-exclusive keepsakes to take home.
PUBLISHED RATES
JPY 70,000 - JPY 1,800,000 per night
RESTAURANTS & BARS
Much more than a complement to travelers’ stay experiences, the hotel’s
10 restaurants & bars are dining destinations in and of themselves in one
of the world’s most vibrant culinary scenes.
One Michelin-starred Esterre, the first collaboration between a Japanese
hotel and DUCASSE Paris (founded by world-renowned chef and
restaurateur Alain Ducasse), presents a contemporary approach to haute
cuisine – with the distinctive, natural flavors of the country’s terroir taking
pride of place.
Among the hotel’s Japanese offerings are kaiseki at Wadakura, teppanyaki
at GO, tempura at Tatsumi and sushi at Sushi Kanesaka.
And one Michelin-starred restaurant Amber Palace, managed by
Chugoku Hanten Group, serves up some of the city’s finest Chinese.
The lively all-day dining restaurant Grand Kitchen and the hotel’s
elegantly appointed bars and lounges round-out one of Tokyo’s most
dynamic eating and drinking collective.
Each uniquely designed space cultivates a mood of its own, from the
brooding refuge of Royal Bar to the cheerful disposition of The Palace
Lounge and the chic allure of Lounge Bar Privé.
Please refer to the Restaurants & Bars Fact Sheet available in our online
Newsroom for additional details.
IN-ROOM DINING
In-house guests of Palace Hotel Tokyo can also turn to the wide range of
fare featured in its extensive in-room dining menu, including signature
offerings and prix-fixe menus from Wadakura and Sushi Kanesaka for
Japanese, Esterre for contemporary French and Amber Palace for fine-
dining Chinese.
EVIAN SPA TOKYO
Occupying 1,200 square meters of space on the fifth floor, evian SPA
TOKYO encompasses five treatment rooms, one dual-bedded spa suite
and separate men’s & women’s relaxation lounges.
French savoir-faire and Asian therapies set the stage for one of Tokyo’s
most refined spa experiences.
FITNESS FACILITY
The hotel’s fifth floor is also home to an indoor swimming pool with
Jacuzzi as well as a 127-square-meter fitness center outfitted with
equipment by Technogym as well as a Kinesis system.
Please refer to the evian SPA TOKYO Fact Sheet available in our online
Newsroom for additional details.
MEETINGS & EVENTS
Eight multi-purpose rooms comprise Palace Hotel Tokyo’s meeting
facilities in addition to a formal boardroom that seats 28 and three smaller
meeting rooms. The signature flourish in the 1,160-square-meter, pillar-
less Aoi ballroom is a 7-meter-tall by 22-meter-wide window directly
overlooking the picturesque Wadakura moat and surrounding gardens.
The hotel’s much sought-after, on-site wedding chapel also features wall-
to-wall, floor-to-ceiling windows directly looking out over Wadakura
moat, the Imperial Palace gardens and the Marunouchi skyline.
To complement, and to accommodate both western and eastern traditions,
the hotel also has its own Shinto shrine, featuring spectacular kumiko saiku
sculptural woodwork designed by multi-faceted artist Jotaro Saito and
exquisite kirikane gold- and platinum-leaf artistry by Mimari Yasukawa.
HOTEL ARCADE
PROXIMITY TO
TRANSPORTATION
A vast basement level features an array of retail outlets, including Sweets
& Deli, Palace Hotel Tokyo’s cake & pastry shop, where the chocolate is
homemade and the breads freshly baked.
Direct underground passage to Otemachi Station, a major subway
interchange, and also Tokyo Station – the hub where the city’s subway,
light rail and high-speed rail intersect – is also located on this B1 level.
ART COLLECTION
More than 1,000 permanent pieces of art can be found throughout the
hotel, with the grandest pieces hung on the walls and placed upon
pedestals throughout the hotel’s public spaces, including the main lobby
and at reception. The extensive collection is detailed on a dedicated
website and in The Art of Palace Hotel Tokyo book.
Curated by Art Front Gallery, the eclectic array of pieces showcases the
talents of up-and-coming creators as well as that of more prominent artists,
with many of the paintings, watercolours, sculptures and other works
commissioned specifically for Palace Hotel Tokyo.
With an overarching concept of complementing the beauty of the hotel’s
natural surroundings and the uniqueness of the country’s heritage, nature
plays a central role as the inspiration behind many of the works.
ART COLLECTION
continued…
The immense ‘Echoes-Crystallization’ wall installation by Shinji Ohmaki,
which depicts endangered species of Japanese flowers using crystal powder
and marble and acts as a backdrop to the main reception desk; Masahito
Katayama’s ‘Sunflower’ painting; and Satoshi Uchiumi’s vibrant, floral
‘Shikisai no Shita’ piece are just a few prominent examples.
To complement, a traditional ink wash painting that once hung in the
Chiyoda Suite of the original Palace Hotel – by artist Gyokuo Kawai and
also depicting nature – now graces the entrance of the contemporary
hotel’s Chiyoda Suite.
DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS
ARCHITECTURAL FIRM
LEAD INTERIOR
DESIGN FIRM
The hotel’s connection to its environment is echoed in its design, from the
hand-tufted, deep green carpets to the leaf-shaped bar of Lounge Bar Privé
and the sculptural tamukeyama momiji Japanese maple planted outside one
of the lobby seating areas.
This reverence for nature was a vital element when local design studio,
SIMPLICITY, conceived the interiors for Esterre. With a restaurant
whose name translates as ‘Mother Earth’, the design team chose to reflect
the continuous, circular flow of life through an earthy color palette. Richly
tactile materials such as washi paper, textile and wood were chosen to
emphasize the harmony between nature and humans.
In the hotel’s driveway, the striking artistry of the aji-stone wall installation
that leads to the main entrance echoes the natural beauty of the stonework
that lines the moats of the Imperial Palace grounds.
At the hotel’s signature Japanese restaurant Wadakura, imagined by
A.N.D. (Aoyama Nomura Design), a team of local artisans were brought
together to skillfully combine traditional Japanese techniques and building
materials with contemporary artistic interpretation to showcase new
possibilities in craftsmanship.
A.N.D. is also behind the in-house wedding chapel, winner of the 2012
DFA (Design For Asia) Grand Award and DFA Gold Award.
In 2013, the property was recognized with a design award from Travel +
Leisure magazine USA for the category of ‘Best Hotel, 100 or more rooms’.
Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei Inc.
G.A Group, as led by Executive Design Director Terry McGinnity
For the latest news, press releases and fact sheets as well as a detailed list of awards & accolades,
please visit our online Newsroom.
MEDIA CONTACTS
USA
Balcony Media Group
Karryn Miller
United Kingdom
Cedar Tree PR
Frangelica Flook
Hong Kong & Taiwan
Petrie PR
Linda Petrie
Southeast Asia, Australia & NZ
Balcony Media Group
Karryn Miller
Japan
Palace Hotel Tokyo
Public Relations
press@palacehotel.jp
All other regions
Berkati Marketing Communications
Tiana Kartadinata
