Hotels in Japan - Four Seasons Tokyo

the UK Dining and Travel Zine

Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo

Clifford Mould stayed in Tokyo's most luxurious hotel

It was an inspired idea, locating this beautiful hotel in just about the only substantial green space in Tokyo, the historic Chinzan-so gardens with its ancient pagoda and shrines. The bustle of the city is left behind as you enter the richly decorated interior with its Italian marble, English style antiques and Chinoiserie. Sometimes the gardens seem to invade the hotel, but equally, in the guest rooms the V-shaped windows thrust outwards into the gardens. By Japanese standards, 283 rooms is a relatively modest number, particularly when compared with the sumptuous variety of the public areas of the hotel. Even so, the human scale is never lost and there remains an intimacy which I did not always find in some of the more grandiose hotel lobbies - such as the Portopia in Kobe, for instance.

Our room was really beautiful, overlooking the gardens, traditionally furnished in the manner of a rather grand apartment in Knightsbridge. The bathroom had a tub and a marble shower and double hand basins. There was also a separate loo with built-in bottom squirting devices which we had fun playing with. Be careful not to scorch your bum on the heated seat, or scald it with the cleansing fountain. I imagine it's a bit like sitting inside a dishwasher!

Before dinner I visited the Health Spa, which claims to be the largest of any hotel in Tokyo. There's a vast torture chamber with all manner of cunning devices for building up firm muscle. When I arrived at the reception, a fit looking young man bursting with rude health asked me if I wanted to "work out". I just wanted a dilettante dip in the pool. But first I thought I'd treat myself to a traditional Onsen or Japanese hot bath. I'd learned about the arcane rituals of the Japanese bathhouse up in a mountain inn where it was important not to commit any grave errors of etiquette. The important thing is to remember to squat on the little stool and shower off really carefully before entering naked into the communal bath. What the Japanese would think of the typical British rugby club ablutions I dread to think! Here even the water for the onsen is trucked in twice a week from a resort in the country.

I went into the dry sauna for as long as I dared - not taking my eye for one second off the red panic button. I positioned myself with care so that I could collapse onto it in an emergency. Then it was into the main pool for a good splash about. There's the biggest jacuzzi I've ever seen running down the entire side of the main pool. The bubbles are so fierce that they inflate your bathing trunks until I thought they would burst. It was only the more important thought of dinner that dragged me away from this extraordinary paradise.

The Hotel Restaurants

As I have said in my reviews of some other Japanese hotels, the Japanese themselves are not shy about Grand Hotel dining. Each hotel has at least four or five different dining rooms and the Four Seasons is no exception. We dined at the Ristorante Bice and had a very memorable meal there. The Chinese and Japanese restaurants looked very special.

The Diaoyutai Yang Yuan Zhai Chinese Restaurant
This is really something - Diaoyutai is the famous guest house outside Beijing where foreign dignitaries and the great and the good of China are entertained. This is the first clone, as it were, to open anywhere else including China itself. There are regional specialities from Beijing, Sechuan, Guangdong and Shanghai and the widest range of authentic delicacies imaginable is provided. The restaurant is decorated with loads of valuable Chinese antiquities.

I had a quick look inside The Japanese Restaurant Miyuki where water flowed and the windows took you virtually into the adjoining gardens. The tables are designed for gaijins to sit comfortably without having their feet under their chins and there is both a Sushi bar and a Teppanyaki bar. In the gardens there are two more luxury Japanese restaurants which are great favourites with the locals (so I was told), surrounded by tranquil groves and pools.

What a pity we were staying for one night only. You need a week to fully appreciate all that this hotel has to offer. In the morning we had to rush off to catch the train to Hiroshima, but the hotel provides a complimentary limousine service to the Shinkansen Station. I wish we could have stayed longer.

Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Chinzan-so, 10-8 Sekiguchi 2-Chome Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112
Tel: (03) 3 943 2222

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