Tokyo
Japan


The Experience

There's no grand lobby entrance here; instead, guests at the Park Hyatt Tokyo are initially confronted with a thoroughly hip pastry boutique. From there a brisk elevator ride whisks you to the 41st floor, where you walk past two restaurants and through a library before reaching the sit-down reception tables. It's a deliberately left-field entrance that sets the tone for a hotel that goes out of its way to be unique. The subtly lit, mint green and lacquered black decor accompanies you throughout the room floors (located between the 42nd and 51st floors), all of which yield vistas across Tokyo's extensive skyline. Specially commissioned artworks and furnishings throughout the hallways are extra diversions.

The Rooms

Hong Kong interior designer John Morford's feng shui room designs emphasize circular access, with a capsulelike bathroom that can also be opened to form part of the main bedroom. Layered ceilings, expansive windows and plentiful mirrors augment the tangible sense of space -- and stunning views. The 600-square-feet standard (Park Deluxe) room looks and feels extremely spacious, with a marble and granite bathroom, a selection of books and a plasma-screen television. Occupying a corner space, the Park View room offers contrasting city vistas from wall-length windows -- it's certainly worth the extra money.

The Service

All staff are courteous and attentive, especially the unflappable bell captains, who deal with an unceasing turnover of guests and visitors. The Park Hyatt certainly walks the "every guest is a VIP" talk.

The Highlights

The redesigned 52nd-floor New York Bar & Grill will forever be associated with Bill Murray's Scotch-fueled Lost in Translation musings. Another must-see movie site is the 65-feet atrium swimming pool, which shares a naturally lit 47th-floor space with the gym -- a veritable shoe-in should the Oscars offer a "best cityscape view from a running machine" trophy. The compilation CD of tunes from Sofia Coppola's movie has the tagline: "Recommended Against Jetlag" -- stay here and you get a copy free of charge.

-- Gary Bowerman

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