PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

If you like small, quiet hotels, this monolith is not for you. Like a city unto itself, the New Otani is so big that two information desks are needed to assist lost souls searching for a particular restaurant or one of the shops in the meandering arcade; there are even two check-in desks. The hotel's most splendid feature is its garden, the best of any Tokyo hotel -- a 400-year-old Japanese garden that once belonged to a feudal lord, with 4 hectares (10 acres) of ponds, waterfalls, bridges, bamboo groves, and manicured bushes. The outdoor pool, flanked by greenery, is also nice. A variety of rooms, in a main building and a newer tower, are available. Those in the main building are comfortable, with shoji-like screens on the windows, bedside controls for everything from the curtains to DO NOT DISTURB signs; more expensive rooms have such extras as bathroom scales, walk-in closets, and fax machines (otherwise, fax machines are loaned free of charge). Tower rooms range from chic ones done in jade, black, and chrome to \"fusui healing\" rooms with such extras as in-room humidifier, foot bath, and compact CD/MD player. The tower offers the best views -- of the garden, the skyscrapers of Shinjuku and, on clear days, Mount Fuji in the distance. Since rates are the same no matter which way you face, be sure to request a room overlooking the garden. Parents appreciate the 24-hour Baby Room and the fact that the outdoor pool is free for those who become Hotel Club members (membership is free).

Facilities: 37 restaurants and cafes; 6 bars and lounges; outdoor pool (fee: ¥2,000/$19; free for Hotel Club members); small exercise room (free); health club w/indoor pool and lighted outdoor tennis courts (fee: ¥5,000/$48); day-care center for children 1 month to 5 years old (fee: ¥6,000/$57 for 2 hr.); concierge; tour desk; business center; shopping arcade w/120 stores; salon; limited room service (6am-1am); in-room massage; same-day laundry/dry-cleaning service; medical and dental clinics; post office; tea-ceremony room; art museum (free for hotel guests); nonsmoking rooms.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Tokyo, 10th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

Find Hotel Deals on Yahoo Travel»