#9 in Top 20 Tokyo for A Solo Retreat · ★★★★★
Palace Hotel Tokyo
Peninsula's quieter neighbour, Marunouchi address, Palace Pool, palace-moat balcony rooms.
Peninsula's quieter neighbour, Marunouchi address, Palace Pool, palace-moat balcony rooms.
"The 2012 reopening adjacent to the Imperial Palace moat, Mitsubishi Estate ownership, Wadakura restaurant at one Michelin star."
Why this rank, Palace Hotel Tokyo reopened in May 2012 after a four-year, JPY 100 billion full rebuild of the 1961 original on the same Imperial Palace moat site. The Mitsubishi Estate-owned property is the only Tokyo Five-Star with direct moat frontage - 290 rooms and 28 suites, with Palace-facing rooms commanding direct views across the Wadakura Moat. The Marunouchi location places the property at Tokyo's central business district heart. Restaurant: Wadakura (Japanese) holds one Michelin star and runs the kaiseki program; Crown (French rooftop) and Grand Kitchen (international) complete the F&B program. The Royal Bar on the lobby level is the historic cocktail room - the bar program continues from the original 1961 Palace Hotel. evian SPA TOKYO (the brand's only standalone urban location) across 1,500 sq m operates the property's wellness program. The Imperial Suite at 234 sq m is the flagship. Best for business in Marunouchi, family multi-room stays, and visitors who want the Imperial Palace as the central daily reference.
Best room: Imperial Suite - 234 sq m, direct Imperial Palace moat view.
"Peninsula's quieter neighbour, Marunouchi address, Palace Pool, palace-moat balcony rooms."
Palace Hotel Tokyo is the quieter, more-Japanese-owned alternative to the international-brand palace hotels in central Tokyo. The original Palace Hotel opened in 1961 directly opposite the Imperial Palace; the property was rebuilt entirely in 2009-2012 (a four-year closure for a new tower). Two hundred and ninety rooms, the upper-floor Palace-side rooms with private balconies that overlook the Imperial Palace moat, the only Tokyo hotel rooms with private outdoor balconies overlooking the Imperial Palace. The Palace Hotel's primary asset is the geographic position, the moat-side rooms overlook the running track around the Imperial Palace (the most-popular jogging circuit in central Tokyo, 5km loop) and the morning walk to the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace is a one-minute walk from the lobby. Crown (the 6th-floor French restaurant) holds one Michelin star; Wadakura (the Japanese counter) is the working solo-dinner space; the Palace Lounge runs the working afternoon-tea programme. Palace Hotel Tokyo is the right pick for the solo retreat where the Imperial-Palace-walk routine is the explicit point of the trip, the moat-side balcony, the daily 5km circuit, the East Gardens, and the Japanese-owned operating standard is the right cultural fit.
Premier Balcony Room (Palace-moat-side with private balcony) or Imperial Suite (the multi-room flagship).
Run the 5km Imperial Palace circuit at 7am on day two, exit the hotel, turn right, the loop is one block north. The moat-side balcony at sunset is the working contemplative space. Wadakura for the solo-counter dinner; the chef's omakase is reservation-only.
Palace Hotel Tokyo sits within our broader Top 20 Hotels in Tokyo for a Solo Retreat list. It scored an aggregate 9.7/10 across the three editorial criteria, competitive against the field but, on a solo retreat-specific factors, the angle above is what earned its rank. For the alternatives in the same Tokyo neighbourhood, see Marunouchi, Imperial Palace and adjacent. For a different city entirely, see the related lists below.
If you have already chosen the dates, our editor recommends booking the room twelve weeks ahead. The best suites with the right view orientation go first, and inventory for the popular months is quoted in months, not weeks. Suite-level rooms with private plunge pools or terraces, the ones that earn this rank, are typically the first to sell out.
Editorial · #11 on the Top 20 Tokyo Hotels 2026 list
Palace Hotel Tokyo ranks #11 because the 2012 reopening produced the only Tokyo Five-Star with direct Imperial Palace moat frontage. The Mitsubishi Estate-owned property on the same Marunouchi site as the original 1961 Palace Hotel delivers a Marunouchi corridor stay calibrated explicitly around the Imperial Palace view.
For Tokyo visitors, Palace Hotel Tokyo is the address for stays where the Imperial Palace as a daily backdrop is the trip's defining environmental signature. Wadakura at one Michelin star runs the kaiseki program; Crown on the rooftop runs the French and the panoramic Tokyo view. The evian SPA TOKYO is the brand's only standalone urban location. The Marunouchi location is the working business address - the Otemachi and Marunouchi business towers immediately north and east. The Imperial Suite at 234 sq m faces the moat directly.