Editorial scores for the three factors that decide an anniversary here, from an overall 9.6 of 10 across our six criteria (Romance, Service, Setting, Design, Food and Value). Setting is scored for a business district address that is central and calm rather than charming. Method at our methodology page. Affiliate disclosure: booking links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you, and never change our verdict.
Why is Aman Tokyo a top anniversary choice?
Aman Tokyo does something the city rarely offers, which is stillness at height. The hotel opened in 2014 on the upper floors of the Otemachi Tower, and the Kerry Hill design takes the language of the ryokan, dark timber, stone, washi paper and engawa platforms, and lifts it thirty floors above Tokyo. The arrival sets the tone. The lobby is a soaring double height room of paper and stone, among the largest in the city, and it turns the noise of Tokyo into a distant view. For a couple who want a metropolitan anniversary that still feels calm, that combination of a great city outside the glass and deep quiet within is close to unique.
The other half of the case is the spa and the service. The Aman Spa here is one of Tokyo\'s largest, with onsen style hot baths, steam rooms and a 30 metre pool that runs along the windows with the skyline beyond, so a long soak and a swim are part of the stay rather than an add on. Service runs at the anticipatory Aman level without ceremony. The rooms are among the biggest in the city, minimalist and serene, so set your expectations to calm luxury rather than gilt, and it delivers.
What are the rooms and dining like?
Rooms are large, quiet and ryokan inspired, with deep tubs, washi screens and long city views, and even the entry categories are generous by Tokyo standards. For a milestone the higher suites give you the widest outlook and the most room to spread out. Dining is led by Arva, the group\'s Italian concept, and Musashi by Aman, an intimate omakase sushi counter, with the Café and the Lounge for lighter meals and the celebrated afternoon experience in that vast lobby. A stay can revolve around the spa, the pool and the table without leaving the tower.
Book a stay that includes time in the spa and swim in the 30 metre pool at dusk as the city lights come on. Reserve Musashi for the anniversary dinner, take afternoon tea in the great lobby at least once, and have the concierge arrange a car for Ginza rather than navigating the trains after dinner.
What are the honest cons?
The trade-offs are the address and the aesthetic. Otemachi is Tokyo\'s financial district, superbly central and well connected but quiet and corporate at street level rather than a neighbourhood of bars and lanes, so this is a hotel you ascend into rather than a quarter you wander out of. And the design is deliberately spare, all natural materials and restraint, which most guests find deeply calming and a few find austere. Neither is a flaw so much as a definition of who it suits, the couple who want a serene retreat in the middle of the city.
What is the neighbourhood like?
Otemachi is the financial heart of Tokyo, a district of towers between the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station, and it shapes the character of a stay. At street level it is calm and corporate rather than lively, but that quiet is part of the appeal, and the location is superbly connected. The Imperial Palace gardens are a short walk for a morning stroll along the moat, Tokyo Station and its shinkansen platforms are minutes away, and Ginza, Nihonbashi and Marunouchi are a brief taxi ride for shopping and dinner. For a couple who want a central, frictionless base from which to explore the city and then retreat far above it, the address works in the hotel\'s favour, even if it is not a neighbourhood you wander for its own sake.
Who should book it, and who should not?
Aman Tokyo suits the couple who want a serene, design led retreat in the middle of a great city, with one of the finest hotel spas in Asia and rooms among the largest in Tokyo. It rewards those who value space, quiet and a sense of arrival over a buzzy scene, and anyone who wants to combine sightseeing with real downtime in the spa and pool. It is less suited to travellers who want a hotel in a lively neighbourhood of bars and restaurants at the door, or those who prefer ornate, traditional grandeur to spare modern calm. For a milestone that pairs the energy of Tokyo with deep stillness at height, it is close to unmatched.
The design and the building
Aman Tokyo was Kerry Hill\'s answer to a hard question, how to bring the calm of a Japanese inn to the top of a Tokyo tower, and the design is the reason it works. The material palette is natural throughout, camphor wood, stone and washi paper, and the centrepiece is a soaring lobby many storeys high, lit by a lantern of paper and framed by a genuine engawa platform, one of the largest hotel arrival spaces in the city. The rooms carry the same restraint, with deep furo baths, shoji style screens and long windows that turn the skyline into a scroll. It is minimalism with warmth rather than coldness, and it is what sets the hotel apart from the glass-and-marble luxury elsewhere in Tokyo.
When is the best time to visit?
Tokyo rewards the shoulder seasons. Late March and early April bring the cherry blossom, and the moat and gardens of the nearby Imperial Palace are among the best places in the city to see it. Autumn, from late October into December, is clear and comfortable with fine colour. The rainy weeks of June and the humid heart of summer are the times to avoid if you can, though the hotel\'s spa and pool make a wet afternoon no hardship at all. Whatever the season, the views are at their most romantic after dark, so plan at least one evening entirely in the hotel.
Good to know before you book
The hotel is a short drive from Tokyo Station and well connected to both Haneda and Narita airports, and the concierge can arrange a car for a smooth arrival into the tower. For a milestone, factor real time into the spa and the thirty metre pool rather than treating them as an afterthought, since they are among the reasons to choose Aman Tokyo over a more conventional city hotel. Reserve Musashi, the omakase counter, well ahead as it seats very few, and book at least one afternoon tea in the great lobby. If you are combining the stay with Kyoto, the shinkansen from nearby Tokyo Station makes a two city anniversary straightforward, and the team can pair you with the group\'s Kyoto resorts.
Signature amenities
High above Otemachi
What is nearby
- Imperial Palace gardens
Palace and moat10 min walk - Tokyo Station
Shinkansen8 min walk - Ginza
Shopping and dining15 min by car - Nihonbashi
Historic district10 min by car
The lobby, the rooms, the spa
View
Room
DetailFrequently asked questions
Where is Aman Tokyo?
On the upper floors of the Otemachi Tower in the Otemachi financial district of central Tokyo, a short walk from the Imperial Palace gardens and Tokyo Station.
When did it open and who designed it?
It opened in 2014 and was designed by the Singapore studio Kerry Hill Architects, who translated the calm of a Japanese ryokan into a soaring city tower.
What is the spa like?
The Aman Spa is one of Tokyo\'s largest, with onsen style hot baths, steam rooms and a 30 metre indoor pool that runs along the windows with the skyline beyond.
What are the restaurants?
Arva for Italian cooking, Musashi by Aman for omakase sushi, and the Café and Lounge for lighter meals and the well known afternoon tea in the great lobby.
Is it a good base for sightseeing?
It is very central and superbly connected, a short walk from Tokyo Station and the palace, though Otemachi itself is a calm business district rather than a lively neighbourhood.
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