Impeccable Imperial Hotel, Tokyo

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[Updated Nov 2023]

The Imperial Hotel Tokyo will always have my heart, read on to find out why! We arrived at the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo from a cheap and cheerful ryokan in rural Japan. We like to mix things up a bit.

We left a perfectly calm, sunny day in Kiso-Fukushima and arrived in Tokyo as a monster storm was gathering its moody momentum in the Pacific Ocean. We like to live on the wild side – not.

WHAT’S YOUR HOTEL STYLE?

What type of hotel do you typically love?

Are you after luxury, mid-range, or budget? Authentic, local, or international style. Boutique, traditional, or ultra-modern? Family-friendly, resort-style, or romantic? A discerning traveller has so many choices.

I am really clear the best hotel experiences must bring an authenticity of the local country, mixed with all mod cons. I want to know I’m in Japan from the moment I wake up. Equally well a poor bed, bad soundproofing, or a pathetic dribble out of the shower and I’m wishing I’m made of sterner stuff.

Japanese Inn the Ryokan

I don’t need to be in a 5-star hotel for a 5-star experience. I’m a firm believer that you haven’t lived real Japan until you’ve slept on Futons laid out on Tatami-mat flooring in traditional Japanese inns.

Nor until you’ve turned yourself into a lobster from bathing in the thermal waters at a hot-spring Ryokan. Oh, c’mon we all dine out on the communal onsen experiences for years!

I would recommend everyone takes advantage of this unique part of a Japan holiday.

Asia’s Heritage Hotels

I also love the classic olde world heritage hotels.

You know, those hotels packed with a rich history, where the names of previous guests are familiar; Noël Coward, Somerset Maugham, Ernest Hemmingway…I’m comparing the Imperial Tokyo with our stays at The Peninsula, Hong Kong, The Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai, The Caravelle in Ho Chi Minh, The Metropole, Hanoi, The Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok to name but a few.

It was always our intention to have variety, and I for one was looking forward to the high-end, luxury grand finale of our holiday.

Cost

Our Ryokan cost 8,000 yen (approx 75 USD) per night, with not even a breakfast bowl of rice in sight.  It was a right royal extravagance at the Imperial 35,000 yen (approx 325 USD), still no brekkie. We were after all hitting Japan in peak season and during the hard-to-get accommodation period of the Rugby World Cup.

Was it worth it? YOU BET

I’m also going to shout it from the rooftops this place was flippin’ awesome. No this is not a sponsored post and yes it was a lot of money, but thank you Imperial, Tokyo. To all your wonderful staff who kept the hotel running throughout Typhoon Hagibis, we applaud you.

Typhoon Hagibis (2019)

Typhoon Hagibis was the mother of all storms. She rode into town on 12th October 2019 on the back of her cousin Faxai who struck the same region one month prior.

That day, Hagibis triggered a tornado in Ichihara city. That same evening, we had a magnitude 5.7 earthquake that occurred off the coast of Chiba Prefecture, but close enough to us to be felt in our hotel room. AND am I right in saying two of Japan’s volcanoes erupted?

Well, let’s just say if you were working for the Japanese Meteorological department that week, you were busy with a capital B.

This Pacific region is used to large and powerful tropical cyclones. Typhoon Hagibis was the nineteenth named storm and the ninth typhoon of the season.

Still recovering from the impacts of Faxai, Hagibis caused widespread damage across Japan, particularly in the Kantō region. As of 21 October 2019, tragically at least 74 people have been confirmed dead.

And in our lift at the Imperial Hotel, the fresh roses were replaced. All was calm. It was quite possibly the most contradictory day of my entire life.

The planning and organisation to keep a hotel running under such circumstances are phenomenal.

They didn’t miss a beat, not one fresh rose in the lift.

The charm of the Imperial

The Imperial Hotel, Toyko (帝国ホテル) is a hotel with many lives. The hotel has developed a name as a much-loved treasure of Tokyo. It’s a fabulous setting, close to the Imperial Palace and a short stroll from the Shinkansen bullet trains at Tokyo station.

Imperial Japan is not a flash, ultra-modern decor hotel but one which offers all mod cons, disguised as old-style fashion. It nestles well amongst the world’s classic luxury hotel market for discerning travellers. Not as a faded glory, because the original hotel(s) were replaced. But rather as a great choice for those who appreciate the finer things in life like the silver service breakfast, a butter knob, and attentive housekeeping.

I know I’m easily bought – give me some posh butter any morning and my stay has started off well!

THE SUPERIOR ROOMS, THE MAIN BUILDING

Our 8th-floor room in the original tower block doesn’t perhaps have the Imperial elegance that it might, but boy did it have everything we needed as we hunkered down as Typhoon Hagibis unleashed her wrath.

The soundproofed windows with black-out blinds, faultless internet, and a TV programmed to keep us fully updated with storm watch channels with English subtitles.

There was no thought of a power failure, not even a flicker of the lights during the earthquake. I am fascinated by the organisation, the backup generators, and the planning that must be required to literally keep calm and carry on as normal.

Oh yes, my first earthquake. It was over before it started. The room creaked and shuddered slightly and we almost thought it was just the wind and rain shaking the windows.

This superbly built hotel, simply let out a gentle moan, or maybe that was me, and it might have been a shriek, and then it was over. The staff just went about their daily routines as if nothing had happened.

Well, it was after all by Japanese standards a baby earthquake at 5.7 magnitude.

JAPANESE BATHROOMS:

We moved from a rural ryokan where the toilets were down the corridor and the washroom was communal onsen style on the first floor. To our own city slicker pad, with a huge bathroom, all be it the somewhat traditional bathroom with a bath, a shower with a stool.

I always think a stool in a shower room is a nice addition, don’t you? It has to be a high stool and not one of those teenie-weenie three-legged stools. You know the type where you’ve got to be a yoga expert to sit on it and wash your bits at the same time…

Or am I just showing my age?  The jury’s out on all the fanny and bottom washing buttons on the toilet but a warm landing for a posh pee in the middle of the night is, shall we say an acceptable rude awakening.

A NEW CULTURAL EXPERIENCE

Oh yes, I really think there are more cultural differences to be found in a Japanese washroom experience than possibly anywhere else during a Japanese holiday.

We had certainly upgraded from our ryokan, ‘Did you pack any soap?’ To peruse a whole shelf of little bottles and toiletries packages, like Christmas come early. This bathroom was, after all, quite possibly the most perfect place to ride out Japan’s worst storm in living memory.

Do you remember all those ‘How to stay survive’ tutorials under every circumstance?

Typhoons, earthquakes, mass murderers, Brexit… you are always told to have everyone huddled in the bathroom, aren’t you?

The history of the Imperial Hotel

It was created in the late 1880s at the request of the Japanese aristocracy to cater to the increasing number of Western visitors to Japan.

When we walked in on Friday 11th October 2019, the old aristocracy would have been pleased with what they saw. Around sixty percent of guests were from overseas. Many of us were in town to watch the by-then-canceled World Cup Rugby match between England and France.

As we ended up with plenty of time on our hands we were pleased to spend some moments in the foyer museum which recreates some of the heritage from this bygone era.

The Wright Imperial (1923-1968)

There have been three Imperial hotels standing on this spot. The one with the most architectural interest was the second. Frank Lloyd Wright the controversial and innovative American architect was commissioned to create a hybrid of Japanese and Western architecture.

The Wright Imperial Hotel opened in 1923 and was renowned for withstanding the Great Kantō earthquake of that year with minimal damage.

JEWEL OF THE ORIENT

It was built in a Mayan Revival style, drawing inspiration from the architecture and iconography of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, and known as the ‘Jewel of the Orient.

However, when it was decided to renovate and replace the existing building with Imperial Hotel number three, it was moved to an architecture museum in Nagoya.

This appears to have been a sad loss, it must have been beautiful. Still, I was happy to see how robust the new replacement of the hotel was.

LOCATION

The Imperial has an impressive central Tokyo location. Our room, situated in the main building looked across to the 40-acre Hibiya Park.  The day after the storm was lovely weather. Storm what storm. We enjoyed a wander in the Imperial Palace gardens and watching Japan’s World Cup Rugby match in one of the many restaurants of the nearby shopping and theatre Ginza neighbourhood.

You can read my report on watching Kabuki in the Kabuki-za theatre here.

DINING

We were spoiled for choice, whether you want Japanese, French, Chinese, or American, you’ll be hard-pressed to eat your way around the Imperial unless you’re staying long term.

We started with Brunch at Les Saisons: French restaurant. We had dinner at The Imperial Viking Sal: Japan’s very first buffet dining restaurant. It was a hard decision whether to head to the Old Imperial Bar: the Main bar with architectural heritage by Frank Lloyd Wright, or as we did in the end, we opted for a window seat of The Imperial Lounge Aqua Bar.

I couldn’t believe how they managed to put on a full buffet when the whole of Tokyo was like a ghost town. The city had been closed down for the safety and security of its residents and workers. The most surreal moment of the whole typhoon was the apologies for the lack of a jazz band in the bar that night. Instead, we were treated to a wonderful pianist playing!

The next morning as we woke to stories of the extent of the storm’s catastrophic impact on Japan, we bought freshly baked croissants and pastries from their own in the hotel Deli.

The staff managed to keep the hotel running without a blip, and whilst we were incredibly grateful for this, we recognised how others were not as fortunate.

FEATURES

The Imperial Tokyo is a huge hotel with 875 rooms and 56 Suites. It is even more remarkable that you don’t feel like one of a big number. Staff remember your name, what you like to drink…

Housekeeping was quietly amazing. They even did a turndown service on the night of the typhoon.

They have a fitness centre, a piano room, a spa, a sauna, and a compact pool, which also allows for the ever-popular water walking. A whole arcade of shops…

Weddings at the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo

If you weren’t staying at the Imperial for the World Cup Rugby. You were probably staying there with one of the two brides on the stairs during our stay. Yes, they even have a wedding chapel on-site. I guess if you got married at such times you have already proved you can weather the storm together!

The staircase in the foyer is clearly a must-have photo. How these brides managed to have their hair and makeup done and stand there looking calm and composed is a testament to how the Japanese can keep calm and carry on!

The Imperial Hotel Tokyo Staff

This post is a tribute to the staff and people of Japan who went out of their way, at a time when their own families may have needed them, to ensure guests were well looked after. Thank you to any of the 1900 staff who worked on the weekend of Typhoon Hagibis.

If you are looking for a hotel in Tokyo that has an incredible focus on guest relations, is in a great location and whose staff are superbly trained and happy to go that extra mile. Then consider the Imperial, Tokyo

It would be an amazing experience to return during the Olympics in Japan in 2020. The eyes of the world have been on Japan as they host the World Cup Rugby.  It has been seen by many as a warm-up test for next year’s Olympic Games.

From all that I’ve witnessed the Olympics will be an amazing experience in Japan. There is unlikely to be such extreme weather conditions although it will be mega hot. Maybe we should come back for the Rugby 7’s? We’re owed a rugby match!

I’ll leave you with one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s very own quotes as I think it sums up what I feel about this hotel and the experience.

My heart goes out to all those impacted by the terrible destruction of Typhoon Hagibis. And my heart also goes out to the staff at the Imperial for all they did for us:

‘The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes’                                                                                                                                Frank Lloyd Wright

Imperial Hotel, Tokyo

1-1, Uchisaiwai-cho 1-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8558, Japan

 

‘I love a well-run establishment whether it is a Home Stay in a local community or a 5-star luxury hotel. Thank you, Imperial, for an awesome time. Thank you Tokyo for an incredible World Cup Rugby experience and thank you Japan for a wonderful holiday. This is not a sponsored post just my way to say thank you to all the people we met’.