Park Hyatt Tokyo Review

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The Park Hyatt Tokyo is located in the Shinjuku district of the city. This hotel review shares photos of our room, common areas, and dining. We’ll also offer thoughts on our stay here, value for money, location, and how this compares to other accommodations in Japan. (Updated January 29, 2025.)

Park Hyatt Tokyo is one of the nicest hotels in Tokyo, and one of the most famous hotels in the world due to its prominence in Lost in Translation, a film starring Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray. In this review, we’ll feature room photos of the Park Hyatt Tokyo, and discuss whether it lives up to its on-screen reputation.

The first time we stayed at Park Hyatt Tokyo, we were those people–the kind who booked the Park Hyatt Tokyo in part because we’re big fans of the movie. We became even bigger fans in the months leading up to our Japan trip, as Lost in Translation was played regularly to get us excited for Japan. As a result, when we arrived at the Park Hyatt Tokyo, it felt like we had already been there.

The Park Hyatt Tokyo celebrated its 30th anniversary last summer, and closed completely for a top-to-bottom 17-month restoration and refurbishment. The project is revitalizing the hotel’s public spaces, event areas, restaurants and bars, and modernizing its technical infrastructure.

Of course, the comfort and convenience of its guestrooms will also be updated with full refreshes. In so doing, Park Hyatt Tokyo will reduce its room and suite inventory from 177 to 171, with a larger new suite category swallowing up some of the standard rooms. Equally notable is that Park Hyatt Tokyo is restoring its iconic New York Grill & Bar perched on the 52nd floor and Japanese restaurant Kozue to their original designs.

Park Hyatt Tokyo’s reimagined hotel experience pays homage to the beloved design philosophy of the property’s notable original interior designer, John Morford. Designer Patrick Jouin and architect Sanjit Manku, along with their team of 50 from the award-winning, Paris-based design firm Studio Jouin Manku, have developed a distinctive approach on transforming historic spaces across the globe to blend the past with the present.

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Studio Jouin Manku’s work leading the restoration of Park Hyatt Tokyo is guided by a deep respect for both Shinjuku Park Tower and to the hotel’s long history to ensure a seamless connection between architecture, interior design, and décor.

The focus of this project is to honor the hotel’s timeless character, while ensuring Park Hyatt Tokyo continues to offer a luxurious experience for years to come. Signature design elements such as the guest room layout and the iconic black-anthracite contrast in the furniture will be retained, while the signature green carpet palette has been lightened for a more contemporary elegance.

“We hope that when guests return, they will recognize the hotel’s spirit, while also sensing a renewed energy,” shared Patrick Jouin, designer and co-owner, Studio Jouin Manku. “The experience will feel familiar, yet subtly transformed – remaining true to the minimalist style that has always defined Park Hyatt Tokyo, but with new layers of joy and sensuality.”

Park Hyatt Tokyo is expected to reopen in October 2025, although no specific date has been set. Reservations are not yet available at this time, but we will update accordingly when they become available.

For now, what follows is our original review of Park Hyatt Tokyo. We look forward to returning later this year and must admit that although we viewed the hotel as timeless, it was definitely showing its age in the last couple of years.

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Let’s start with the location. The Park Hyatt Tokyo is on the west side of Shinjuku, offering a 360 degree view of the bustling city and Mount Fuji on a clear day. Occupying the top 14 floors of the 52-story tower, the Park Hyatt Tokyo overlooks two green spaces: Yoyogi Park and Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.

Depending upon what you’re doing in Tokyo, the Shinjuku district may or may not appeal to you. It’s an area of start contrasts. During the day, this is predominantly a bustling business district, and may not feel all that different than a major American city. Beyond the office buildings, there is a lot around here.

On the plus side, Park Hyatt Tokyo is located on the “good” side of Shinjuku rather than any of the shady areas. It’s more or less nestled between both Shinjuku and Shibuya, which is fantastic if you don’t mind a bit of a walk–or will relish it. The down side of this is that it’s a bit of a hike to Shinjuku Station, which is about 15 minutes away by foot. Unlike some other luxury hotels in Tokyo, the Park Hyatt does not offer direct access to a station.

Nevertheless, the Park Hyatt Tokyo may be a good base for your adventures in Tokyo. It may also be a poor location depending upon what you want to do. I would give serious thought to your plans in Tokyo before booking, to determine whether another hotel will provide easier walking access to everything you want to do. For whatever it’s worth, we’ve found that many luxury hotels in Tokyo come with similar compromises.

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In terms of service, Park Hyatt Tokyo is a hotel without equals, at least in our experience. While it is true that the service we experienced was world class in every hotel at which we stayed in Japan, Park Hyatt Tokyo took this service to the next level. When we first arrived in the lobby, we were greeted by 5 hotel staff members, all eager to assist us.

This continued as we continued up to our room, where a staff member walked us through the room to inspect it, and did an in-room check-in. Each time we left the room, whether it was for 30 minutes or three hours, someone came into the room to tidy up. Each time we went downstairs, the staff greeted us by name.

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In general, the design of the Park Hyatt Tokyo, which occupies the upper-most floors of an office building in Shinjuku, is modern and well-appointed. This is to be expected from a hotel with nightly rates averaging $300-500.

The modern design is offset by classic details, such as a library in the lobby that contains many classic pieces of literature available for guests to borrow. We didn’t exactly have time or desire to read War & Peace while in Tokyo, but perhaps the next time we return for a month-long stay!

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Our room at the Park Hyatt Tokyo was also superb. It was everything expected of a luxury hotel: nicely sized, high quality Egyptian bedding, bathtub and separate shower, bathroom television, and plenty of art and little details that really drive home the feeling of luxury.

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Rooms come standard with 37-inch plasma flat-screen televisions, and entertainment systems, and complimentary wireless high-speed internet. The rooms also include sitting areas with a table and chairs, as well as a desk, chair, and bookcase. All guest rooms are located above the 41st floor, and offer stunning views of the city.

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The view is a big selling point of the Park Hyatt Tokyo. Sarah was so enamored with the view from our room that she actually opted to sit in the window one morning while I went to the Tsukiji Fish Market–when I left the room she was in the window, and when I returned a couple of hours later, she was still there!

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Our room was so high up that it made photography tricky since no other buildings of comparable height were in the foreground of my photos to give them depth.

There are several restaurants in the Park Hyatt Tokyo: the sophisticated rooftop New York Grill & New York Bar, Japanese Kozue Restaurant, and French brasserie Girandole. We dined and had drinks at the New York Bar (this is the bar featured heavily in Lost in Translation) and Girandole.

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The nighttime ambiance and view at the New York Bar is a big draw, with great live entertainment. While what we ordered at the New York Bar was exceptional, but for appetizers and a few drinks, our bill was over $100. We had an early lunch at Girandole and it was also excellent, and much more reasonably priced.

However, we only did this for the sake of convenience–we would definitely recommend going out and dining at one of the equally priced sushi/seafood restaurants in Tokyo. We do recommend popping up to the New York Bar for drinks before or after a night on the town, even despite its price.

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One thing worth noting is that this is a Western style luxury hotel, and not a hotel that gives you a taste of local culture. I view this as somewhat of a mixed bag. On the one hand, we experienced local hotels elsewhere in Japan, and by the end of the trip when we stayed at the Park Hyatt Tokyo, we were ready to unwind in luxurious accommodations. On the other hand, had we stayed at the Park Hyatt Tokyo for our entire time in Japan, I would have been disappointed by not experiencing the local culture, and the room would have been a waste as we were constantly on the move earlier in the trip.

Overall, we were blown away by the Park Hyatt Tokyo and highly recommend it if you’re looking for Western style luxury accommodations along with the height of Japanese service. It’s a great way to end a trip, but definitely not the only place you should stay while in Japan if you want a true taste of the culture. Based on our experience here, we understand why this is an award-winning, world class hotel. We highly recommend it, with only those reservations already stated.

For all of your planning needs–from places to stay to things to do and much more–please consult our Ultimate Tokyo, Japan City Guide. If you’re planning a visit to other cities, please check out my other posts about Japan.

Your Thoughts

Have you stayed at the Park Hyatt Tokyo? If so, what did you think of it? If you haven’t stayed there, would you consider it as part of your trip to Japan? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

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7 replies
  1. JohnB
    JohnB says:

    I find that many times in Asia, I preferred staying at Western chains. First in Southeast Asia, there are serious humidity/mold problems. The Western chains seem better at getting rid of the mold. Although humidity is a problem in Japan in the summer, the Japanese are better at their cleaning protocols than SE Asians, so I don’t worry about mold in Japan. Secondly, I find many times Asian local hotels have much smaller sized rooms than the Western chains. When you are on 3-4 week trip, one needs room to have all that stuff out and about. Thirdly electrical plugs are plentiful in Western chains, local chains not so much. I find the Intercontinental, Conrad, Okura, Prince, some Marriotts are all quite good, at a fair price. Whereas Aman, Ritz-Carlton, Peninsula, etc. are just too over the top expensive, compared to other 5 star properties. Although the Park Hyatt Tokyo is easily booked on points.

    Reply
  2. Greg
    Greg says:

    A great hotel! I love this and actually experienced my first earthquake there (though I slept through it). I love the lobby and the piano. they also had a mixer dance party which was fun.

    Great beds though

    Reply
    • Greg
      Greg says:

      Oh yes, or the level of jetlag from a 17 hour flight…my boss thought he was having a vertigo attack. This was only 5 months after the big earthquake too!

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  1. […] go so far as to say our room here was almost as nice as our room at the Park Hyatt Tokyo (read our Park Hyatt Tokyo Review), but in a totally different way. Sarah disagrees, as she much preferred the Park Hyatt […]

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