Pairing a luxury hotel with a great neighborhood can be a bit of a conundrum in Tokyo, as most of its modern, high-end properties are lofted at the top of skyscrapers in business districts. It was a trend started by the Park Hyatt Tokyo over 30 years ago, when it opened among government towers in Nishi-Shinjuku, and has since been replicated in other corporate precincts across the city.
Broadly, you can think of central Tokyo as a clock, its circular shape carved out by the JR Yamanote train line loop. For a more fashion-forward neighborhood, book into an accommodation in the lower left-hand quadrant (around seven to nine o’clock), specifically in the precincts near Shibuya, like Jingumae, Daikanyama, Nakameguro, and Shimokitazawa. If history is more your bag, aim for two o’clock, where you’ll find the temple-filled districts around Asakusa, collectively called Shitamachi, or “lower town,” that were developed during the Edo period and outlasted World War II.
After the war, Ginza and Marunouchi—around four o’clock—were developed as gridded business districts with glamorous shopping. There are a lot of worthy hotels here, and Toranomon nearby has developed with its own coterie of upmarket properties in the last few years.
