World's Best

The Top 10 Hotels in Tokyo in 2020

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Published on July 8, 2020

This year’s World’s Best Awards survey closed on March 2, just before widespread stay-at-home orders were implemented as a result of COVID-19. The results reflect our readers’ experiences before the pandemic, but we hope that this year’s honorees will inspire your trips to come — whenever they may be.

The immensity of Tokyo (the world’s largest metropolitan area by population) means there are so many options in every neighborhood for things to do, places to see, food to eat, and shopping, that it can all feel a little overwhelming. The same goes for the best city hotels in Tokyo. Anything you could want is here, from outposts of major chains to legendary independent icons and ryokan-inspired boutique properties. And this year, our readers showed a preference for all three.

Every year for our World’s Best Awards survey, T+L asks readers to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe — to share their opinions on the top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and more. Hotels were rated on their facilities, location, service, food, and overall value. Properties were classified as city or resort based on their locations and amenities.

Related: The World's Best Awards 2020

Hoshinoya Tokyo, hotel guest room, Tokyo, Japan — Courtesy of Hoshino Resorts

The Palace Hotel Tokyo, at No. 5, scored big with readers, hitting all the right notes: “I loved this hotel so much that I bought the signature-scent incense,” wrote one. “The room was amazing, the staff incredibly helpful, the concierge was great, and breakfast in the lobby was superb.” Another reader appreciated that “from their gym, you can look down and into the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace.”

“Impressive in every way,” proclaimed one reader about the No. 3 Park Hyatt Tokyo. The hotel shot to fame after its role as the setting for the 2003 Sofia Coppola film, Lost in Translation, but it stands on its own merits. Housed on the top floors of a towering skyscraper in Shinjuku, where all of Tokyo seems to unfurl before you, the views are reason enough to book a room. But some people stay here just for the swimming pool on the 47th floor, which has floor-to-ceiling windows that let you feel like you’re floating in the sky.

This year’s winner, the Hoshinoya Tokyo, topped the list by blending all the modernity of the thriving city with subtle nods to the country’s rich history. Keep reading to find out more about the property, as well as the others that made this year’s list of the best hotels in Tokyo.

1. Hoshinoya Tokyo

Score: 96.42

More information: hoshinoya.com

“The best hotel in Tokyo,” is how one reader characterized this year’s winner, a ryokan-style property within a modern high-rise in the city’s Otemachi neighborhood (the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station are a stone’s throw away). The feeling here is akin to a resort, but in the middle of a frenetic urban environment, and readers loved the serene sense of calm that permeates the property — especially while taking a hot soak in the deep, traditional Japanese bathtubs found in all 84 guest rooms. There’s also a Zen garden for quiet moments of reflection and a minimalist spa for body treatments using products made of Japanese plants and herbs.