Park Hyatt Tokyo

The Park Hyatt Tokyo—a city mainstay that became an icon in 2003 as the setting of Sofia Coppola’s cult classic Lost in Translation—attracts big-name guests, despite a slightly less desirable location than some of Tokyo's other top hotels.

Please note the Park Hyatt Tokyo will close on May 7, 2024 for a full renovation, coinciding with the hotel’s 30th anniversary; it is slated to reopen midway through 2025.

• Twinkling urban views over parks, the new Olympics stadium and the Skytree and Tokyo towers from the guest rooms, eateries, gym, and pool too
• The sprawling breakfast buffet
• Sky-high swimming pool with its gasp worthy city views

Famously the setting for the film Lost in Translation, the Park Hyatt was where Bill Murray spent jet-lagged, sleepless nights chatting to Scarlett Johansson, answering the whirring fax machine and propping up the New York Bar, still a place to see and be seen for Tokyo’s international community where window seats are especially prized. Similarly, the Park Hyatt Tokyo remains the address for everyone who is anyone to lay their head in the Japan’s capital: passing-through movie stars, big-name musicians, corporate head honchos. This hotel was groundbreaking in so many ways, not least for being situated on the upper floors of an office building, now quite standard among Tokyo’s top properties.

Rooms have been updated from Murray’s fax machine to the latest technology, including various gimmicks in even the smallest room, such as cooling fans, activated by the touch of a button. You reach the hotel by switching from one elevator to another along a walkway, which sounds like a pain, but the hall’s book-lined walls make this a rather comforting and soothing experience after a hard day’s negotiating or sightseeing. The hotel is a 10-minute walk from Shinjuku Station from which the Tokyo subway, JR lines and Shinkasen bullet trains are accessed. However, the hotel also provides free shuttle service to and from the station that departs every 20 minutes, from 9am. Reserve ahead if you are trying to catch a specific train out of Tokyo. It's one of the few hotels we recommend in the Shinjuku area, offering tons of entertainment and shopping for kids and young adults.

Floor-to-ceiling glass walls confer 360-degree views of Tokyo to Mount Fuji from the 47th floor’s sizeable swimming pool, while the surrounding deck chairs give this sky-high refuge a resort vibe. Aqua exercise classes will remind movie fans of Bill Murray’s aquatic efforts to fight jet-lag but Hyatt trainers do offer a serious workout in this sublime environment that is well worth a try.

Unplugged is the New York Bar’s Sunday evening jam featuring some of the most popular musicians on Tokyo’s thriving jazz scene while mellower Peak Lounge is also a great place to toast these stellar city views. Japanese beef like Yonezawa and Hokkaido Akaush sirloin as well as Sendai tenderloin and Kobe prime make the New York Grill a pilgrimage stop for red meat lovers while the Kozue Japanese kaiseki dinner for two in one of the wood paneled restaurant’s back dining niches is a must for couples. Breakfast is legendary here and rightly so with its vast selection of sliced meats, imported cheese, Japanese fruits, and homemade baked goods, all designed to get guests going whether the days is filled with business or pleasure.

Design-minded travelers with teens looking to be near Shinjuku's entertainment, or those who don't mind the somewhat remote location, which is a considerable walking distance from more adult-centric shopping and nightlife.