Inside Palace Hotel Tokyo, a historical establishment that dates back to the 1940s

There is no other hotel in Tokyo where you can see a moat up close upon arrival in the lobby. The historic Palace Hotel Tokyo borders the Imperial Palace gardens, and large glass windows frame stoic stonewalls and impeccably pruned landscaping behind the calm water body.

Few hotels in Tokyo can also boast of being the anchor point of ambassadors heading to the Imperial Palace for the formal presentation of their credentials to the Emperor – 284 did so between 1972 and 1991.

Palace Hotel Tokyo is one of only four hotels in the world to have an Evian Spa (the rest are found in Paris, Doha and Vietnam).

The genesis of Palace Hotel Tokyo can be traced back to 1947 when the former 1920s-built Forestry Office of the Imperial Household was converted into Hotel Teito, which was glamorised in an episode in The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour in 1959, The Ricardos Go to Japan.

The General Headquarters of the Allied Forces operated Hotel Teito until 1952 when the property was sold to the private sector and redeveloped as Palace Hotel in 1961, in time for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. In 2012, the current 209-key iteration was rebuilt with a US$1 billion budget and renamed Palace Hotel Tokyo.

Old photographs trace the evolution of the area around 1-1-1 Marunouchi – Palace Hotel Tokyo’s auspicious-sounding address across from the Imperial Palace’s Ote-mon Gate in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward. Skyscrapers have replaced low-rise buildings, towering above a smattering of historic structures like the red-bricked Tokyo Station nearby.

The different eras are also represented by the architectures of their time. From the European-inspired Hotel Teito to the modernist, Palace Hotel, whose distinctive architecture clad with 1.6 million shigaraki-yaki tiles earned it an Architectural Industry Association Prize in 1963, Palace Hotel Tokyo is firmly poised in the present milieu with a curvy glass, concrete and stone building. It was designed by Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei Inc (the architectural division of Mitsubishi Group of Companies) and shares a basement with the affiliated Palace Building housing offices and retail.

London-based GA Group designed the public spaces and guestrooms to evoke a “grand residence”. Cool grey marble flooring and elevated hints of gold are softened with tufted, deep moss-coloured carpets that bring in the greenery of the Imperial Palace gardens. The palace gates inspired the Macassar ebony wall panelling in the first storey, their distinctive stripes accentuated by the glow of bronze-framed light pendants.

Spread over 53,000 sq m of floor area, the property, a member of Leading Hotels of the World, is not small. But there are many special things about it, as Miho Koseki, Palace Hotel Tokyo’s ebullient PR Assistant Coordinator said during a tour. At the top of the list are the views.

“When we built the new hotel, we really focused on how to show respect to the Imperial Palace gardens. Even when you are inside the hotel, you feel like you are surrounded by greenery, like you’re part of the historic gardens,” said Koseki, singling out a bonsai-like Tamukeyama Japanese Maple tree outside a lobby window, whose leaves have turned a beautiful red during autumn when I visited.

Guests can feel even closer to the moat by sitting outside during mealtimes at the first storey all-day-dining restaurant, The Grand Kitchen. It is one of 10 F&B destinations in the hotel. As Koseki led me to the sixth storey to visit the hotel’s signature Japanese restaurant Wakadura, whose private dining rooms overlook the royal garden, she highlighted that unlike other Tokyo views that are in perpetual metamorphosis, this is one that will remain constant.

“That greenery hasn’t changed for decades, and it never will. It’s very traditional and still, surrounded by cityscape. And because the hotel is not very high, guests can feel nature up close, so you forget you’re in the centre of Tokyo. Loud noises like in Shinjuku or Roppongi are not allowed, so it’s very peaceful around here,” she said, adding that the buildings at the edge of the 2.5 sq m garden’s grounds have height restrictions, maintaining the garden’s visual tranquillity.

These words came back to me as I walked towards the busier part of Marunouchi; the quiet allowed me to take in the green views, expanse of sky and picturesque stone bridges arching over different parts of the moat. In the building, I constantly gravitated towards the window to gaze at the palace garden that, come night, turns into a blanket of shadow, fenced by the sparkle of city lights.

Masaru Watanabe, the executive director and general manager of Palace Hotel Tokyo who has worked here since he was a fresh university graduate, explained that the hotel was designed with “real presence”, evoking Japanese sensibilities in an elegant way.

He added that it was never meant to be just another addition to Tokyo’s skyline or the latest entry into the city’s luxury scene, which is why it did not follow the popular model of crowning a mixed-used building with a hotel (cue Aman Tokyo and Bvlgari Hotel Tokyo just a jaunt away). The main lobby was intentionally placed on the ground floor so that guests can waltz straight from their car into the hotel without first having to wait for an elevator to shuttle them to an upper lobby to feel the property’s distinctive sense of place.

GA Group’s executive design director Terry McGinnity gave the interiors the ambience of a luxurious home with plenty of soigne but none of the stiffness of high-end establishments. The firm also designed The Palace Lounge and Royal Bar.

“The Royal Bar was famous, and the original bar counter design was overseen by the legendary bartender Kiyoshi Imai, ‘Mr Martini’,” explained Koseki. Imai designed the counter with unique details, such as a groove at the top to catch spilt cocktails, and a curved ledge for tipsy ladies to hold on to and step down from the high chairs with grace.

The bar top was retained in Imai’s memory and the rest of the structure a recreation of the original design. Tip: Have your night cap here with a Palace Hotel Signature dated by year of creation – maybe the Dry Martini to Imai’s honour (1961) or the Rising Sun (1963), which is a concoction of tequila, chartreuse jaune, cocktail lime and sloe gin.

Another place to have a drink is at Lounge Bar Prive (designed by Design Post Inc) on the sixth storey with a panoramic view. The expansive F&B offerings at Palace Hotel Tokyo mean one can have teppanyaki at GO, tempura at Tatsumi, fresh sushi at Sushi Kanesaka, Chinese food at the one-Michelin starred Amber Palace and French fine-dining at Esterre – another one-Michelin starred destination by Alain Ducasse.

Upstairs, the 266 guestrooms and 18 suites are generous by Tokyo standards, ranging from 45 sq m to 210 sq m. More than half of the rooms have balconies, offering a rare vantage. Like the public areas, GA Group employed leaf motifs in the carpets and earth tones so the spaces feel refined yet restful.

Bath amenities are by British brand Bamford but many other items are from heritage Japanese brands. The bath linens are made in Imbari, a city in Ehime prefecture renowned for manufacturing high-end towels since over a century ago, and there are premium Jugetsudo teas by Maruyama Nori, a brand founded in 1854 in Tokyo’s Tsukiji district. Enjoy them in nambu-tekkei cast iron teapots and teacups made in Saga prefecture. The lacquered teacup saucers are also storied, originating from Sabae, a city in Fukui prefecture that started producing the emperor’s Echizen lacquer ware over 1,500 years ago.

One of Palace Hotel Tokyo’s highlights is undoubtedly the 1,200 sq m Evian Spa Tokyo (the second in the world to to open), a two-time Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star spa. Housed on the fifth floor, MEC Design International Corporation created a serene white world with accents of Evian red. White limestone floors and oak walls treated with a Japanese kesyou-shiage technique (whereby delicate white powder is brushed over the wood, accentuating the oak’s growth rings) bring texture into the snow-white spaces.

Each treatment room is christened after a peak in the Alps. Through a corridor layered with Motoi Mitani’s petal-like artwork, I entered into one of these white rooms where a blue-lit counter enhanced the aqua theme. Water is also the theme of the facials and treatments, grouped into the categories of celestial restoration, mineral enrichment, precious nourishment and renewed vitality.

Spa products are from French brands Anne Semonin and Ominisens, as well as Japanese premium botanical beauty brand Warew featuring natural ingredients grown in Japan since ancient times such as extracts of plum root, pine needles and magnolia bark. I was recommended a Warew body treatment that uses Asian techniques of measured rhythm and modulation to promote circulation. Given more time, I would have added on enhancements like a spirulina body wrap or head therapy.

But I already felt rejuvenated as I was led into a tranquil relaxation lounge, where I laid down on wooden loungers spread with Evian red towels and sipped  some tea. Some subsequent time was spent in the heated bath and marble sauna (the men’s section features a heated bath and cold plunge pool). There were bottles of Evian water in the changing rooms for me to hydrate and I did so several times as some sort of happy homage to the brand.

The wellness facilities include a well-equipped gym and a curvy indoor swimming pool with a Jacuzzi, surrounded by floors of shimmering white mosaic tiles. Both look out through full-height glass windows to amazing palace garden views again, of course.

Walking to the spa, I had met with a tittering, well-dressed Japanese crowd that Koseki later confirmed was here for a wedding party. I am curious about the wedding chapel so she let me have a peek. In the lofty space, Fumi Habara of Aoyama Nomura Design (AND) cocoons guests under a ‘veil’. It also frames the wonderful view of the Imperial Palace gardens beyond the alter.