The legendary grande dame of Tokyo, Japan, The Imperial Hotel, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built as a low-rise building across the street from the park of the Imperial Palace, within walking distance of everything important in the city.
The tower was built much later on. Currently, the rebuilt lobby lounge, designed by Japanese architect Takemi Nishimoto, acts as a living museum of Wright’s elaborate original design.
There are both Occidental and Japanese style rooms in the hotel and impeccable attention to detail. The Frank Lloyd Wright Suite features such museum-quality Wright creations as stained-glass windows, volcanic stone reliefs, and distinctive light fixtures.
All 66 suites have been traditionally the favorites of statesmen, royalty, and celebrities, offering free American breakfast through room service, free shoeshine and laundry services, a free newspaper of your choice, and free WiFi, as well as complementary use of the fitness center, pool, and sauna.
The personalized services and a highly trained staff make it Tokyo’s address of choice for numerous corporate executives. You can schedule airport transfers to and from the hotel with a chauffeur-driven limousine or a sightseeing drive with a foreign-language speaking driver.
The property has one of the largest executive service centers amongst Japanese hotels, with complimentary meeting space and an amenity lounge for early arrivals or late departures. The extremely large ballrooms are suitable for trade shows, exhibits, and large banquets.
The 13 restaurants on the premises are outstanding with Les Saisons serving French haute cuisine and La Brasserie featuring traditional French dining. Nakata and Sushigen are for sushi, Kamon is for teppanyaki open grill steaks, Imperial Viking Sal is the Imperial Hotel’s buffet restaurant, and Ten-ichi is for tempura, to name but just a few memorable ones.
The Pâtisserie Gargantua and Épicerie Gargantua offer tempting pastries and a delicatessen with traditional classics, seasonal foods, and sustainable dishes.
The bouillabaisse that the chef of Les Saisons created for us when we returned from an extremely long and tiring day was the best I have ever had, perhaps with the exception of the one that my friend Monique whipped up at her villa in Beaulieu, near Nice.
Another creation from the Imperial kitchens, which we have also adopted in our own home, is the Smoked Salmon Napoleon with Sevruga. Many a guest has commented on that appetizer.
There is a traditional tea house on the premises in the midst of a very traditional garden, where you can participate in the Japanese tea ceremony, an unforgettable experience in ceremonially graceful movement. Unfortunately, the traditional seating is uncomfortable for many westerners.
Right behind the hotel is the International Arcade, where we made one of the most exciting finds of our trip – a shop selling exquisite embroidered wedding kimonos and obis as second hand clothing and at very low prices! A magnificent kimono of vibrant gold/red/green/silver cranes embroidered on a heavy white silk brocade now decorates our living room, and a piece of silk obi with muted gold/red chrysanthemums and cranes is used as a runner on the serving side-table in our dining room.
On the other side of the Arcade is the Ginza. In one of the sushi bars there, we encountered “jumping shrimp” which our Japanese host ordered for us and waited for our reaction. We ate it without batting an eyelash, an occurrence that, as I understand, is unusual for foreigners.
We eat sushi wherever and whenever we can find the right kind of fresh fish. In the Ginza, we just told the chef “Omakase” and left it to him to give us what was fresh and best. We were not disappointed.
The staff at the Imperial is impeccable. Highly trained, polite to foreigners, eager to fulfill the slightest request, punctual, and discreet. It made our stay there a real pleasure.
Nick A. Ross, a regular contributor to LuxuryWeb Magazine, is a retired banker who has eschewed retirement in London for adventure in Southeast Asia. He is currently based in Singapore after spending the last seven years in Guam. He did a “reverse Paul Gauguin, and he is not even French!” He now spends much of his time in Bangkok, Taipei, Hong Kong (when there are no riots), but he still visits the eastern Mediterranean in the summer whenever he has the opportunity. He loves traveling, good food, and good wine, and he enjoys the serendipities of life as they come along.
Manos Angelakis was one of the founders, the former Managing Editor for 25 years, the former Managing Editor Emeritus, and former Senior Food & Wine Writer of LuxuryWeb Magazine. He passed away in 2025 as an accomplished travel writer, photographer, and food and wine critic based in Hackensack, New Jersey. As a travel writer, he wrote extensively about numerous cities and countries. Manos was also certified as a Tuscan Wine Master and traveled to wine-producing areas in order to evaluate firsthand the product of top-rated vineyards. His articles in other publications include Vision Times and Epoch Times.
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