Four Seasons
Luxury comes in many forms, and in the hotel world many might narrow it down to the number of amenities or the size of a room or even the floor your room is situated. I’d argue today the ultimate luxury is the service you receive. The best view or the biggest suite of the hotel is something everyone can appreciate, including me, but there’s nothing in this era of mass tourism like feeling you are special.
I recently visited Japan for the first time, part of a wave of tourists returning to the island nation since it reopened. As this being my first visit, I solicited a lot of advice and stories about other people’s experiences. Over and over, people who had previously visited focused on the incredible hospitality. In Japanese culture there’s a philosophy that comes from the tea ceremony named Omotenashi which means taking care of the guest in the most genuine way possible. As much as the food, nature, or the art, this draws travelers back to Japan over and over. Often, regardless of the hotel, restaurant, or bar you will be served exceptionally well. Since the really great and genuine service is kind of the norm in Japan, well, when you step into a higher end location the experience is incomparable. That was certainly the case when I stayed at the new Four Seasons Otemachi for Beast Travel’s hotel column, Room Key.
The ride from the airport into Tokyo, if you’re not fast asleep due to jet lag, makes clear how enormous the world’s most populous city is. As countless apartment complexes fly by, it’s hard to fathom ever being able to truly wrap one’s hands around this city. The Four Seasons Otemachi opened in 2020 but with the border only reopening in October 2022, the hotel is essentially new for the U.S. market. Located on the building’s 39th floor, the 190-room hotel stands in the middle of the city’s most significant business district, just a lift ride from the heart of the city. The most breathtaking view of Tokyo’s skyline greets you as soon as the lift door opens. A thin strip of water surrounds the 39th floor, separating you from the floor to ceiling windows. The first time I tried to come close to the window, I almost stepped into the small body of water. At first I assumed this detail was added to prevent them from having to constantly clean the windows from people touching the glass– genius, I thought. However, after bringing it up with the hotel manager, this design detail is even more intentional than I could have imagined and speaks loudly of the importance of respect in Japanese culture. The strip of water was added so that guests wouldn’t be looking down on people on the street as a form of respect.