I Got Caught in a Typhoon at the Coolest New Hotel in Tokyo
Tokyo - in better weather. (Photo: Frederic Soltan/Corbis)
Sometimes a hotel is so good that you never want to leave, but it’s a whole different situation when you literally can’t.
On my recent trip to Japan, Super Typhoon Phanfone was hot on the heels of my flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo. (For those who don’t know, a typhoon is like a scary tropical storm - Japan sees about 30 a year, including some so bad they leave fatalities in their wake.) It almost felt like a race for arrival and, thankfully, ANA Flight 0005 won.
Welcome to the Andaz Tokyo. (Photo: Hyatt Corporation)
I landed around 6 p.m. local time and made a beeline for the new Andaz Tokyo, where I had reservations for four nights. The hotel opened last summer in Toranomon Hills, a neighborhood that’s not notable now but destined for heavy foot traffic when the Olympic Village and Tokyo’s version of Paris’ Champs Élysées open there in time for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. While I’m a fan of the Andaz brand, I didn’t anticipate knowing the hotel … well, quite so intimately. Typhoon Phanfone took care of that.
Andaz Tokyo occupies the top six floors of a new, 52-floor structure built by the Mori company. Here, you’re on top, both literally and figuratively: Most luxury hotels in Tokyo crown high-rise towers, a testament to the mesmerizing city landscape that seems to unfurl for miles. The 16-foot, floor-to-ceiling windows on the main 51st floor typically frame scenic views, but that night I gazed out into a vortex of gray sky so hazy you had to squint to make out shapes. Soon enough, the rain came hammering down on Harajuku, Ginza, Shibuya, Shinjuku … all of Tokyo was in the eye of the storm, with wind speeds clocking in at up to 132 mph.
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Gazing upon Tokyo (Photo: Jun Seita/Flickr)
When a headlining typhoon blows through a city, it takes your sightseeing with it. The streets would be soggy, wind-lashed, empty, and cold, with restaurants closed or bare to the bone, compromising the true energy of the city. So I decided to retreat to the Andaz, and I couldn’t have been prisoner in a more amazing hotel. When it comes to being stuck indoors, this is where you want to be.
Andaz Tokyo is a game-changer for the city’s top hotels. It has a lifestyle sensibility — a different strategy from the traditional, more buttoned-up five-star hotels that have reigned in the luxury sector for decades. The first hotel to open in the five years since the Japanese recession ended, Andaz Tokyo reflects a more modern approach for this modern city. There’s no check-in desk; instead, a “living room” ensures a human touch. The public art is contemporary rather than stuffy. And the free wine between 4 and 6 p.m. gives the guests an opportunity to interact.
Nice room! (Photo: Hyatt Corporation)
Nice bathroom, too! (Photo: Hyatt Corporation)
My standard guest room was 540 square feet — unusually spacious for a country known for small quarters. The room showcased a modern take on traditional Japanese aesthetics (sliding partitions, low tables and beds, paper lanterns), in addition to useful amenities like a Bose Bluetooth speaker, superspeedy Wi-Fi, and complimentary snacks and nonalcoholic beverages. Bathrooms generally don’t excite me, but the sleek wooden walls, rainshower with separate, deep soaking tub, and high-end electronic toilet felt like a minispa.
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But I wasn’t ready to throw on a robe (or, more appropriately, the stylish, custom-made kimono provided in all guest rooms). I headed up to Andaz Tavern, the main restaurant, featuring European provincial cuisine. It was surprisingly elegant and refined for an Andaz; the menu included the likes of foie gras with maple-and-thyme jelly, truffle lobster salad, and a $200 Miyazaki beef Chateaubriand. Though I truly hankered for sashimi or a bowl of ramen, the clay-pot-baked Yamanashi herb chicken hit the spot. I glanced out the window, asking my waitress how bad the typhoon could get. In broken English, she told me that it was never-ending torrential rain and strong winds and that I was lucky it wasn’t more devastating.
Rain pours down in Tokyo (Photo: Keiko Iwabuchi/Getty Images)
In the morning, the typhoon was in full effect. Lightning flashed and rain poured, but thankfully, it wasn’t as deadly as predicted. In fact, the staff was calm about it, as if it were just a rainstorm. Mother Nature would just keep me indoors.
The hotel — literally in the sky — was swallowed in gray clouds, a bleak image from my rain-streaked windows. But the glittery spa sanctuary that took up the entire 37th floor took my mind off the weather. There was no reception desk; instead, iPad-toting staff members emerged from behind a central beauty bar featuring fresh fruit and herbs (plucked from the hotel’s onsite garden) and a variety of natural minerals, like salts and clays, to be incorporated into body scrubs. It was an easy sell. I selected Japanese mint, pear, lavender, coconut, and pink salts, which were crushed into a stimulating concoction before my eyes. It was some serious, next-level “farm to table” action. A nourishing body scrub was topped off by an hourlong massage, with the sound of the pattering rain soothing my ears.
Spas make everything better. (Photo: Hyatt Corporation)
Just as indulgent were the spas amenities, like a sauna and whirlpool and even electric massage chairs that left me completely relaxed. It wasn’t a true spa visit without splashing around in the 65-foot-long pool, with a backdrop of the cityscape — an Instagram hit since the hotel opened. Two attendants were quick to set up a lounge chair, with towels and bottles of water, creating a feeling very much like a resort.
All that decompressing worked up an appetite for burgers and fries at the casual BeBu restaurant. The pastry shop next door served up some cute patisserie-style goodies, many of which met their fate as they satisfied my sweet tooth. Plenty of shops were connected to the other side of the Mori building through an annex, graced with engaging modern art that I would have missed had the storm not blown through.
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When the clouds clear, there’s an amazing view of Tokyo. (Photo: Hyatt Corporation)
At night, I headed up to the 52nd floor to check out the rooftop bar, where it seemed all the other cooped-up hotel guests had also converged. It was a rare, intimate moment, listening to a variety of languages spoken (from English and Japanese to German and Portuguese), seeing the many faces of guests that you typically don’t see in one setting. Saki and cocktails flowed all night. Andaz Tokyo’s premier lounge truly raises the bar, with an open-air terrace sporting angular, glass ceilings. It felt as if we were inside a sky-high diamond. On a normal day, views here are touted as Tokyo’s best. The rain had cleared, the haze was gone: The typhoon had passed. The city’s sprawling vista was heart-stopping and unobstructed. The spectacular view is part of the hotel’s design, inciting such wonder and awe that you almost forget the city is there to explore.
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