If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (JPY130,000.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Jump into Japan’s cosmopolitan wellness culture at Janu Tokyo, a luxury hotel in the city’s new, nature-minded neighbourhood. Spoiling runs DNA-deep here at this spirited addition to the Aman family fold – the all-frills spa and atlas-spanning coterie of restaurants see to that. But tear yourself from your private balcony’s Tokyo Tower views and clear some space in your contacts list – with a calendar of cool-crowd-drawing events led by local artists, avant-garde mixologists and envelope-pushing chefs, you’ll leave buddied up with some of the city’s brightest sparks.
Noon. Check-in is 3pm, but both are flexible for an extra fee, subject to availability.
Prices
Double rooms from £830.61 (JPY164,450), including tax at 26.5 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional local city tax of JPY200.00 per person per night on check-out.
More details
Rates include a set American or Japanese breakfast for up to two people.
Also
Janu Tokyo has three rooms that have been adapted for guests with limited mobility.
At the hotel
Wellness centre, gym, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV, sound system, Nespresso coffee machine, minibar and free soft drinks.
Our favourite rooms
Each room has a skyline-surveying private balcony, but we have our eye on those with views of the Eiffel-like Tokyo Tower.
Poolside
A suitably soothing and softly lit focal point of the spa, the 24-metre indoor pool is lined with inviting sofas and loungers. There’s a separate lounge pool, too, in case you weren’t yet sufficiently relaxed.
Spa
Janu doesn’t do wellness by halves – the 4,000-square-metre spa and wellness centre is one of the largest in the city. There’s a super-sized gym with five movement studios, a boxing ring, spin classes and a recovery studio with a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber. On the slower-heartrate side, there’s a hydrotherapy and thermal area, plus two private spa houses with hot and cold plunge pools, a steam bath and a hammam. Personal trainers can put together tailored fitness plans, but the wellness centre is designed as a social space, so don’t be shy about signing up for the group movement, yoga and wellbeing classes, too.
Packing tips
Contemporary art is a big deal around here – if you’re not up to scratch with a chisel or a 3D printer, chuck in a few rolls of film to capture some suitably atmospheric shots.
Also
Watch this space for specialist spa and training retreats, courtesy of an international lineup of wellness experts.
Children
Little Smiths are welcome, but not especially catered to. The concierge can arrange babysitting for JPY5,500 an hour.
Wherever you’re dining, wrangle yourself a table with a view – either of the meticulously designed neighbourhood or of the master chefs at work.
Dress Code
Sleek tailoring and sandy tones will never lead you astray, but keep things playful with a statement clutch or a Tokyo Tower-esque pop of tangerine.
Hotel restaurant
Mercato is an all-day Italian spot, where the light-filled dining room spills out onto a garden-facing terrace and three open kitchens keep the fresh pasta, charcuterie and seafood coming. At Janu Grill, prime cuts and seafood from the finest local producers are dramatically seared over an open flame. A contemporary spin on traditional sumibikayki charcoal-fired cooking, Sumi spotlights organic, seasonal ingredients and pairs them with a sommelier-guided wine and sake list. Dim sum, seafood and a bevy of Cantonese specialities are all worth saving room for at Chinese restaurant Hu Jing, but the show-stealer is the signature roast duck. Iigura is a modern take on Tokyo’s centuries-old edomae sushi. Chefs craft fresh, seasonal seafood into à la carte sashimi – or go omakase, and let the experts guide you.
Pick up some fresh-baked fancies from the petite Pâtisserie. Or follow the clink of fine bone china to Janu Lounge, where afternoon tea is taken out on the Garden Terrace.
Hotel bar
Janu Bar is the hotel’s atmospheric after-hours hub, where mixologists jazz up classic cocktails with creative Japanese flavours.
Last orders
Mercato sees you through breakfast, lunch and dinner, 8am–10pm. Breakfast at Janu Grill is 6.30–11.30am. At Janu Grill, Hu Jing and Iigura, lunch is 11.30am–3pm, dinner 5.30–10.30pm. Sumi serves dinner 5.30–11pm. Afternoon tea at Janu Lounge is noon–5pm.
Room service
Order in-room bites from the separate room service menu around the clock.
Janu Tokyo towers over Azabudai Hills, the capital’s walkable new neighbourhood with art-dotted plazas and an haute gastronomic scene.
Planes
International hub Haneda Airport is a 40-minute drive away. The hotel can arrange transfers for JPY50,000 each way.
Trains
You’re well placed for exploring the city, with two Metro stops in walking distance – Kamiyachō Station (on the Hibiya Line) and Roppongi-itchōme Station (on the Namboku Line).
Automobiles
The speedy Metro system makes driving in Tokyo a very avoidable trial. If you do bring your own wheels, though, the hotel has a private car park. Valet parking is available from JPY7,000 a night.
Worth getting out of bed for
Azabudai Hills is a budding cultural and gastronomic hub in Tokyo. At the Mori Building Digital Art Museum, wander through a dream-like labyrinth of light and art installations. The Pace Gallery has plans to host leading contemporary artists from around the world. And peppered around the neighbourhood, you’ll find an open-air collection of sculptures by the likes of Yoshitomo Nara and Olafur Eliasson.
The gourmet food market is home to a sense-tingling line-up of speciality shops – if you’re on the hunt for standout souvenirs, pick up artisanal teas, custom-made dashi and too-pretty-to-eat confectionery here.
And among a sea of luxury fashion’s usual suspects – Celine, Hermès et al – scout out some seriously cool finds in the scattering of local indie boutiques.
Venture out further into Minato to visit Zojo-ji, the Buddhist temple of a Shogun dynasty with the city’s only surviving traditional main gate. Or take in panoramic city views from one of Tokyo Tower’s observation decks.
Local restaurants
For a plant-based power-up, head to Alchemy, an offshoot of the beloved Balinese spot specialising in colourful, health-conscious plates. Follow the locals to Tonkatsu Kawamura, where crispy pork cutlets are paired with umami soup. A special occasion calls for a table d’hôte dinner at Florilège, where chef Hiroyasu Kawate’s largely plant-based French-Japanese fusion menu has secured two Michelin stars – plus a green one, to commend a commitment to sustainability.
Local bars
Janu Bar is the go-to hangout in Azabudai Hills. But for something a little more esoteric, snag yourself a booking at Minato City’s pint-sized sake bar Eureka, where sought-after rare brews are paired with finely spun small plates.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this wellness-boosting hotel in Tokyo and unpacked their Fujifilm snaps and food-market finds, a full account of their sociable city break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Janu Tokyo in Azabudai Hills…
A welcome breather from the capital’s pulse-raising cut and thrust, Azabudai Hills is Tokyo’s sparkling new neighbourhood where sci-fi-esque architecture soars above pretty, park-like plazas. It makes a suitably restorative spot for a wellbeing-focused stay, but Janu Tokyo is a breath of fresh air in more ways than one.
Breaking step with high rises that stay hermetically sealed from the communities they rise above, Janu weaves Japanese culture into each bell and whistle. Every restaurant, from the traditional sumibikayi grill to the Paris-inspired pâtisserie, crafts menus around seasonal, locally sourced produce. The spa is one of the largest and most luxurious in the capital, but wellness workshops honouring time-tested practices remain at its core. Ties have been forged with local galleries, centuries-old shimenawa craftsmanship has been worked into the sky-scraping architecture, and interactive experiences are headed up by leading lights in the city’s arts and culinary scene. There’s still plenty of polish – it is an Aman stablemate, after all – but Janu has rolled down the window on the stereotype of the stuffy high-end stay.
