Launched in 1984 as an upscale addition to the multifaceted Marriott hotel group, the JW Marriott brand delivers a relevant kind of luxury for each country it’s operating in (currently 130 hotels across more than 40 countries and regions). In Japan, the brand’s tally stands at two – the first opened in Nara in 2020, while its Tokyo incarnation opened in October 2025 – and the relevant kind of luxury here is that soothingly quiet minimalism that the Japanese so excel at.
In the quaint and compact city of Nara – the capital of Nara Prefecture and about an hour from Kyoto – the star attraction is the 1,000-odd docile deer that roam freely around a park in the city’s east. It’s hard to resist a deer that bows at you for a cracker, so, understandably, the tourists flock here and this part of the city can feel pretty congested at times.
The JW Marriott Nara, the first international luxury hotel to open in the city, is a low-rise six-storey building located west of the main train station and feels like a calm oasis from the hullabaloo, peppered as it is with subtle Japanese elements and deer motifs. The ground floor, open-plan reception, lobby and piano bar feel welcoming and spacious, as do the 158 guest rooms, with their noiseless views across the city. A particular highlight is the hotel restaurant, Azekura, which offers a refined Japanese experience through three different styles of Japanese cuisine – teppanyaki, sushi and kaiseki. A series of beautifully presented, carefully composed little plates of food with a strong focus on seasonal, local ingredients introduced such delights as firefly squid and the wagyu sakura leaf sushi.
Also opened in 2020, nearly 300 miles away in Tokyo, the Takanawa Gateway station is the main transport hub of a spankingly shiny, mixed-use, ‘smart city’ redevelopment project. Featuring a mix of high-rise office towers, shopping malls, dining options, residential spaces and cultural hubs (including the Kengo Kuma-designed Museum of Narratives, which opened in March 2026), this futuristic new district is not unlike a traffic-free Canary Wharf, but with robots that do everything from cleaning to delivering drinks and transporting pedestrians around the site.
The station is incredibly well connected, with Tokyo station, Shibuya and Shinjuku a few stops away, while the nearby Shingawa station is the future terminus for the next-generation magnetic bullet trains that will eventually connect Tokyo with Osaka in around an hour.
A hop and a skip from the station is the brand new JW Marriott, which occupies the uppermost floors of a 30-storey high-rise. Designed by Yabu Pushelberg, with a creative narrative driven by Zen philosophy and classical Japanese minimalism, it’s a tranquil space that cocoons you the moment you emerge from the lifts. Moody, low-lit public spaces with wood panelling, muted fabrics and warm copper finishes create a cosiness, while a flickering fireplace, the seductive, ever-present scent by Flamingo Estate, and Lasvit’s luminous glass centrepiece add to the serenity.
Guest rooms are spacious, well-accessorised and peaceful, soundproofed from the traffic and trains zipping around many floors below, while those looking for an extra hit of Zen can book a room in the Mindful wing (located on the same floor as the spa and fitness centre, it allows guests to bypass the reception check-in/check-out procedure).
The biggest draw, however, is the view. Jaw-dropping panoramic vistas catch the eye on every floor, at every angle. And it doesn’t really matter which side your room is on, the views are equally far-reaching and time-absorbing. From one side, you can see Tokyo Tower and as far as Mount Fuji (on a clearish day), while from another, there are sweeping views across the railyards and train tracks to Tokyo Bay and the Rainbow Bridge. And no matter what you are doing – taking a bath, tucking into the voluminous breakfast buffet or doing laps in the Instagrammable pool – it’s hard not to keep staring at it.
