Wallpaper* checks into Tokyo’s most cinematic hotel

Following a meticulous 19-month renovation, Park Hyatt Tokyo reopened its doors in December 2025. Yet some things never change, not even here: the timeless unfolding of cinematic city views, Mount Fuji hovering beyond the skyscrapers, lingering jazz notes drifting through the air. Forever celebrated as ‘that hotel’ from Lost in Translation (2003), Park Hyatt Tokyo remains one of the world's most iconic urban retreats.

When it first opened in 1994 as Asia’s first Park Hyatt, it rewrote the rules of city hospitality as one of the earliest skyscraper hotels – a new expression of vertical living occupying the apex of Kenzo Tange’s Shinjuku Park Tower. Balancing Tange’s steel lines and soaring atria was an interior no less distinctive: designer John Morford evoked the atmosphere of a private residence through an intimate sequence of spaces, using an elegant material palette of dark woods, natural stone and the hotel’s signature green. More than three decades on, visitors still lose their breath over its sweeping views, whether watching the late-afternoon sun sink into peach-tinged skies or gazing across a nocturnal sea of lights.

Wallpaper* checks into Park Hyatt Tokyo

What’s on your doorstep?

While the hotel feels removed from the city’s intensity, it sits within easy reach of some of Tokyo’s most exciting districts and cultural landmarks, from the tree-lined paths of Yoyogi Park and the forested grounds of Meiji Shrine to the eccentric fashion boutiques of Harajuku, the luxury shopping avenues of Omotesando and the neon-lit energy of central Shinjuku. A short distance away, Golden Gai is an unmissable stop: a labyrinth of narrow alleyways packed with tiny bars, such as Open Book and Albatross G, many seating little more than a handful of guests.

Who is behind the design?

Paris-based Studio Jouin Manku helmed a top-to-toe renovation following four years of planning, exploring a sensitive ‘tightrope’ between original essence and contemporary touch. ‘The hotel is only 30 years old, but it’s precious,’ Patrick Jouin tells Wallpaper. ‘This was the first modern hotel in Japan, and it became even more mythical with the movie. People always ask us to be careful with the DNA, the charm, and the presence of a place. Here, they asked us to keep the soul.’

With most materials replaced and updated, new touches slowly shift into focus, subtly softening and warming the spatial experience – from circular patterns cast by Cristallerie Saint-Louis lights on Peak Lounge tables, to the veined burgundy of a new Rosso Levanto marble counter at Girandole by Alain Ducasse. Even the hotel’s signature green, in corridors and guestrooms, has been updated with Tai Ping carpets. ‘It used to be a bit dusty, silvery,’ explains Manku, with Jouin adding: ‘We warmed it up, softened it and desaturated it.’

‘Before, it was a bit stiff, cold, a little run-down, technologically out of time,’ says Jouin. ‘It was very pure and modern, but the level of luxury has risen in everything around us. We introduced warmth, centrality, colour, refinement – a sense of pleasure. We kept things clean, minimal, pure and beautifully proportioned, but with details you can touch through objects and openings.’ Manku adds: ‘This is our take on a recipe that was already written. It’s always connected to the original recipe, but adds a different flavour – renewed with new energy.’

The room to book

It is inside the guest rooms – 171 in total, spanning floors 42 to 51 – that the most significant interventions are revealed. Morford’s strong lines have been softened, the material palette warmed, and the sense of luxury subtly recalibrated. ‘Generosity’ is a word the designers return to frequently while showing Wallpaper* around Deluxe Room 4514, where Manku was staying. A defining detail is a new black cabinet, a contemporary interpretation of an original Morford piece.

A softly curved leather headboard – with original magnolia-leaf artworks suspended above – wraps around the bed and extends into integrated side tables, seamlessly concealing technology alongside floating tubular lanterns: hovering coils of light-filtering white textile. Bathrooms, meanwhile, have evolved into expansive wet rooms, where bathtub and shower are united in an onsen-inspired arrangement. Blown-glass ‘moon’ lamps illuminate the walls, while double vanities are carved from a single block of Serpe stone.

Throughout, straight lines have given way to smooth curves and concealed layers, creating discreet new homes for the television, minibar, coffee machine and lacquered-red niches containing drawers of porcelain and glassware. ‘It is function, material and ritual,’ says Jouin. Elsewhere, a new Park Suite category frames sweeping views across Yoyogi Park, Meiji Shrine and Shibuya.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Some places reside in the imagination with a vividness that precedes any real visit. The New York Bar at Park Hyatt Tokyo is one of them: an atmospheric perch on the 52nd floor where Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray drift into a tender, transient friendship high above the neon-washed city in Sofia Coppola’s magnum opus. It is difficult to claim you've truly experienced the hotel without lingering over a martini while live jazz carries late into the night. Look out, too, for the indigo-toned bowl used for serving wasabi nuts. Created by Japanese glassmaker Toyo-Sasaki, the design was discontinued more than a decade ago but continues to be produced exclusively for the hotel.

The New York Grill also remains untouched, still clad in John Morford’s original black-ebony-and-walnut palette. Soaring windows pull the skyline indoors, while intimate tables are offset by Valerio Adami’s riotous murals depicting New York landmarks. Window seats once again frame vertiginous views: Mount Fuji on one side on a clear day, Shinjuku’s skyscrapers on the other. In the kitchen, chef de cuisine Ben Wheeler continues to serve longstanding favourites, including the signature Caesar salad and Hokkaido seared scallops.

Girandole, the hotel’s brasserie-style restaurant (where breakfast and afternoon tea are served), has also returned, now operating in partnership with Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse. Equally rejuvenated is The Peak Lounge & Bar, whose soaring two-storey glass atrium and surrounding bamboo grove have regained their distinctive glow.

Where to switch off?

Among the hotel’s most compelling spaces is Club on the Park, whose cathedral-like pool hall remains as striking as ever. Solid green-marble baths, minimalist steel-and-black-leather loungers and soaring volumes lend the space a serene sense of grandeur, while a double-height layout extends into the energetic fitness studio and gym beyond.

Wellness unfolds on the 45th floor, where dry saunas, thermal baths, cold plunge pools, whirlpools and 360-degree body showers are arranged within separate men's and women's facilities. Drawing inspiration from Japan’s shifting seasons, the treatment menu ranges from full-body rituals incorporating stretching, acupressure and seasonal botanical oils to the Tokyo Elixir Facial by Omorovicza, where rhythmic massage techniques and rose quartz tools work to sculpt, restore and revitalise the skin.

The verdict

With visitors returning to discover what has changed – and what has remained untouched – one constant continues to define Park Hyatt Tokyo: the sweeping views, still among the city’s most breathtaking, whether watching the late-afternoon sun sink into peach-tinged skies or gazing across a nocturnal sea of lights, and the inimitable energy that has long set it apart.

And this iconic outlook will continue to shape the spirit of Park Hyatt Tokyo, both old and new – as Manku puts it: ‘It feels like we’re in a Zeppelin floating over the city. We see these little cars below but don’t feel any pressure – everything becomes a sense of wonder, looking out at the city, seeing Mount Fuji and the twinkling lights. What can you do with this view? You can’t battle it or obscure it, so you work with it. That feeling is so strong when you’re here.’

Park Hyatt Tokyo is located at 2, 3 Chome-7-1 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 163-1055, Japan