Janu Tokyo

Janu Tokyo

Azabudai Hills in Minato is still finding its rhythm as a neighbourhood, all glass towers and new restaurants settling into their leases, and Janu Tokyo sits at the centre of it as the only hotel inside that development, a short walk from Tokyo Tower and Kamiyachō. It's the debut property for Janu, the newer sibling brand to Aman, and the difference shows: architect Jean-Michel Gathy filled 122 rooms with the kind of calm that doesn't announce itself, while eight dining and drinking spaces downstairs keep the energy up. That split personality, contained rooms, sociable public spaces, is the thing peers in Roppongi and Toranomon don't quite manage; most luxury hotels here pick one mode and stay in it. The wellness centre runs to 4,000 square metres, with an indoor pool, sauna and a gym built for circuit classes rather than solitary treadmill sessions, plus a tennis court, which is unusual for a city hotel. Breakfast is a buffet, there's a restaurant on site, and the front desk runs around the clock, so late arrivals off a long-haul flight aren't a problem. Three rooms are adapted for guests with limited mobility. A daily damage deposit of 50,000 yen is collected at check-in, worth budgeting for. This suits a traveller who wants to be near Roppongi's galleries and Tokyo Tower without staying in a hotel that feels like a museum piece, and who likes company in the evenings rather than room service alone. It won't suit anyone chasing old-Tokyo quiet or a traditional ryokan mood, this is deliberately new, occasionally loud, and proud of it. Check-in is 14:00, check-out 12:00. Azabudai Hills will keep changing around it for a few years yet, and Janu Tokyo seems entirely comfortable being the fixed point people orient themselves by. The only hotel inside Azabudai Hills, Janu Tokyo pairs 122 rooms by Jean-Michel Gathy with eight dining spaces and a 4,000 square metre wellness centre. It suits those who want new Tokyo energy over old Tokyo hush.