The honest review of Aman Tokyo

I found it rather soulless honestly, and the food across the property was just mediocre despite the room itself being one of the most impressive I've stayed in.

I had the Panorama Suite years ago and the furnishings were top quality down to heated bathroom floors, genuinely one of the more impressive rooms I've stayed in anywhere. But something about the overall feel of the place left me cold, and I've heard the same complaint about the food from others since. It's a strange combination: the room stuns you, and then meals come and go without leaving much impression.

The design and service were both excellent, but the pyjamas felt like a small step down from what I'd expect at an Aman.

The architecture and atmosphere throughout the hotel were calm and refined, and the staff struck a good balance between professional and warm without ever feeling stiff. My only real complaint was such a minor thing, the quality of the in-room pyjamas, which felt slightly below what I've come to expect from this brand. Everything else about the stay was close to flawless and one of the more impressive hotel experiences I've had in Tokyo.

People keep saying Aman Tokyo has gone downhill, but our stay felt exceptional, with the lobby still stunning and Musashi's omakase a real highlight.

We ran the loop around the Imperial Palace every morning, a perfect five kilometers right outside the door, and the Garden View Suite views beat what we saw from Tokyo Tower after climbing six hundred stairs to get there. The first day I went out for a run, the staff handed me a hand-drawn map with directions, and the level of thought behind small touches like that stuck with me. I'd call the reports of decline exaggerated, at least based on what we experienced this trip.

We arrived hungry at 2am and the general manager personally greeted us, kept the restaurant open past closing, and let us shower before our meal was ready.

This was my third stay and each one has topped the last. The train station connects directly into the same building complex, which made the whole design feel even more impressive in person. That late arrival, with the manager bending the schedule so we could eat properly instead of ordering room service half-asleep, is the kind of thing that makes the price feel justified.

Master Chef Musashi closed his own Michelin-starred restaurant to run this counter, and after two nights in a row talking pottery with him, he gifted us handmade sake cups.

He grows his own rice and wasabi, makes his own soy sauce, and builds the omakase daily around whatever's freshest at market that morning, all at an eight-seat hinoki counter. Because I speak Japanese we got to talk with him and the staff about pottery, since he also makes the sushi plates and sake cups by hand, and he ended up gifting us two signed cups after our second dinner there. The restaurant manager offered to set up a private pottery session with him on our next visit, which felt like a genuinely thoughtful gesture rather than a scripted one.

“Master Chef Musashi is exceptional, he closed his Michelin starred restaurant in 2018 to join Aman.”in their words

The Panorama Suite views were spectacular, but service felt inconsistent, like a lot of new staff still finding their footing.

At 1,500 square feet with Imperial Garden and Tokyo Tower views, the room itself delivered, and the traditional furo soaking tub was a nice touch despite an odd view of a helicopter pad from the bathroom. The lounge is popular with locals for afternoon tea, which gives the space a lively feel. But service across the stay felt uneven, like the hotel was working through a lot of newer staff who hadn't quite settled into the standard yet.

I found the whole property distractingly sterile, missing the warmth I expect from Aman, though the rooms alone are worth the stay.

Everything, the bar, the restaurant, the lobby, sits in the exact same rectangle, which killed any sense of discovery or place that I'd hoped for. The service didn't carry the warmth I associate with the brand elsewhere. That said, the rooms themselves are spectacular, and honestly they're the only reason I'd book it again.

I finally paid the four figures a night to see if the hype was real, and it's good, but not top-three-in-Tokyo good once you factor in value.

The car lobby staff line up and bow as you drive off, which is a nice touch, but check-in was rockier since they lost my partner's name and I had to point out the reservation was under mine. The room was large but nothing special for the price, no view beyond office towers and construction, and the bathroom outshined everything else. Breakfast was a slow ordeal: ten minutes waiting at an empty front desk, then another wait to be seated, then more waiting for food that turned out to just be fine, not memorable.

Everything felt perfect from check-in through room service, and the sushi class with Master Chef Musashi was the highlight of the whole trip.

Our room looked out over the Imperial Gardens, which made the whole stay feel special, and the pool has some of the best city views I've seen from a hotel. The sushi-making class with Musashi was patient and detailed, and he clearly loves teaching the craft. Manager Go and our translator Reiko made the lesson personal and comfortable, and I left thinking about that afternoon more than anything else on the trip.

The soaring reception design makes up for a lot, but the weak English from staff and the rigid meal-hour rules surprised me at this price point.

The reception level has impossibly high ceilings and gives you a genuine feeling of escaping the city outside, and I could happily live in my suite for the space and light alone. What surprised me was how often I hit a language barrier with staff on the phone, since Aman's more remote properties usually have fully fluent teams. The dining hours were also strict: miss the cutoff at one restaurant and you're locked out entirely, even though the restaurants sit right next to each other sharing one kitchen.

This stay probably ruined future hotel stays for me. I don't think you can do much better than that lobby and that bathroom.

The lobby is enormous with views over the whole city, and the light music playing made it feel like floating on a cloud. My bathroom had a view over Tokyo while I showered, which felt surreal. Every staff member I encountered used my name without me ever giving it twice, and someone escorted me all the way to Tokyo Station with my luggage and tickets before I left.

“The lobby is breathtaking.”in their words

I stayed a week in December and came away thinking you're really paying for the service and the room, not for the food or the extras.

The room I was upgraded to, a Garden View Suite, was extremely spacious with heated bathroom floors and one of the better beds I've slept on in Japan, though some of the fixtures felt a bit dated for a hotel this expensive. Housekeeping kept the minibar and snacks stocked well, though alcohol was still paywalled separately. If you value the room most, cheaper options in the city offer a stronger value equation, but if the service experience matters most to you, this delivers.

The room itself was spectacular and among the largest in Tokyo, but the concierge mishandled our reservation and I ended up messaging a chef directly online.

I stayed over a week for work and the room, with its skyline views and thoughtful seating area, was genuinely spectacular. The breakfast team noticed I liked mango and started adding a plate of it to my meal every morning without being asked, which felt like real Aman-style attention. But the concierge got a reservation date wrong and couldn't secure the sushi spots I wanted, so I ended up booking through an outside service and contacting a chef myself, which felt like a serious miss at this price.