Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier

The Mitsui Garden Hotel in Ginza is in an unremarkable high-rise building of stone, steel, and green glass. But guests check in on the 16th floor, stepping into a cool, sleek lobby with sweeping views of the city. The reception desk is low and black, very minimalist, with small cubes for sitting. Gray rectangular couches and Saarinen side tables provide seating areas near the immense windows. Off the lobby is an elegant niche with four computers for the use of guests, also by a large window, on a high-top table with cream leather chairs. Sky, the hotel's restaurant on the 16th floor, delivers drama from its immense views. Its decor, including black leather armchairs and banquettes and striated wood tables, is very spare. The Karin, a lounge and bar also on the 16th floor, has low, sexy lighting and a bar counter made of a 600-year-old Chinese quince. In the evenings, the city twinkles behind a curtain of glass. It's an international crowd here, some on business, some just shopping in the hotel's posh neighborhood.

Ginza is one of Tokyo's silk stocking districts, where upscale shops like Louis Vuitton are interspersed with elegant restaurants, yet the area is also replete with public transportation options. It's a six-minute walk to the Shinbashi Station. Tokyo Central Station is an eight-minute drive or a 12-minute train ride; it takes about 25 minutes to walk there. To reach the Rainbow Bridge, visible from the hotel, it's a 12-minute drive or 40-minute train ride. Tokyo Skytree, the highest point in the city, is a 15-minute drive or 25-minute train ride. Tokyo Imperial Palace is a 10-minute drive or 30-minute train ride. The Odaipa Bay is a 15-minute drive or a 36-minute train ride. The center of Japan's youth culture, the Harajuku district, is a 14-minute drive or a 46-minute train ride. To reach the Narita International Airport, it's an hour drive or a 90-minute train ride. A bus stops in front of the hotel for airport transfers, for a fee. 

Rooms at the Mitsui Garden Hotel are on the small side. In some rooms, there isn't much space between the foot of the bed and the desk and counter opposite it. Yet, seasoned travelers to Japan claim these rooms are more generous than the typical hotel. For one, the views from the large windows add breadth to the space. Depending on the room, guests can take in sights such as the Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Skytree, and Gate Bridge. The rooms were redecorated in 2013 with gray patterned carpets, white linens, and plum draperies and throws. Streamlined wooden furnishings are light ash. There are safes, flat-screen TVs, mini-fridges, some bar snacks (for a fee), and coffee/tea facilities; some rooms have espresso machines and wine glasses and corkscrews. The hotel provides a comprehensive array of bath amenities including toothpaste, makeup remover, razors, shower caps, and foldable slippers. Most rooms are non-smoking but guests should be aware that if the hotel runs out of them, staff will spray air freshener to clean a smoking room. Pillows are "Lofty" brand, made by a Tokyo company, and mattresses are Serta, but the hotel entices guests to choose more expensive rooms by offering mattresses that promise more comfort on the higher floors. On the 25th floor, where the biggest, most expensive rooms are, there is, fittingly, a cloud-like mattress in each room. Wi-Fi is free. Travelers should note the hotel does not allow guests in the rooms. Children six and under can sleep in the same bed as parents, and a limited number of baby cots are available.

Guests at this hotel can begin their day with breakfast in Sky, the hotel's restaurant on the 16th floor, for a fee. (The hotel does offer some packages with free breakfasts, however.) Lunch, with pastry buffet, and a la carte dinner are also available in Sky. The hotel's lounge, Karin, serves after-lunch drinks, coffee, and snacks, and its bar is open until 2 a.m. Live performances take place there too, typically jazz. There is however, no room service. Guests who are hungry in between can try the vending machines located on each floor next to the ice machines. The hotel provides wheelchairs free of charge to guests, and service and guide dogs are allowed, but not pets. Wi-Fi is free throughout the hotel, and there are four computers for guests' use. There are also a fax and a copier; the first 10 pages of printing are free. The front desk is staffed 24 hours and there is luggage storage. A variety of other services are available for an additional fee including in-room massage; laundry, dry cleaning, and pants pressing; bus service to and from the airport; on-site hotel parking (based on space); and nearby parking as well.