Copyright: Aske Munck
Imagine yourself in the middle of Tokyo sitting stark naked in front of a panorama window.
Certainly not conducive to relaxation for most people. But add 37 storeys, a sauna and a stunning view over the city with Mount Fuji in the background and there you go: you instantly let yourself go, and the tensions evaporate like droplets of water in the overheated eucalyptus steam room on the 37th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Tokyo – without a doubt the city’s top five star luxury temple, occupying the nine uppermost storeys of starchitect Cesar Pelli’s imposing but lonely Mutsui Tower skyscraper in Nihonbashi, Tokyo’s business district.
So here I am, sweating away in the sauna, whilst enjoying the sparkling display of lights from the ever churning metropolis below that seems light years away from up here.
Copyright: Aske Munck
Apart from me, there’s almost nobody here. Only a Japanese businessman, idling in one of the huge Jacuzzis facing up to a gigantic window, giving the impression that you’re floating in a stream of water splashing unto the street a couple of hundred metres below.
Well, actually there could probably be loads of people around, as the über classy five star spa takes up an entire floor with several private spa suites and hot tubs, individual massage rooms, saunas, steam rooms and jacuzzis (non guests can also access the spa).
Photo: The Other View
After an hour long ‘heat and water therapy’ that has transformed me from sooty to soothed, I return to the room – well, 60 square metre apartment to be precise – to change for supper.
Mount Fuji stays with me, however. Because one of the absolute advantages of dwelling at this top notch address is that all the rooms come with a view, no matter the price tag (even the men’s restrooms in the top floor foyer has one).
Photo: Shamam
We marvel at the sight of the sun setting behind the legendary mountain as we contemplate whether to go out for dinner or staying in – in this case meaning having to choose from one of the hotel’s three Michelin awarded in-house restaurants (all with stunning views again, of course) or ordering room service while enjoying a movie on the big ass 45 inch HD-flat screen (with DVD), or just reading a book while lounging on the couch or the bed’s Egyptian cotton linen, listening to our own I-pod that easily plugs into the room’s own sound system.
Photo: Sunday Driver
Spoilt for choice we run into the only real problem when staying at the Mandarin Oriental in such a cool city as Tokyo: you never really feel like leaving the hotel. Ever.
MANDARIN ORIENTAL TOKYO, 2-1-1 Nihonbashi Muromachi, Tokyo Chuo-ku.
