#11 in Top 20 Hotels in Tokyo 2026 · ★★★★★
Palace Hotel Tokyo
Peninsula's quieter neighbour, Marunouchi address, Palace Pool, palace-moat balcony rooms.
Peninsula's quieter neighbour, Marunouchi address, Palace Pool, palace-moat balcony rooms.
"The 2012 reopening adjacent to the Imperial Palace moat, Mitsubishi Estate ownership, Wadakura restaurant at one Michelin star."
Why this rank, Palace Hotel Tokyo reopened in May 2012 after a four-year, JPY 100 billion full rebuild of the 1961 original on the same Imperial Palace moat site. The Mitsubishi Estate-owned property is the only Tokyo Five-Star with direct moat frontage - 290 rooms and 28 suites, with Palace-facing rooms commanding direct views across the Wadakura Moat. The Marunouchi location places the property at Tokyo's central business district heart. Restaurant: Wadakura (Japanese) holds one Michelin star and runs the kaiseki program; Crown (French rooftop) and Grand Kitchen (international) complete the F&B program. The Royal Bar on the lobby level is the historic cocktail room - the bar program continues from the original 1961 Palace Hotel. evian SPA TOKYO (the brand's only standalone urban location) across 1,500 sq m operates the property's wellness program. The Imperial Suite at 234 sq m is the flagship. Best for business in Marunouchi, family multi-room stays, and visitors who want the Imperial Palace as the central daily reference.
Best room: Imperial Suite - 234 sq m, direct Imperial Palace moat view.
"Peninsula's quieter neighbour, Marunouchi address, Palace Pool, palace-moat balcony rooms."
Palace Hotel Tokyo is the solo-retreat pick for a traveller who wants a daily routine built around the Imperial Palace, and the quieter, Japanese-owned alternative to the international-brand palace hotels in central Tokyo. The original Palace Hotel opened in 1961 directly opposite the Imperial Palace and was rebuilt entirely between 2009 and 2012 in a new tower. Around 284 rooms; the upper Palace-side rooms have private balconies overlooking the Imperial Palace moat, a rarity in the city. The position is the asset: the moat-side rooms look onto the 5km running circuit around the Imperial Palace, the most popular jogging loop in central Tokyo, and the East Gardens are a minute's walk from the lobby. Esterre, the Ducasse French restaurant, holds one Michelin star; Wadakura is the kaiseki room for a quiet solo dinner; the Palace Lounge runs the afternoon-tea service. Best for a solo retreat where the moat-side balcony, the daily 5km circuit, the East Gardens, and a Japanese-owned operating standard are the explicit point of the trip.
Premier Balcony Room (Palace-moat-side with private balcony) or Imperial Suite (the multi-room flagship).
Run the 5km Imperial Palace circuit at 7am on day two, exit the hotel, turn right, the loop is one block north. The moat-side balcony at sunset is the quiet end to the day. Book Wadakura ahead for a kaiseki solo dinner.
Palace Hotel Tokyo sits within our Top 20 Hotels in Tokyo list, where it ranks #11. It scored an aggregate 9.7/10 across our three editorial criteria, and the Imperial Palace position above is what earns it the place. For alternatives in the same Marunouchi-and-Imperial-Palace district, see the sibling entries below.
If the dates are locked in, secure the room around the three-month mark. Rooms with the coveted orientation are claimed first, while popular-month availability runs out months in advance. Top-category rooms with private pools or terraces, the reason this hotel ranks here, are routinely the first gone.
Editorial · #11 on the Top 20 Tokyo Hotels 2026 list
Palace Hotel Tokyo ranks #11 because the 2012 reopening produced one of the few Tokyo five-stars with direct Imperial Palace moat frontage. On the Mitsubishi Estate's Marunouchi site, where the original 1961 Palace Hotel stood, it delivers a Marunouchi-corridor stay calibrated explicitly around the Imperial Palace view.
For Tokyo visitors, Palace Hotel Tokyo is the address for stays where the Imperial Palace as a daily backdrop is the point of the trip. Esterre, the Ducasse French restaurant, holds one Michelin star; Wadakura runs the kaiseki programme and Crown the long-running sixth-floor French room. The evian SPA TOKYO is the brand's only standalone urban location. The Marunouchi address sits next to the Otemachi and Marunouchi business towers immediately north and east. The Imperial Suite faces the moat directly.
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