In Tokyo there is a hotel where you can live all the experiences of Japan without ever having to leave.
You can sleep in a traditional ryokan, in the Hello Kitty themed room, in the star suite - where, among others, Muhammad Ali also stayed - and where there is a hotel within the same hotel.
This is Keio Plaza, the first skyscraper built in Tokyo in 1971 as well as the first hotel created inside a skyscraper, located in the busy Shinjuku district. With its 178 meters, for some years it was also the tallest building in Japan.
In the 1984 film "The Return of Godzilla", the Keio Plaza hotel was destroyed by the terrible king of monsters who also demolished the entire Shinjuku district, before ending up devoured by the mouth of a volcano. And for Tokyo this hotel is a true icon.
Among its 47 floors is a microcosm: 1450 rooms, 13 restaurants, shops, bars, an art gallery, a nursery, a room for tea ceremony, a room for kimono ritual, a chapel where weddings are celebrated, a pastry shop, the spa, the beauty center and the reflexology room as well as the gym and the infinity pool.
Even if you are in a super modern building and in a business area, you can have the experience of sleeping in a traditional japanese ryokan. In fact, once you walk through the door of some of the rooms, you are projected into another century. It seems that this type of hotel dates back to the 17th century and its style has not changed since then. The ryokan still maintains all the traditional elements such as the tatami covered with straw on which the bed is spread at night futon –a mattress that serves as a bed–, the internal finishes are made of wood, the sliding doors are covered in paper and there is an area dedicated to the tea ceremony. The ryokan is basically a room without furniture or beds, but equipped with tokonoma, a niche in which sculptures or compositions are displayed ikebana. In ryokans the bathroom is usually outside the room and is shared between different guests, while in the case of Keio the bathroom is completely internal. That's the beauty of having a ryokan in a hotel.
One of the most famous characters originating from Japan is Hello Kitty. The Japanese are crazy about this. And they are not the only ones. In the hotel there are some Hello Kitty themed rooms – which are always sold out! – where it seems that we are projected directly to the Sanrio factory. From the wallpaper to the rug, from the headboard to the desk, from the blankets to the pillows, from the complimentary slippers to the bathroom products to the water bottle and the hair dryer, absolutely everything is represented with the famous cat. of the rose lean above the ear. Naturally, in the hotel boutique you can find all kinds of merchandising to purchase, since you can't take anything out of the room.
From the 70s to the present, many VIPs have stayed at this emblematic hotel (for privacy reasons they cannot be mentioned). But he was dedicated to one of them. The most beautiful penthouse in the hotel. where you can still stay: Muhammad Ali. Since the times of American Apulia, the furniture of the mega suite has not changed and its charm lies precisely in this particularity.
A hotel with 1450 rooms, doubles and quadruples, can get a bit chaotic, especially in the morning at breakfast time. For those who want to feel like they are in a small boutique hotel there is also a hotel within the hotel, the first big, with a dedicated reception, a private breakfast room, a lounge where you can have tea every day from 14 to 16 p.m. or an aperitif from 17 to 19 p.m., enjoying a crazy view of Tokyo from the 45th floor of the skyscraper surrounded by huge windows that overlook Mount Fuji. And in a deaf and super silent environment. The rooms are very modern, with all the comforts and even more: each guest has one at their disposal. smartphone to take with you to make calls or surf the Internet without having to use roaming.
Anyone staying elsewhere in Tokyo should make a stop at Keio Plaza because it is a true icon of the city, rich in history and tradition. It is worth going for a cocktail or dinner at the Aurora restaurant, on the top floor of Tokyo's oldest skyscraper, to admire infinity. horizon of the most populated city in the world.
