Tokyo for luxury travelers
Kimpton SHINJUKU TOKYO by IHG: Bar, yoga, and cafe in a compact Shinjuku lifestyle property. Tokyo has 26 luxury-tier hotels in the Trip.com pool from US$209 a night. Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo Premier Grand: Outdoor pool with executive lounge and floor near the Toei Oedo Line.
Tokyo for luxury travelers, in numbers
- Picks on this page
- 12 places across 1 lists, led by Kimpton SHINJUKU TOKYO by IHG, Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo Premier Grand, Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel, A Pan Pacific Partner Hotel
- luxury-tier hotels
- 26 in the Trip.com poolfrom US$209 a night
Questions luxury travelers ask about Tokyo
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Where to stay
Shinjuku west side for a first trip: you're on top of the busiest train station in the world, which means every line in Tokyo connects here with one transfer or fewer. Budget ¥12,000–25,000 ($75–157) for a clean business hotel. Asakusa if you want temple bells at dawn and ¥6,000 ($38) guesthouses, but the last subway leaves around midnight.
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Must-see
Senso-ji in Asakusa, before 7am. Tokyo's oldest temple, founded in 645 AD, opens at dawn with no ticket and no reservation. At that hour, sandalwood incense drifts across near-empty courtyards and the only sound is pigeons settling on wet flagstones. The compound is a 3-minute walk from Asakusa Station on the Ginza Line.
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Food culture
Tokyo's food culture runs on precision and timing. Lunch sets between 11:30 and 1:30 deliver ¥1,000 meals from kitchens that charge triple at dinner. Ramen, sushi, yakitori, and tonkatsu each have dedicated specialists: single-dish restaurants where the cook has done one thing for decades. Convenience stores serve better grab-and-go food than most sit-down restaurants elsewhere. Skip the tourist zones; eat where the train lines end.
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Cultural etiquette
The single rule Tokyo visitors break most: sticking chopsticks upright in rice. It mimics a Buddhist funeral offering and will freeze the room. Beyond that, don't tip (staff find it confusing), bow instead of shaking hands, keep your phone on silent on trains, and remove shoes whenever you see a genkan entryway.
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Airport to city
From Narita, take the Narita Express (N'EX) to Tokyo Station or Shinjuku: 3,250 JPY ($20), about 55 minutes, reserved seats, luggage racks, zero confusion. Runs 7am to 9:45pm. From Haneda, the Keikyu Line to Shinagawa costs 300 JPY ($2) and takes 11 minutes. Both airports have clear English signage throughout.
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