Opened in May, the Palace is Tokyo's newest luxury hotel, although it stands on the site of two previous establishments: Hotel Teito (1947) and the original Palace Hotel (1961).
Well, it's good enough for the Japanese emperor, who has his digs next door. The Palace Hotel even shares his moat and looks over the Imperial Palace gardens, a 3.5-square-kilometre green space in the heart of the city.
There are giant koi carp and we saw a couple of turtles. Don't say anything, but we stole some sourdough bread from the hotel's breakfast buffet and fed them. Such things are frowned upon in Japan.
They certainly are - and there are 10 of them (including bars). French restaurant Crown is a collaboration with Patrick Henriroux of La Pyramide in France. This and Japanese restaurant Wadakura (below left) have a good chance of picking up Michelin stars. Afternoon tea is served downstairs in the Palace Lounge, where kimono-clad waitresses serve a jyubako (tiered lacquerware box) full of dainty cakes and offer up to 25 varieties of tea. Tokyo socialites seem to approve.
You'll find all the comforts and mod-cons you'd expect in a brand new US$1.2 billion hotel. The rooms are spacious by Japanese standards and elegant, rather than funky, with moss green carpets, ink block prints and grass-weave wallpaper. There are 278 guestrooms and 12 suites and more than half feature open terraces and balconies, which is a nice touch, although breathing in the Tokyo air is not to be recommended (unless you've flown in from Hong Kong, in which case you'll probably notice an improvement). Most rooms have open-style bathrooms with separate soaking tubs, in which you can relax while gazing out at the skyline. And you'll be wanting to stash the Anne Semonin toiletries in your luggage. The Imabari bath towels, too.