The Most Famous Hotel in Tokyo Just Reopened After an Extravagant Renovation-and We Were the First to Stay

"I could feel my heart rate rising as the elevator whooshed toward the 41st floor of Tokyo's Shinjuku Park Tower, a trio of hulking granite-grey monoliths designed by the late Japanese starchitect Kenzo Tange. In a few moments, I would step into the refreshed Park Hyatt Tokyo, a landmark hotel that, at the tail end of 2025, emerged from a 19-month, top-to-bottom renovation-the most ambitious in its three-decade history."

"Opened in 1994 as the brand's first outpost in Asia, the Park Hyatt Tokyo is as much a pop culture artifact as it is a place to sleep. Immortalized on the silver screen in Sofia Coppola's moody cult flick "Lost in Translation" (which I rewatched for the umpteenth time on the flight over), the hotel, with interiors by American designer John Morford, became a portal into a particular Tokyo fantasy, a world of neon haze, Suntory Time, and off-key karaoke leaking from tinny speakers."

"That nostalgia, though, helps explain the excitement around the hotel's return. Few reopenings have generated as much anticipation-or scrutiny-as this one. "Our guests have a deep emotional connection to the hotel and many have been returning for decades," Fredrik Harfors, the hotel's general manager, tells Travel + Leisure. "We felt a strong sense of responsibility to maintain that original design spirit. Maintaining the integrity of key moments in the guest journey was essential.""

Park Hyatt Tokyo reopened at the end of 2025 after a 19-month, top-to-bottom renovation, the most ambitious in its thirty-year history. The hotel occupies three granite-grey towers in Shinjuku Park Tower designed by Kenzo Tange and originally opened in 1994 as the brand's first Asia outpost. The interiors by John Morford became culturally iconic after appearing in Lost in Translation, shaping a particular neon-soaked Tokyo fantasy. The renovation team led by Studio Jouin Manku aimed to refresh spaces while retaining the original design spirit. Hotel leadership emphasized guests' deep emotional connections and prioritized maintaining integrity of key guest moments.

Read at Travel + Leisure