Park Hyatt, Tokyo
Disclaimer: As of the time of this writing, the hotel is closed for renovations until October 2025. MEGA BUMMER.
Staying at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo was a MAJOR bucket list item for me. This is where “Lost in Translation” was filmed! While I had been to the New York Bar on the top floor a couple times for drinks, I had never gotten a chance to swim in the ICONIC indoor pool here and the only way into the pool was via a hotel stay. A room was going for around $900-1,000 per night BUT only 30,000 points on Hyatt’s website. Luckily Hyatt is a Chase Ultimate Rewards hotel partner, so I transferred the 30K points and effectively got the room for half price (or FREE, if you’re into girl math). Shameless plug: use my referral link to earn up to 75K Ultimate Rewards points by signing up for a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card.
While the rooms hadn’t been updated since the hotel’s opening in 1994, they were still pretty incredible and many of them (including ours) had views facing Mt. Fuji. Please note - Mt. Fuji can only be seen on a CLEAR DAY. This tidbit was comically repeated to us about 2349387x during our stay.
We checked into our room and marveled at the ridiculously oversized bed and cloudy view of Mt. Fuji. The room came with a Nespresso machine (my favorite hotel amenity) so I pounded a couple coffees and then went off to explore the rest of the hotel.
We went to the New York Bar on the top floor for dinner. They have live jazz with a singer and incredible views of the city. Reservations are required for dinner, but there’s also a bar area that accepts walk-ins. If you’re on a budget (like I usually am), you can sit for free at the bar and then leave before the music starts at 6:30pm to avoid the 2,750 YEN cover charge. As for the restaurant, the food was good, but not incredible, but the dinner was worth it just for the views.
The next morning, I went to the iconic indoor swimming pool (pictured at the top of the page). It was a VISUAL TREAT so you know I had to take a sneaky picture! The gym is spread across both sides of the pool, though I didn’t bother using it (SHOCKER). I hadn’t swum laps since I was about 10 but they give you goggles and a swim cap, so how could I not? After rinsing off beforehand, I swam for about 10 minutes and didn’t even drown. The light came through the glass atrium ceiling into the pool in the most epic way and it was just a total core memory moment for me. I’m really happy I was able to check that off my bucket list because it lived up to my expectations!
I’m excited to see what the hotel will be like after the 1.5 year renovation and hopeful that it will retain some of its “Lost In Translation” vibes. I’m almost thankful the property will be closed for so long because it gives me a chance to save up enough points/ cash to stay here again.
See my Tokyo post for my recommendations on other things to do and places to see in Tokyo.
