Hotel Metropolitan Sendai

Rooms and decor

What sets Hotel Metropolitan Sendai apart is a location that is essentially fused to Sendai Station — from the West Exit it's about a 1-minute walk (50 metres) inside the building to the lobby, with no sun, snow or rain in between. Reviewers report many people book the Deluxe Twin on the 14th floor at 22 sqm for ¥15,200 (about $103). It's a modern, minimal room in beige, brown and cream, with two 110×200 twin beds, two feather pillows, and 200-thread cotton sheets. The bathroom has a Toto Washlet with a heated seat and auto-flush, and the toiletries are Mikimoto with a sakura scent. There's a mini-bar fridge with two free bottles of water, a Nespresso machine with four free capsules, free 100 Mbps Wi-Fi that holds steady, and a 2-metre window facing east over the city — you can pick out the Pacific Ocean in the distance and watch Aoba-dori light up at night.

Food and amenities

There are three restaurants in the building. Restaurant Serenity on the 4th floor runs an international buffet — dinner is ¥3,800 (about $26) and lays out Sendai gyutan (the grilled beef-tongue signature), sushi, tempura, roast beef, zunda mochi (a local edamame sweet), Italian pasta and 20-plus desserts, in a big 200-seat room where kids have space to move. Breakfast the next morning is ¥2,800 (about $19) with Eggs Benedict, Sendai miso, grilled fish and fresh-squeezed juice. For a bigger night, Celeste — the French room up on the 17th floor — does a set dinner at ¥9,000 a head (about $61) with foie gras, Sendai Black Wagyu A5 and chocolate soufflé, served against a 360-degree panorama of the city.

Location and getting there

From Tokyo you ride the Tohoku Shinkansen Hayabusa for about 1 hour 31 minutes at ¥11,410 (around $78), and you arrive a 1-minute walk from your room. That makes the hotel an ideal Tohoku base. Step out to Sendai Station, take the JR Senseki Line 30 minutes for ¥420 (about $3) to Matsushima-Kaigan Station, and you're at Matsushima Bay — one of Japan's three classic scenic views, alongside Miyajima and Amanohashidate — where 260 pine-covered islands scatter across the water. A 50-minute sightseeing boat runs ¥1,500 (about $10) past islands like Nio-jima and Senjojima. In the afternoon you can swing the other way on the JR Senzan Line, 50 minutes for ¥860 (about $6), to Yamadera — a 1,000-step mountain temple where Risshakuji sits and Matsuo Basho wrote his haiku.

Things to know before booking

The starting rooms are small at 18 sqm — standard for the Metropolitan brand in Japan, so set expectations if you want room to spread out. Rates climb steeply around the Tanabata festival in August and the Pageant of Starlight in December, which is exactly when you'd most want to be here, so lock in dates early. And breakfast is not included: the buffet is ¥2,800, about $19 a head, which is worth knowing before you compare nightly prices against hotels that bundle it in.

Our take

Hotel Metropolitan Sendai is the best choice for Shinkansen travelers running a Tohoku trip — a 1-minute walk from Sendai Station, the JR-East brand behind it, three restaurants, and 295 rooms in plenty of layouts. The 8.7/10 from 4,800+ reviews backs up the quality, and at around $100 a night it's strong value next to the Westin at roughly $150+. Good for business trips, Tohoku families and JR-East members — our #3 pick to base a Sendai trip from.