The Westin Sendai

The Westin Sendai is the city's standout luxury hotel, set inside Sendai Trust City Plaza — the tallest building in Sendai at 37 floors — with a combined review score around 9.0/10. From Sendai Station's West Exit, it's a 9-minute walk (700 metres) through the underground Pedeway, so you never face the winter snow. From Tokyo, the Tohoku Shinkansen Hayabusa gets you here in about 1 hour 31 minutes for $78. The ground-floor lobby has an 8-metre ceiling, polished grey marble floors, and fresh flowers arranged into a triangle shaped after Date Masamune's helmet.

Rooms and decor

Reviewers often book the 40-sqm Deluxe King on the 35th floor at $156, and the Westin twist is that every room here starts from the 27th floor up. The room people try has a 4-metre-wide window facing east, with the Pacific Ocean as a flat horizon line, the wide spread of Sendai below, and Matsushima Bay off to the northeast in the distance. The Heavenly Bed is Westin's signature — a 35-cm pillow-top mattress soft in three layers, 300-thread-count cotton sheets, four down pillows, a body pillow, and a thick duvet (95% white duck down). The bathroom is 12 sqm of Carrara marble with a Heavenly Shower 30-cm rain head, a deep tub, a double vanity, White Tea & Aloe bath products, and a Toto Washlet with a heated seat. The room stays dead quiet even in the city centre.

Food and amenities

The first evening, head to Symphony Restaurant on the 26th floor — an international buffet with Pacific Ocean views at $51 for dinner, with chefs cooking on the spot: Sendai gyutan (grilled beef tongue) as the signature dish, Akashi-tai sushi, Italian pasta, roast beef, dim sum, and 30+ desserts including a Mt. Fuji-shaped cake and local Sendai zunda mochi. A live jazz pianist plays. Breakfast the next morning is $27, with Eggs Benedict, Sendai miso, and freshly squeezed juice. After breakfast, stop by Heavenly Spa by Westin on the 8th floor — a 90-minute Hot Stone Massage runs $122, using British Aromatherapy Associates oils, with very skilled therapists to work out the stiffness from the Shinkansen ride.

Location and getting there

The next day, take the Loople Sendai Bus at $1.80 a ride ($4.30 for an unlimited day pass) to Sendai Castle (Aoba-jo), set on a 130-metre hill. The old fortress is down to its stone walls now, plus a statue of Date Masamune — the lord who founded Sendai in the Edo era — on horseback, wearing his famous crescent-moon helmet. The view from the hill takes in all of Sendai and the Pacific Ocean to the east; entry is free (the museum alone is $4.80). Follow it with Zuihoden Mausoleum, Date Masamune's tomb, richly finished in carved wood and gold leaf, at $3.90. In the afternoon, head back to Sendai Station for gyutan at Tasuke, the original grilled-beef-tongue spot going since 1948 — the set is $17, with 8-mm-thick tongue grilled over charcoal, tongue soup, rice, and tororo. Excellent.

Things to know before booking

This is the highest priced hotel in the Sendai group, opening from $149 a night and running up to $629 for the top rooms. The 9-minute walk from Sendai Station is fine on foot but tough with heavy luggage — a taxi is about $5.40. And breakfast at $27 and up is steep, so the cheaper $26 set lunch at Symphony is the better-value way to eat with the same 26th-floor view.

Our take

The Westin Sendai is the best hotel in the city for couples and business travelers — rooms from the 27th floor with a panorama every time, the Heavenly Bed, the 26th-floor Symphony buffet, the Heavenly Spa, and Marriott Bonvoy. The 9.0/10 from 3,200+ reviews backs it up, and at $149 and up it earns its place as Marriott's Tohoku flagship. It opens our list as the pick for special occasions and for trips built around Sendai, Matsushima, and Mt. Zao.