Yokohama Royal Park Hotel

Rooms and decor

The Premier Mt. Fuji View room on floor 60 runs about $286 a night and measures 38 sqm, with floor-to-ceiling windows facing west. On a clear winter morning Mt. Fuji sits right on the horizon — a roughly 60% chance from November to February. The room reads cream-and-brown and modern, renovated in 2018, with a King bed (200x200 cm) on a Simmons mattress. The 7 sqm marble bathroom has a jacuzzi, a rain shower, a double vanity and POLA Japan toiletries, while an iPad runs the lights, curtains and air-con. Housekeeping comes twice a day.

Food and amenities

Dinner at Sirius on floor 70 is the highest hotel restaurant in Yokohama, and reviews say to book two weeks ahead for a bay-side window table. The dinner buffet costs about $82 a head and runs to 70+ international dishes — sushi made to order, roast beef carved on the spot, Peking duck, pan-seared foie gras, pasta cooked in front of you and around 20 desserts. What carries the night is the 360-degree view: Cosmo Clock 21, the Yokohama Bay Bridge, the Red Brick warehouses, Pacifico and Sankeien Garden, with Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Skytree and Mt. Fuji on clear nights. Live piano plays classics across the 2.5-hour meal. Back on floor 5, the 20-metre indoor pool stays at 28C, is free for guests and opens 06:00-22:00, with a sauna and jacuzzi.

Location and getting there

The hotel crowns Yokohama Landmark Tower, the tallest building in the city. From Minato Mirai Station you walk underground through the Mark Is and Queen's Square malls and reach the entrance in about 3 minutes without stepping outside. The hotel lifts are separate from the office lifts and reach floor 52 in about 30 seconds — Japan's fastest at 750 m/min. Guests keep mentioning the high corridor with big windows that frame Yokohama on every side. Overall it scores around 8.9/10.

Things to know before booking

Reaching ground level means a 30-40 second lift ride, so allow extra time at check-out. On rainy or foggy days you lose the view and the rooms can sit inside the clouds. And the Mt. Fuji-view rooms cost about 20% more than the bay-view ones, so decide whether the chance of Fuji is worth the premium.

Our take

The Yokohama Royal Park Hotel is the best sky hotel in the city — every room on floors 52-67 of the 296-metre Landmark Tower, plus Sirius on floor 70, the Sky Garden on floor 69 and Japan's fastest lift. It scores 8.9/10 from 558+ reviews, and at $245 and up it runs a touch cheaper than the InterContinental while sitting higher. Best for couples, honeymooners and first-time visitors who want a Mt. Fuji view and Yokohama from a height.