The 8 Best Hotel Spas in Tokyo, From Sky-High Massage Rooms to Rooftop Onsens

With beautiful views overlooking Tokyo’s Imperial Palace gardens, and an enviable location close to Ginza and Tokyo stations, The Peninsula Tokyo delivers on the brand’s promise: to position its visitors at the cross-section of business and leisure. The spa menu runs deep, even offering tailored treatments for men, including a standalone gentlemen’s facial or a facial-massage combo that targets muscles and adrenal fatigue. I opted for a shiatsu massage from the legendary Manuba, a highly regarded masseur who has been with the property since its 2007 opening. (Ask him how difficult it is to get a shiatsu certification in Japan.)

In addition to nine treatment rooms and facials that use the ultraluxe products from Margy’s Monte Carlo, guests can enjoy a heated 20-meter lap pool and Jacuzzi at their leisure. The fitness centre is stuffed with Technogym equipment, and the on-site clinic offers anti-ageing and medical screenings. And your personal bathroom sustains the luxuriation, with heated floors, onsen-inspired tubs, plus expansive city views. The other hotel amenities include eight restaurants (Michelin-starred spots among them), which might be just as good as that massage I got.

The Peninsula Tokyo

Business or pleasure—both are the perfect excuse for Four Seasons Tokyo Otemachi. But during my stay, I kept thinking of how perfectly this property was suited for a work trip. Convenience kept coming to mind, from its position above Otemachi Station (we rolled right up the escalators into the ground floor reception), not to mention its much-decorated Virtù bar, where I will forever suggest post-work cocktails on future visits.

And in terms of wellness, the facilities felt precisely tailored to a fast-paced lifestyle. There’s the expansive gym where you won’t be waiting for someone else to finish their reps before you get in yours. In the spa, I suggest one of the gentlemen’s treatments (in 60, 90, and 120-minute intervals) for decompression after travel or after a long day of meetings. Their Valmont skincare treatments, personal trainers, and private yoga sessions round out an extensive wellness selection.

Hat tip to Mr. & Mrs. Smith for getting Janu on my radar; it’s Aman Group’s first of many Janu properties, with the aim of providing a more entertaining and dynamic environment compared to their signature Aman resorts. And Janu Tokyo delivers on that, from its eclectic restaurants to the buzzy Azabudai Hills shopping complex that houses the property.

But its best feature is the wellness area—Tokyo’s largest hotel wellness facility, in fact, at nearly 45,000 square feet. It has a 25-meter lap pool, martial arts rings, spin studios, golf simulators, gendered spa facilities, a stacked fitness area, and seven treatment rooms. And that signature massage? The whole world needs to experience the state of peace and relaxation it induces. If this facility is a sign of things to come for the Janu brand (the next property will launch in Saudi Arabia), then colour me very interested in tracking their gains.

Of all the properties on this list, Mandarin Oriental Tokyo is my only repeat stay to date, though this was my first time visiting its spa. It won’t be my last, either. You know that feeling when you see a restaurant menu with way too many good options? How do you pick just one? That’s the feeling of choosing something from Mandarin Oriental Tokyo’s spa—they cover hands, feet, facials, dry massage, oil treatments, body scrubs, power naps and more. I’d even suggest you let their team choose a solution for you, based on the assessment.

I got an outstanding “Kiatsu” treatment that combines shiatsu and Thai methods, following a soak in their water lounge areas and a reset in their skyline-view sauna. You can even book a stay based entirely around a wellness agenda, from sleep support to holistic centring. I have to give a shout-out to their world-class dining options too, from the playful and inventive Tapas Molecular Bar, to Cantonese and French fine dining, to the exclusive Pizza Bar for Tokyo’s best slice.

As if Bulgari wasn’t already a draw, here’s another luxury name to lure you in: Augustinus Bader. The spa at this luxurious hotel offers the exclusive 90-minute Augustinus Bader-Bulgari facial treatment that combines the skin care brand’s products with customised fascia and Jade Gua Sha massage techniques. (The result: stimulated cell rejuvenation and elevated facial contours). It concludes with an aromatic scalp massage using Augustinus Bader’s coveted hair oil, resulting in an immediately radiant, divinely rejuvenated complexion.

This shoes-off Ryokan-style hotel is the starkest contrast of the list; you’ll find numerous immersive and interactive Hoshinoya properties across Japan, but none like this Tokyo flagship. Its selection of traditional experiences includes everything from a tea ceremony, swordplay, Edo-Mae sushi and Nippon fine dining, to dry-massage treatments. Hoshinoya is the perfect way to experience Japanese traditions in a more modern setting. But best of all is their rooftop gendered onsens—perfect for stargazing in the buff.

Best Reprieve: Conrad Tokyo

I called Conrad Seoul the best overall spa in South Korea for its thoughtful menu and expansive facilities. Conrad Tokyo matches its Korean brethren, and I can’t say I have ever felt so cared for: After our Mizuki Spa massages rolled us flat like pizza dough, and long after our pre-massage cypress-tub plunge (overlooking a lit-up Ginza), we vegetated on cloud nine in the most divine recovery room—tucked in with our towels like two humbled burritos, looking like we just woke up from a winter’s hibernation as we nibbled on nuts and dried fruits and sipped our tea.

The facilities are as impressive as you’d hope: personalised Jacuzzi pods, an 82-foot lap pool, Technogym equipment, pilates and aerobics studios, wet and dry saunas… the list goes on. This was the final stop on our two-month stay across Japan and Korea, and it felt like the most appropriate and restful punctuation.

Conrad Tokyo

Yeah, there are plenty of short-range trips you can take from Tokyo for a wellness retreat; it seems like the majority heads south to onsen-dense Fuji/Kawaguchiko and Hakone. But please, consider a northern jaunt instead, to Nikko specifically. To Ritz-Carlton Nikko, even more specifically. Here is an escape whose offerings change with the season; after a 2-hour ride on the Shinkansen bullet train, you’ll grab a Ritz-Carlton chauffeur to navigate the single-lane, winding ride uphill to the property. There you’ll get a reward: An expansive view over Lake Chuzenji; we got it in snowy, cosy winter (with monkeys and deer mingling in the foreground); they say it’s somehow even more beautiful in summer and fall.

This is the antithesis of chaotic Tokyo, too: You can soak in their gendered spas with outdoor onsens—what a treat, at 10pm in the height of winter—or partake in any number of wellness activities offsite. We opted for snowshoeing with the most charming and hilarious guide, and visited the nearby temple to assemble prayer beads (blessed on the spot) to add intentionality to our visit. There’s also stargazing, picturesque tea services, hiking and lake strolls, plus world-class dining. Another highlight (among dozens of them) was the Restorative Rock Ritual spa treatment, which incorporates sacred spring water, natural salt from the revered Futarasan Shrine, and volcanic basalt stones to stimulate circulation, calm muscles, and have you looking radiant as you reach new levels of calm. Please, go here.

This story was originally published on Robb Report USA.