Should you book Palace Hotel Tokyo or Mandarin Oriental Tokyo?
Palace Hotel Tokyo or Mandarin Oriental Tokyo? For most trips I'd book the Palace: a Grand Deluxe King gives you 55 square meters and a balcony over Wadakura Fountain Park and the Imperial Palace Plaza, and the hotel has a 20 meter indoor pool that children from 5 can use. Book the Mandarin Oriental instead when the view is the point of the room: its room categories run from the 30th floor up, and its west-side rooms see Mt Fuji on clear days, which makes it the hotel I'd pick from November to February.
Both hotels are on the east side of central Tokyo and both put Tokyo Station within a 10 minute walk, so the neighborhood does not decide this one. The Palace sits low, across the moat from the palace gardens, on floors 8 to 18 for its standard rooms. The Mandarin fills the top of the Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower, with its rooms on floors 30 to 36. You are choosing between standing outside over the trees and looking down on the city.
How do Palace Hotel Tokyo and Mandarin Oriental Tokyo compare?
| Palace Hotel Tokyo | Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 1-1-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku | 2-1-1 Nihonbashi Muromachi, Chuo-ku |
| Nearest station | Otemachi, exit C13b, by underground passage; Tokyo Station 8 to 10 minutes on foot | Mitsukoshi-mae, from the basement entrance; Tokyo Station 8 minutes |
| Rooms | 266 rooms and 18 suites | 157 rooms and 22 suites |
| Smallest room | Deluxe, 45 m², floors 8 to 18, king bed, no balcony | Deluxe Room, 50 m², floors 30 to 36, up to 2 guests |
| The room I'd book | Grand Deluxe King, 55 m², floors 8 to 15, balcony | Mandarin Grand Room, 60 m², floors 30 to 36, up to 3 guests |
| Views named by the hotel | Imperial Palace and Otemon Gate to the east, Wadakura Fountain Park and the palace plaza to the south | The city, Tokyo Skytree, and Mt Fuji from the west-side rooms in clear weather |
| Rate shown today | None on the room pages | Average per night, no dates entered: JPY 202,600 Deluxe, JPY 221,575 Mandarin Grand |
| Pool | 20 by 5 meters, 5th floor, 6:30am to 10pm, in-house guests only, ages 5 to 15 from 9am to 6pm with an adult | Vitality pool in the 37th-floor spa, which starts at 16 |
| Spa | evian SPA, 1,200 m², five treatment rooms and a spa suite; sauna and baths JPY 2,750 for hotel guests | The Spa, 37th floor, four treatment rooms and five suites |
| Restaurants and bars | 10, including Esterre (French, with Ducasse Paris), Sushi Kanesaka and a six-seat tempura counter | Signature (French), Sense (Cantonese), Sushi Shin by Miyakawa, K'shiki (Italian), The Pizza Bar on 38th, Mandarin Bar |
| Check-in and out | 3pm in, noon out (Japanese-language FAQ) | 3pm in, noon out |
The Mandarin's rates are what its room pages showed on October 31, 2026, before any dates were entered; price your own nights on each booking page before deciding.
Who should book Palace Hotel Tokyo?
A couple in spring or autumn, a family with children who want to swim, and anyone who runs. The Palace is the one of the two where you can sit outside: the king version of the Grand Deluxe and every Deluxe with Balcony face south over the fountain park, and some Deluxe King with Balcony rooms connect to Deluxe Twin with Balcony rooms for a family. Its fitness page points out that the perimeter of the palace gardens doubles as a 5 kilometer running loop, and the hotel is across the street from it.
The pool is the clearest difference for a family. Children 5 to 15 can swim at the Palace between 9am and 6pm with an adult. At the Mandarin, the spa and fitness centre start at 16, so a child has nowhere to swim.
The catch is height. The Palace's balcony rooms are on floors 8 to 18, which is low for Tokyo: you look over the trees and the moat, not across the city to Fuji. The Palace room guide covers which side to choose.
Who should book Mandarin Oriental Tokyo?
Two adults in winter, or anyone who wants the view from the bed to be the reason for the room. The Mandarin Grand Room is 60 square meters on floors 30 to 36, sleeps three, and its page names Mt Fuji in the view, weather permitting. Fuji shows most often on cold, clear mornings, so a stay between November and February is when the Mandarin's height pays off. In summer haze, the Deluxe Premier Room, on floors 32 to 36 facing Tokyo Skytree, is the one that shows you something every night.
Nihonbashi is also the better base for eating and shopping on foot: the hotel names the Mitsukoshi Nihombashi department store and the COREDO Muromachi buildings around it, and the hotel's own list runs from a sushi counter to a pizza bar on the 38th floor.
The catch is the pool. The Mandarin's is a vitality pool inside the spa, not a lap pool, and you have to be 16 to use it. The Mandarin Oriental room guide compares every category.
Does the time of year change the pick?
Yes: take the Palace from March to June and in October and November, and the Mandarin from December to February. Late March and early April put cherry trees along the palace moats, and November turns the palace gardens' ginkgo and maple, which is when a balcony over those gardens earns its price. Midwinter is when Fuji is most likely to show from the Mandarin's west side, and when you will not miss a balcony.
One date to check if you swim: the Palace's pool closes from January 18 to 3pm on January 23, 2027 for maintenance, which tips a late January stay further toward the Mandarin.
What should you ask for when you book?
At the Palace, ask for the highest floor in your category; at the Mandarin, ask for the west side and a high floor, in writing, when you book. The Palace's stay FAQ says it takes floor requests at booking but cannot promise them, and its balcony rooms run from the 8th to the 18th floor, so the spread is real. At the Mandarin, Fuji comes only from the west-side rooms and no category guarantees that side.
Both hotels publish the same times, 3pm in and noon out. On an overnight flight landing in the morning, the early arrival hotel guide covers whether to book the night before.
What else should you read before booking a Tokyo hotel?
The Palace Hotel Tokyo room guide and the Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo room guide pick the room once you have the hotel. For two more hotels near Tokyo Station and across town in Shinjuku, Aman Tokyo or Park Hyatt Tokyo makes the same call. Where to stay in Tokyo compares Marunouchi, Nihonbashi and the west side, and the Tokyo omakase booking guide covers Sushi Kanesaka inside the Palace.