Akasaka Granbell Hotel

Class: First

Style: Modern design

Rooms: 61

At this point in history an affordable, stylish city-center boutique shouldn’t really be a novelty. But in Tokyo it still is. Here you’ll find some of the finest high-luxury accommodation in the world, as well as a plentiful supply of average and below-average business hotels. But places like the Granbell are out to change that, one hotel at a time — first in Shibuya, and now in Akasaka as well. It’s located in a fairly typical high-rise building, but this is Tokyo, and that’s what you get. Inside, though, it’s quite a bit more inspiring, projecting a sedate and somewhat grown-up image — the Granbell’s idea of design is closer to chocolate-and-cream luxury than to eye-popping graphic hip. As with the Shibuya location, the Granbell Akasaka begins with some very compact and affordable single rooms, and moves up to suites that are much more substantial — still just this side of enormous, but exceedingly comfortable all the same. Once you move up the scale you’re in the same bracket as Tokyo’s classic business hotels — the value here is probably in the more affordable end of things. But either way it’s hard to fault the Granbell’s style, not to mention the location; Ginza, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Aoyama are all within easy reach.