Experiencing Tokyo, the Bulgari way

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN you get an invitation to stay at Bulgari’s new hotel in Tokyo while Japan is celebrating its cherry blossom season?

Drop everything and go, obviously.

After all, it’s not like the famed Italian jeweller opens a hotel every other year. In fact, so fussy is the luxury brand about the sites that make the cut, its latest hotel in Tokyo is only its eighth since it entered the hospitality game 19 years ago – a scandalously low rate if you’re, say, a hotel chain.

But as Silvio Ursini, Bulgari’s group executive vice-president puts it, “we don’t want to be everywhere”.

In fact, the jeweller will only commit to opening a hotel in a location if it is “absolutely perfect” – the right address, the right site, the right building and in the right position.

Even the brand’s home base in Rome will only see a Bulgari hotel opening in June this year. Another three – one each in the Maldives, Miami and Los Angeles – are slated to open from 2025.

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“We only want to be in a dozen locations worldwide, mostly international capitals, and a few resort destinations,” says Ursini, revealing that Bulgari has rejected some 1,000 opportunities. “So we have our dream list, but there’s no hurry whatsoever.”

Which brings us to Bulgari’s new hotel in Tokyo, which officially opened with a glamorous evening gala event on April 3, attended by celebrities including Anne Hathaway, the jeweller’s brand ambassador.

The site was given the green light because of its location on the 40th to 45th floors of Tokyo Midtown Yaesu, a new mixed-use skyscraper in the Yaesu 2-Chome North District. It is centrally located and within walking distance of the Imperial Palace, the Nihombashi and Ginza shopping areas, and the ever-bustling Tokyo Station.

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An Italian in Tokyo

There are just 98 generously-sized rooms and suites in Bulgari Hotel Tokyo, and like its sister hotels and resorts around the world, responsibility for its interior design fell to Italian architecture and interior design practice ACPV Architects Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel.

The hotel carries all the characteristic codes of Bulgari’s sophisticated establishments – contemporary Italian design with fine craftsmanship and an aesthetic that also honours the spirit of each location. Witness the sliding doors that divide the hotel’s communal spaces and the use of different flooring materials to mirror the demarcation of space that is typical in a Japanese home.

Meanwhile, Viel’s inspired use of materials creates fabulous textures throughout the hotel. On just the walls alone – the softness of fabric, smoothness of wood, coarseness of stone and knobby feel of mosaic – are used to great effect. Instinctively, you want to reach out and touch them; each material inexplicably connecting and grounding you to the physical space.

Speaking of connection, Bulgari’s design approach treats each hotel like a home. So in Bulgari Hotel Tokyo for instance, the rooms are furnished with luxury Italian residential furniture brands such as Maxalto, Flexform and B&B Italia, with Japanese elm wood flooring and cabinetry. And there is harmony, as most of the furniture and fittings are designed by Citterio.

Naturally, the rooms make good use of their lofty perch by maximising views over the city with wall to wall, full-height windows. The effect of seeing Tokyo in its full glory as you enter? Magical.

Still, if you’re aiming high, there’s always the Bulgari Suite on the 44th floor, which, at 416 square metres (sq m), is one of the largest suites in Tokyo. If that’s still not big enough for you, simply extend it with an adjoining suite. Although the Bulgari Suite comes with a private gym, we reckon you should be able to hit 10,000 steps a day just by walking from the suite’s entrance to its bedroom a couple of times a day.

Feasting, fitness and feeling fabulous

In the Bulgari Hotel & Resorts portfolio, there are always ultra-exclusive signature restaurants with which to complete the hospitality experience. In Tokyo, Sushi Hōseki – a concept also present at Bulgari Resort Dubai – offers (just eight diners at a time) the chance to savour three Michelin-starred Japanese chef Kenji Gyoten’s omakase.

Not to be outdone, the Italian Il Ristorante – Niko Romito, is helmed by another three Michelin-starred chef, Niko Romito, and presents contemporary Italian cooking for up to 80 guests.

For some seriously elegant-looking chocolate, head to Bulgari Dolci boutique, where delicious Bulgari chocolate gem creations and a selection of traditional Italian pastries beckon.

And then of course, there are iconic Bulgari hotel features such as the Bulgari Bar – in this case, 45 floors up in the sky, with two half-covered outdoor terraces offering sweeping views of the city on both sides. On a good day, we’re told, an incredible view of the snow-capped Mount Fuji can be had.

Whatever you do, a must-visit is the 1,000 sq m Bulgari Spa on the 40th floor, with its gorgeous 25-metre indoor pool and treatment rooms complete with truly stunning views of the city.

As Ursini puts it: “We try to bring into hospitality the values of our jewellery – timelessness and perfection in craftsmanship.”

It’s a thought that comes to mind when we go to bed in our 41st floor room every night, the city shimmering and sparkling like jewels beneath us as we drift off to sleep.

Bulgari Hotel Tokyo is at 2-2-1 Yaesu, Chuo-ku Tokyo 104-0028 Japan. Visit www.bulgarihotels.com for more information.