Amanresorts properties are like Birkin bags—exclusive, immaculate, and cool—and the latest opening on December 22, Aman Tokyo (1-5-6 Otemachi; 94-11/ 743-4000; doubles from US$630), promises to be no different. Despite the group’s having a property in Venice (where George Clooney got hitched), it has declared this its first city hotel—or rather, “city retreat.” Housed at the top of the 38-story Otemachi Tower near Ginza, it overlooks the Imperial Palace Gardens and Mount Fuji beyond, though the lobby is a landscape of its own, with two rock gardens under a 30-meter-tall washi-paper sculpture of a Japanese lantern.  Consummate relaxation measures include a furo deep-soaking tub in each of the 84 guest rooms and a spa spanning two of the hotel’s six floors complete with Japanese hot baths. Other indulgences include a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant and a sky-high pool. –Gabrielle Lipton

This article originally appeared in the December/January print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“Zen and Now”)