The Heart of the Hotel

November 2026

Mandarin Oriental Tokyo vs The Peninsula Tokyo: Which Property Is Better?

If you only have room for one, book the Mandarin Oriental. Its rooms are newer, the view from the 30th floor up is one of the best in Tokyo, the Pizza Bar on 38th is worth the trip on its own, and it's usually a little cheaper. The Peninsula wins on location and has the pool, but its rooms are badly dated, and the renovation has no start date yet.

Better overall hotel: The Mandarin Oriental

Every evening at Mandarin Oriental Tokyo I ended up on the daybed under our window, watching the Skytree light up, and that's what sold me. It's the newer room, the bigger view and the better food, and it usually costs a little less than The Peninsula. If you only book one, book the Mandarin Oriental.

The Peninsula is the one to pick if you want to walk everywhere. It's across the road from the palace moat with Ginza a few minutes away, it has a real pool, and Peninsula Time (ask ahead and you can check in at 6am and leave at 10pm) is a lifesaver after a red-eye. Once its renovation is done, this could go the other way.

Mandarin Oriental Tokyo: the chaise by our window, with the Skytree in the distanceMandarin Oriental
The Peninsula Tokyo: the Imperial Palace moat and watchtower, a few minutes' walk from the hotelThe Peninsula

Better rooms: The Mandarin Oriental

Both entry rooms are big for Tokyo (50 square metres at the Mandarin, 54 at the Peninsula), but the Mandarin's was redone in 2019, with wood, washi lamps and fabrics woven in Nihonbashi, and from the 30th floor up the city fills the whole window. It's a little plain now, but it's easy to live in. The Peninsula's rooms haven't really changed since it opened, with panels for internet radio and wind direction, a fax machine and a DVD player. They're spotless and well kept, and the huge dressing room is wonderful, but they feel their age. At the Mandarin, ask for the Skytree side. At the Peninsula, book a Premier Room and ask for the palace side.

Mandarin Oriental Tokyo: the king bed, chaise and round desk, with the city beyond the glassMandarin Oriental
The Peninsula Tokyo: the king bed and sofa under the woven-wood ceilingThe Peninsula

Better bathroom: The Peninsula

The Peninsula's bathroom is tired, but it's laid out better, with two basins, a deep soaking tub in front of a stone wall, a separate shower and a TV you can watch from the bath. The Mandarin's is handsome grey marble with a deep oval tub, but the entry rooms only have one basin, which gets old fast when two of you are getting ready.

The Peninsula Tokyo: the soaking tub between twin vanities, in front of a stone wallThe Peninsula

Better service: The Mandarin Oriental

This is close, and both are excellent. The Peninsula is precise and polished, and the phone line was never engaged once. The Mandarin just edges it on warmth. Turndown came with aroma oil and a little gift, and they let us keep the room until 2pm without any fuss. At the Peninsula there was no welcome drink and nothing at turndown.

Better food: The Mandarin Oriental

The Pizza Bar on 38th is the reason. It's eight seats at a marble counter and a run of pizzas from the oven in front of you, and it came second in the world on the 50 Top Pizza list in 2025. Hotel guests get a few seats held back at dinner, so ask when you book. K'shiki's dinner set menu is very good value too. The Peninsula has Peter, now a lovely Modern French restaurant on the 24th floor, and excellent dim sum at Hei Fung Terrace, but its breakfast is set menus in the busy lobby, and that's where it loses.

Better pool and spa: The Peninsula

The Mandarin has no swimming pool at all. Its spa has two lovely soaking pools facing the city, and hotel guests can use them free from about 6:30 to 9am, but after that you pay. The Peninsula has a proper 20-metre heated pool, a bubbling vitality pool looking towards the Imperial gardens and a big spa, all included for guests.

The Peninsula Tokyo: the 20-metre indoor pool under curved amber ceiling panelsThe Peninsula
Mandarin Oriental Tokyo: the spa's two soaking pools in a marble hall facing the cityMandarin Oriental

Better location: The Peninsula

The Peninsula is on the corner of Hibiya Park, opposite the palace gardens, with Hibiya station in the basement and Ginza on foot. I jogged round the moat in the mornings and walked to dinner every night. The Mandarin is in Nihonbashi, right on top of Mitsukoshimae station and ten minutes' walk from Tokyo Station, which is great for bullet trains, but the streets go quiet at night and Ginza is a 20-minute walk or a few stops on the subway.

Better value: The Mandarin Oriental

The Mandarin is usually a little cheaper, and you get a newer room, a much bigger view and better food for it. The Peninsula's rate is fair for the location and the pool, but it's a lot for a dated room. Book it on a long-haul arrival, when Peninsula Time makes up the difference.

For a newer room on the palace gardens with a pool, I'd look at the Four Seasons at Otemachi. There's more Tokyo on my Japan page.

Our reviews

8.1

Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo

Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan

Mandarin Oriental Tokyo is the Tokyo hotel for views, food and lovely, personal service. You're on the 30th floor and up, with the Skytree outside your window and Fuji in silhouette from the lobby at sunset, and the eight-seat Pizza Bar upstairs is one of the best meals in the city. The rooms are well kept but a little plain now, there's no swimming pool, and Nihonbashi goes quiet at night. It isn't cheap, but it usually costs less than the Peninsula or the Four Seasons at Otemachi, and for the food and the night view it's the one I'd book.

7.9

The Peninsula Tokyo

Yurakucho, Tokyo, Japan

The Peninsula Tokyo has the best address of any big luxury hotel in the city, right across the road from the Imperial Palace gardens with Ginza a few minutes' walk away, and the service is polished and quietly warm. The pool is lovely and Peninsula Time (check in at 6am, leave at 10pm) is a gift after a long flight. But the rooms haven't really changed since 2007, and you feel it. It's a hotel I like a lot, held back by rooms that badly need the renovation the owners have now approved.