When the Japanese brand Trunk opened its first hotel in central Shibuya in 2017, its Western-influenced rooms, with their calming neutral palettes, were a respite from one of the world’s busiest neighbourhoods. At the same time, the cozy, moodily dark lobby was conceived to be a communal social space — rare for Japan, a country where lodging tends to be more cloistered — for locals and tourists to work on their laptops or drink highballs with friends. If that place was about bringing people in, Trunk’s next one, a 25-room property opening early September, is meant to draw eyes outward, particularly toward verdant Yoyogi Park, a 133-acre green space in northern Shibuya that the new concrete-clad, seven-story building faces. With balconies extending from every room and a rooftop pool club — another rarity for a Tokyo hotel — the idea is not only to bring visitors to a rising corner of the district that’s increasingly crowded with cool shops and restaurants but also to give guests a chance to relax away from the thrum while gazing out over the tree line at the metropolis beyond. The design, led by the Japanese architect Keiji Ashizawa’s firm, with interiors by the Danish company Norm, has all kinds of warm wood touches and beige textures, and the restaurant will serve pizza and Italian food: Not at all rare in Tokyo these days, but comforting nonetheless. Rooms from about $650; trunk-hotel.com.
Next Time You Travel to Tokyo, Check Into This New Boutique Hotel With a Rooftop Pool
Visiting Japan? Put Trunk Hotel in Tokyo, opening in early September, at the top of your must-stay list.
From left: the exterior of Trunk Hotel Yoyogi Park (Tokyo); one of its furnished balconies. Courtesy of Trunk. 