A trainspotter's fantasy! Inside the breathtaking hotel that overlooks Tokyo's main 弾丸-train 駅／配置する (which is linked to the hotel by a secret 地下組織の passageway)
- Ailbhe MacMahon checks in to Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo At Marunouchi
- It's home to the two-Michelin-starred S?zanne, with British chef Daniel Calvert
- READ MORE: The world's quirkiest 主題d 巡航するs, from nude to 星／主役にする Trek
They’re 弾丸 trains, but not やめる in 弾丸 方式.
Rather than 狙撃 along at 速度(を上げる）s of up to 200mph (320kph), these glossy marvels of 工学 are trundling in and out of Tokyo 駅／配置する.
I’m watching this scene from my room at Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo At Marunouchi, both a boutique 聖域 and a trainspotter’s fantasy 実行するd.
My room, a Deluxe King, overlooks the eastern 味方する of the 駅／配置する, which sees more than 4,000 arrivals and 出発s each day. 同様に as a 通勤（学）者 中心, it's Tokyo's main Shinkansen (弾丸 train) 終点, serviced by the 大多数 of the eight major high-速度(を上げる） lines, 含むing the ever-popular Tokaido line, on which 弾丸 trains ロケット／急騰する past 開始する Fuji に向かって Osaka and Kyoto at up to 177mph/285kph.
A Four Seasons 代表者／国会議員 can 迎える／歓迎する you from your train, 勧めるing you from the 壇・綱領・公約 to the hotel in under five minutes 経由で an 地下組織の passageway.
Ailbhe MacMahon checks into Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo At Marunouchi where she watches 弾丸 trains slowly pulling in and out of Tokyo 駅／配置する. Pictured: The 見解（をとる） from a Deluxe 首相 Twin room at the hotel
Ailbhe stays in a Deluxe King room, like the one pictured here, overlooking the eastern 味方する of Tokyo 駅／配置する, which sees more than 4,000 trains arrive and 出発／死 each day
The intimate 57-room hotel, which has been welcoming guests for two １０年間s, 占領するs the lower seven 床に打ち倒すs of the glass-塀で囲むd 太平洋の Century Place tower in the Marunouchi 地区 in dazzling downtown Tokyo.
While east-直面するing hotel rooms 申し込む／申し出 ample 適切な時期 for train-跡をつける-gazing, the prize for the bes t 見解（をとる） goes to Maison Marunouchi, the Michelin-recommended restaurant on the seventh 床に打ち倒す, where a corner （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する looks 直接／まっすぐに の上に the Shinkansen 壇・綱領・公約s.
During dinner, I watch as Shinkansen 乗客s 群れている into carriages, marshalled by white-gloved conductors.
The prize for the best 見解（をとる） goes to Maison Marunouchi, the Michelin-recommended restaurant on the seventh 床に打ち倒す, where a corner （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する (pictured) looks 直接／まっすぐに の上に the Shinkansen 壇・綱領・公約s, 令状s Ailbhe
LEFT: Monkfish from Japan’s Hokkaido 地域 in a spiced lentil and curry velout? sauce at Maison Marunouchi. RIGHT:?Japanese ‘kegani’ crab in a brioche bun with a fish broth at the restaurant
British chef Daniel Calvert 監督するs the menu at Maison Marunouchi, which Ailbhe 述べるs as 'a Parisian-style bistro with teal leather booths and Art Deco room dividers'
The hotel gives children the chance to dress up as a conductor and play with a Takara Tomy Plarail toy train 始める，決める as they watch the trains go by at the hotel, says Ailbhe?
The trains themselves line up like 弾丸s in a belt of 弾薬／武器, ready to 始める，決める off 権利 on time - Shinkansen are rarely 延期するd.
My waiter tells us the 見解（をとる） is 特に popular with children, with staff occasionally having to clean 小型の 指紋s off the windows.
Taking 公式文書，認める of their fascination, the hotel created a 一括 that gives children the chance to dress up as a conductor and play with a Takara Tomy Plarail toy train 始める，決める as they watch the trains go by.
But this trackside vantage point isn’t the only エース in the hotel's 手渡す.
It has 削減（する） through the high-火刑／賭けるs culinary 競争 in Tokyo and become a big player in the city’s gastronomy scene with its two-Michelin-starred restaurant?S?zanne, where British chef Daniel Calvert 操るs classically-derived French fare.
Calvert also 監督するs the menu in the more casual Maison Marunouchi, a Parisian-style bistro with teal leather booths and Art Deco room dividers.
There I have Japanese ‘kegani’ crab meat in a brioche bun, 法外なd in a moreish fish broth (3,800JPYyen/£20/$25), followed by buttery monkfish from Japan’s Hokkaido 地域 (6,300JPY/£33/$42) and a delicate strawberry mille-feuille (3,000JPY/£16/$20).
I 見本 another slice of Calvert’s wares at breakfast the に引き続いて morning with a serving of avocado on S?zanne’s light yet crunchy sourdough bread (3,000JPY/£16/$20).
The Surrey-born chef’s deft touch is also seen in the savoury section of the afternoon tea menu (7,600JPY/£40/$51), while jewel-like desserts such as a ruby-red strawberry tart are （手先の）技術d by (n)役員／(a)執行力のある Pastry Chef Patrick Thibaud.
Afternoon tea is served in the seventh-床に打ち倒す 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 and シャンペン酒 Lounge, a space filled with elegantly dressed Tokyoites, asymmetrical sofas and a colourful stacked-ball sculpture by British artist Annie Morris.
Along with Maison Marunouchi and S?zanne, it’s been dreamt up by Hong Kong 内部の designer?Andr? Fu, who says he wished to cultivate ‘a sense of escape from the city’ for diners.
Toronto-based 会社／堅い Yabu Pushelberg designed the 残り／休憩（する） of the hotel, with lustrous 黒人／ボイコット-塀で囲むd hallways 主要な to spacious guest rooms.
Simple in design, my room has 造幣局 carpet underfoot and a 広範囲にわたる headboard, with 予定する grey pyjamas left thoughtfully during the turndown service.
The hotel has 削減（する） through the high-火刑／賭けるs culinary 競争 in Tokyo and become a big player in the city’s gastronomy scene with its two-Michelin-starred restaurant S?zanne. Pictured:?The restaurant 内部の by day
Chef Calvert 操るs 'classically-derived French fare' at S?zanne, pictured by night?
LEFT:?Afternoon tea at the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 and シャンペン酒 Lounge, with desserts by Chef Patrick Thibaud. RIGHT:?Ailbhe 見本s the 'delicate' seasonal strawberry mille-feuille at Maison Marunouchi
Panoramic windows are the 星／主役にする attraction, with ３倍になる-glazed glass 減ずるing the なぎ of train traffic to a faint rumble.
The understated 高級な continues in the bathroom, with a 深い 石灰岩-辛勝する／優位d bathtub and Epsom salts to ぱらぱら雨 in it, along with Diptyque toiletries and 厚い bathro bes.
The hotel 始める，決めるs out to be a 平和的な 港／避難所 away from Tokyo's high-energy streets, and you feel this sense of 静める the most in the spa, a bijou space with an 'onsen' hot spring bath and steam room.
Ailbhe says the hotel is 'just the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す for a luxurious night’s stay before you catch a 弾丸 train to your next 目的地'. Pictured: The bathroom in the Chairman’s 控訴
The hotel 始める，決めるs out to be a 平和的な 港／避難所 away from Tokyo’s high-energy streets, Ailbhe says, 追加するing: 'You feel this sense of 静める the most in the spa, a bijou space with an "onsen" hot spring bath (pictured) and steam room'
Those who are too relaxed to leave the hotel can sightsee from the 慰安 of bed, watching as one of Japan’s most iconic sights - the Shinkansen 弾丸 train - parades below the window, says Ailbhe. Pictured: An 早期に morning 弾丸 train passes by her bedroom window
There I try a?'Dermadrop' facial?(23,908JPY/£127/$160), during which a 病弱なd gently sprays 'supercharged 成分s' の上に the 肌.
After the 治療, my 肌 rosy with the 約束 of 上げるd moisture levels and elasticity, I’m 招待するd to relax with a steaming cup of ginger and lemon tea and crepe-wrapped 'wasanbon' sugar 甘いs, a Japanese delicacy.
My whole stay is underpinned by service that’s ultra attentive but never overbearing, which Four Seasons says is based on Japanese 'omotenashi' - a centuries-old culture of wholeheartedly looking after guests.?
One staff member 株 advice for sightseeing in the nearby Ginza neighbourhood, kindly pointing me in the direction of the Kengo Kuma-designed Kabukiza Theatre?and the stellar seafood and crockery 立ち往生させるs of the Tsukiji Outer Market.
一方／合間, those who are too relaxed to leave the hotel can sightsee from the 慰安 of bed, watching as one of Japan’s most iconic sights - the Shinkansen 弾丸 trains - parade below the window.
If you’re using Tokyo as a jumping-off point for 調査するing the 残り／休憩（する） of Japan by rail, this is just the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す for a luxurious night’s stay before you catch a 弾丸 train to your next 目的地 - with superior gastronomy, spa 施設s and service making the ride all the more memorable.
