Aman’s New Lifestyle Hotel Brand Is Finally Open—Here’s What It’s Like

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The AFAR take

When Janu Tokyo opened in March 2024 in the lower half of a gleaming residential tower in Tokyo’s up-and-coming Azabudai Hills district, it marked the arrival of a new luxury brand in Japan. But the reason it’s so anticipated is that it’s the first of a sister brand to Aman Resorts, one of the world’s most renowned luxury hotel groups.

Aman, known for its remote resorts with a loyal celebrity clientele and eye-watering price tags, saw a gap in the market for a new breed of hotels that, as Aman CEO Vlad Doronin puts it, “focus on [Aman’s] exceptional design and warm and personal service, alongside a more soulful experience created to bring people together in moments of connection through music, dining, and wellness.” The result is Janu (translated to “soul” from Sanskrit), which acts as a more playful—and slightly more affordable—alternative to the hushed and highly private atmosphere that has characterized Aman since the debut of its first resort in Phuket, Thailand, in 1988.

Courtesy of Janu Tokyo

For its inaugural outpost in Tokyo, Janu tapped architectural designer and longtime Aman collaborator Jean-Michel Gathy and his Kuala Lumpur–based Denniston Architects studio to create the interiors. They meld Japanese minimalism with such European touches as giant French lampshades emerging from the mirror-covered lobby walls and curvy sofas in kaleidoscopic upholstery. Those familiar with Aman’s resorts will recognize plenty of its trademarks, though, from the generous use of space and ample light to the branded luggage tag attached to your suitcase upon checkout.

Twelve more Janu properties are expected to open in the coming years, in locations including Dubai, Thailand, and Türkiye.

Who’s it for?

While the hotel’s elder sibling, the ultra-serene Aman Tokyo, was created as a sanctuary away from the buzz, Janu puts its guests right in the middle of it. With a host of bars and restaurants (both inside the hotel and the surrounding Azabudai Hills complex), the hotel is a great place for sociable couples. The sprawling spa and indoor swimming pool also make it a haven for wellness lovers, while the gym (Tokyo’s largest) with 3,700 square feet of athlete-grade Technogym equipment and five dedicated workout studios will please fitness enthusiasts.

Chris Schalkx

The location

Janu Tokyo is the only hotel in the just-opened Azabudai Hills, a village-like complex of parks, high-end designer boutiques, and residential buildings west of the red-and-white Tokyo Tower. Under the complex’s sloping rooftop gardens designed by London-based Heatherwick Studio, you’ll find delicatessen shops, health food cafés, and outposts from decades-old Japanese fishmongers, dashi powder makers, and tea specialists.

TeamLabs Borderless, the hyper-popular immersive digital art space that was previously located in Tokyo’s far-flung harbor district, has also made the complex its new home.

The Kamiyacho metro station, which is connected to the complex via an underground walkway, has direct trains to popular destinations, including Ginza and Roppongi, making Janu an excellent base for exploring the city.

The rooms

In contrast to the playful aesthetic of Janu’s restaurants and communal areas, the 122 guest rooms—of which 41 are suites—feel blissfully tranquil. Each one is a hushed hideaway of clean lines and soothing palettes of teal, cream, and gray, subtly referencing Japanese aesthetics through textured sakan plaster art on the walls and sliding doors inspired by shoji screens. As at every Aman hotel, a large part of each room’s floor plan is reserved for the spa-like bathroom, which comes with a deep soaking tub, walk-in rain shower, and automated Japanese Toto toilets with heated seats. All rooms and most of the suites open to one or more private balconies that look out over Azabudai Hills’ green spaces or Tokyo’s endless city sprawl—book one of the Corner Suites or City View Suites if you’re after floor-to-ceiling views of the landmark Tokyo Tower, which lights up beautifully at night.

Courtesy of Janu Tokyo

The food and drink

With eight restaurants and bars welcoming both overnight guests and dinner drop-ins, the hotel is as much a dining destination as it is a place to sleep. For hotel guests, days start at Janu Grill, a dandy NYC-meets-Japan steakhouse where à la carte breakfasts range from table-spanning Japanese feasts with grilled fish and miso soup to continental spreads with pancakes, pastries, and fresh fruit. Later in the day, it turns into a casual spot for lunch and dinner, with a meat-focused menu and a well-stocked wine cellar. Mercato, on the ground floor, opens for brunch through dinner and serves Italian comfort food from its marble-clad deli counters displaying cured meats, house-made pastas, and seafood on ice. Adjoining it is the Janu Patisserie for too-pretty-to-eat pastries and parfaits flecked with flower petals and gold flakes.

For a taste of Asia, there’s Hu Jing, a contemporary Cantonese restaurant that pairs its Peking duck, dim sum, and steamed fish with an impressive natural wine list and red lacquer–accented decor that hints to 1920s Shanghai. Hidden on the mezzanine level above the ground-floor gallery is sushi restaurant Iigura, where chef Kunihiro Shinohara presents his Edomae-style sashimi on a room-spanning counter of hinoki wood, while the equally snug Sumi specializes in charcoal-grilled omakase menus from seasonal ingredients, premium wagyu, and top-grade tuna.

Courtesy of Janu Tokyo

Most of the restaurants have a dedicated bar for predinner drinks, but the Janu Bar at the far end of the Lobby Lounge (which fills up for afternoon tea with a custom tea blend from Okinawa) is a standout. Each of its signature cocktails translates a Tokyo neighborhood into a sippable concoction. Cocktail flavors range from a sukiyaki-flavored play on the Old Fashioned with beef fat–washed bourbon (inspired by the numerous sukiyaki restaurants in the Ningyocho district) to a blend of matcha, rose, and orchid milk that celebrates the geisha enclave of Kagurazaka.

Staff and service

Similarly to most of Tokyo’s brand-name luxury hotels, the staff comprises a globe-spanning mix of nationalities, which means service can range from a chatty, casual American style to an ultra-polite hospitality more emblematic of Japanese omotenashi. That said, from the check-in desk to the restaurants, the staff were unanimously convivial and genuinely eager to please.

Accessibility

Multiple wide elevators connect to every floor and public space, and there are three rooms adapted with such accessibility-enhancing features as roll-in showers and grab bars in the bathrooms.

Courtesy of Janu Tokyo

Urban wellness

The hotel bets big on wellness and has dedicated a lofty 43,000 square feet of space to its spa and fitness center. The latter is stocked with a wide range of TechnoGym equipment and exercise rigs by Outrace, an Italian specialist in top-grade training tools. Guests can choose from a daily roster of group classes or opt for expert-guided private sessions in one of the five dedicated studios—including a high-tech golf simulator, a Muay Thai boxing ring, and a yoga room. There’s a stunning 82-foot lap pool and separate heated lounge pool, along with gender-separated hydrotherapy areas that include Japanese baths, a steam room, and a cold plunge pool. The showstoppers, though, are the two Spa Houses (an Aman signature), which come with private treatment rooms, hot and cold plunge pools, an indoor-outdoor hydrotherapy area, and the choice between a full- fledged hammam or banya lounge. From $944