 Lloyd Nakano typically wears a
suit for his job as managing director of Tokyo’s Hotel Seiyo Ginza. But several
times a month, he dons jeans for an early-morning visit, often with a few hotel
guests in tow, to the sprawling, bustling Tsukiji fish market. Nakano, who was
born and reared in Hawaii and speaks fluent Japanese and English, moves through
the market with confidence, leading guests to a warehouse at the rear of the
complex where an auctioneer sells huge frozen tuna carcasses at a rate of one
every four seconds. Following his tour, Nakano takes the group to a nearby
restaurant for a breakfast of sashimi.
Nakano’s guided trips to the Tsukiji fish market reflect the
Seiyo Ginza’s focus on helping guests discover the pleasures of Tokyo. However,
the Seiyo—a word that translates roughly to "Western style"—attracts both
Japanese and foreign visitors by embracing the ways of the West: The lobby
stairway would befit a European palace; the suites feature marble bathrooms and
clear shower stalls; the Caesar salad offered by Répertoire, the property’s
French restaurant, is prepared beside your table by the server; and the thick,
fluffy white bread that comes with the American-style room service breakfast is
perfectly suited for sopping up the yolk of a four-minute egg. A butler, clad in
the traditional black tailcoat and gray pants, delivers the room service and is
on call for guests 24 hours a day.
According to Nakano, the Seiyo Ginza’s around-the-clock butler
service is the first of its kind in Tokyo. He believes such amenities will help
the 77-room, 19-year-old hotel remain a standout in Tokyo, a city in which a
Mandarin Oriental opened last December, and Ritz-Carlton and Peninsula hotels
will follow before the end of 2007. "All the other hotels that are coming in are
150 rooms or more," Nakano says. "We don’t have a big issue with competing and
losing business. If we lose even one percent [of our bookings], then we can only
blame ourselves."  LOCATION
In the heart of Tokyo’s flashy Ginza district.
ACCOMMEDATIONS
All of the 52 guest rooms and 25 suites include 24-hour
butler service. FACILITIES
Four restaurants, two
lounges, a fitness room, and six
meeting rooms. Among the meeting spaces is the Harry Winston Salon, so named
because it was once the site of the jewelry house’s Tokyo boutique. DINING
Though it contains Kitcho (a traditional Japanese
restaurant) and Takewaka (a sushi bar), the hotel focuses on French cuisine in
its main dining room, Répertoire. Attore, a fourth restaurant, features Italian
food and adjoins the hotel’s bakery and pastry shop. CONCIERGE RECOMMENDS
A night of traditional Kabuki performances at the
Kabuki-za theater, located a few blocks away. Jet-lagged and sushi-craving
visitors should accompany the hotel’s managing director, Lloyd Nakano, on an
early-morning visit to the Tsukiji
fish market. RATES
From about $400 for a standard room to as much as $1,790 for a
premium suite.
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