Japan, and Tokyo in particular, has one of the most competitive hotel markets globally. A country renowned for high service quality, in part due to the emphasis on hospitality in Japanese culture, means that the best hotels need to be at the top of their game. Opened in 2020, an excellent choice for an opening year, here’s my review of Mesm to decide whether it should be on your list to visit in Tokyo.
Mesm provided a media rate for the purposes of this review – the property did not receive advanced sight or copy approval for this article. The first time they see it is the same time as you do.
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Location and details
Mesm Hotel is in the Takeshiba Waters area of Minato City, Tokyo, close to the Intercontinental Tokyo Bay. Minato, most famous for being home to the Sony Headquarters, is not the usual place I would stay in Tokyo and is not the most famous area for tourist sights. However, it is extremely well connected with the Yurikamome line or Tokyo Monorail located just five and ten minutes away respectively. Access to the Monorail means that getting to or from Haneda, which British Airways and Japan Airlines service for their London route, takes around twenty five minutes.
Journeys to more popular districts such as Ginza or Shibuya can be reached in around twenty minutes while Shinjuku, where I’ve spent too many Strong Zero-fuelled nights, is around thirty five minutes away.
The property is surprisingly owned by Japan Railways East but is a member of the Marriott Bonvoy scheme under their Autograph Collection. Effectively, this affiliation gives them the freedom of an independent hotel with some minimal service standards alongside marketing through Marriott and the ability for Bonvoy members to earn and spend points at the property.
First impressions
The property isn’t imposing or impressive from the roadside, blending in with the high rise surroundings of the area while also catering to the mixed use of the wider building. Once inside the building, the premium nature of the property begins to show.
Reception is located on the 16th floor of the building. It features a double-height ceiling with decorative features, plenty of seating as well as expansive views of Tokyo through the large windows flooding the area with light.
And those views were truly stunning – particularly with the decent weather Tokyo had greeted us with. Check-in was not the quickest, owing to the Golden Week travel period which features a couple of Japanese public holidays, but once served it was complete within a few minutes. During this time we were introduced to the ‘Star Service’ customer service programme of the hotel – which began with a room tour by a very enthusiastic member of the team.
The room
On this stay, we were in a ‘Garden View Room with Balcony’ which meant that my expectations weren’t too high for a view knowing the connotations associated with ‘Garden Rooms’ at most hotels. However, this view came with the same stunning view as the reception and, as promised, views of the historic Hamarikyu Garden below as well as the Tokyo Skytree in the distance.
That balcony is accessible at all times with space for two and was a nice place to sit to watch the world go by with one of the complementary mini bar drinks. I couldn’t work out how to make the light box work, though. If weather is poor, a stool, table and chair can be found next to the sliding door to watch from the indoor comfort instead.
We had two large beds in the room which were extremely comfortable – complemented by soft bed linen, powerful air conditioning that wasn’t controlled centrally and an extensive pillow menu. Coming from several tiny Japanese business hotels in Hokkaido earlier in the week, this was a welcome treat and I slept brilliantly.
Between the two beds was the hotline to the ‘Star Service’ alongside a digital clock, notepad, copies of the New Testament and Book of Mormon (surprisingly for Japan), and finally, power outlets. That last point is the one I probably feel most strongly about because the room was only equipped with Japan-style outlets rather than the international multi-use outlets many luxury hotels now have. Considering this hotel opened in 2020, I was surprised to see that they opted not to install the multi-adapter units since it just adds an extra layer of hassle for travellers. There was one outlet per bed, though.
Opposite the beds is a large television, with satellite and Chromecast, a digital piano, dedicated dehumidifier as well as the minibar and drinks area. The minibar is free for all customers and is replenished each morning, with two beers, orange juice and one litre of water – though worth noting tap water is potable in Japan. Hot drinks consisted of filter coffee, matcha and black teas as well as milk sweets. An in-room tablet can be used to control many functions of the room, such as lighting and provide general hotel information.
And, if you’re wondering, that digital piano is related to a ‘original melody’ for the hotel. Though, I’m still not quite sure what the purpose of having it in the room was – and found it to mostly just get in the way of storing luggage.
A large walk-in closet can be found in the entry hallway which had a lot of hangers – I note because many hotels provide too few during stays. An ironing board, iron, and shoe cleaning products can also be found here.
The marble-clad bathroom is well appointed featuring a bath, with timer function for the faucet, hand-held and overhead shower, as well as a large, well-lit mirror. Pressure and temperature were to a standard you would expect.
The amenities come in a funky book-like design that features an illustration of a boat on Tokyo bar with the Mesm hotel building. The only strange item was the ‘bubble mouthwash’, an item provided in lieu of a toothbrush and paste for ‘environmental reasons’, which felt horrible and gritty. It could simply be replaced with an on-request service for the item as many hotels do now.
The toilet, with all the advanced functions I’ve come to expect in Japan, can be found in a separate room which is convenient when two people are sharing.
The room rounds out which this unique ‘Tokyo Waves’ bear at the entrance – providing some ‘kawaii’ (cute) feels to the space.
Food and other amenities
We tried both breakfast and dinner at the hotel’s restaurant, Chef’s Theatre, during the stay which is located on the same floor as the reception. The space itself is dressed up elaborately in a similar fashion to the rest of the property with warm lighting that made for a comfortable place to eat.
The dinner service primarily offers Western food options all of which were produced to a high standard. Since we were in our final few days of the stay in Japan, we attempted to go for some Japanese-ish items – including the Eel panko (a seafood I recommend everybody tries cooked here!) and raw salmon starters, as well as A5 wagyu beef fillet for the main course. All was produced excellently with balanced flavours and fairly sized portions.
Breakfast was equally impressive with the space transforming into buffet style with a selection of Japanese and Western options. Particularly notable was the on-request snow crab omelette which was a real delicacy to try during the stay. Breakfast on the second day was a bit hectic, owing to high occupancy as a result of the public holiday, which meant that larger dish ware to store more food on the buffet would have been advisable. On the second day, the numbers of guest visiting did mean we sat in the overflow area onto the reception area to eat breakfast.
It goes without saying that, even during the busiest times, service was excellent and attentive from all the staff.
Elsewhere in the hotel, tucked in the corner of the 16th floor there is a small bar area called Whisk while elsewhere on the floor is a small shop to buy Mesm-branded items including their amenities. A fitness centre can be found on the 17th floor which I managed to pop my head into – it seemed to have a good selection of weights and cardio equipment, though I didn’t manage to grab any pictures.
Conclusion
I enjoyed this short stay at Mesm Tokyo. The property is a visually impressive place to spend time in without being too over-the-top, while the public and bedroom spaces are thoughtfully designed. Food was good and service excellent, even in the busiest moments. The only real downside is likely to be location. While it is well connected to the Tokyo transportation system, you are not at the heart of major tourist spots which does also mean the area isn’t heaving constantly. Given the size of the Tokyo Bay Area, you’ll need to travel to visit all the major tourist spots, no matter where you’re staying so Mesm’s location isn’t a major drawback. If you’re a Marriott loyalist or want to stay somewhere that isn’t a cookie-cutter chain hotel, this could be for you.
