About three years ago Yuta Takeda proposed to his father that they turn their 37-year-old family-run business hotel into a creative hub for both visitors and the residents of the predominantly apparel wholesale area of Bakurocho in East Tokyo. 'I wanted to rethink the role of an urban hotel,' he explains over coffee in the Abno lounge and bar on the first floor of the newly completed hotel.
Called DDD Hotel – which stands for Design, Development, Destination – the property's interiors are the work of detail-equilibrist Koichi Futatsumata who, along with designing the minimal, yet pleasing blueprint for the 122 rooms, also outfited the on-site Parcel gallery, the experimental kitchen/laboratory/restaurant Nôl and the Abno lounge.
Stained moss-green wood panels, wooden blinds and jalousie doors holds the design together throughout with added splashes of colour and textures provided by the lush midnight blue carpeting and bespoke gas-fire in the lounge area and rough black powder coated walls, ceilings and lamps in the Nôl kitchen space. With only eight seats, Nôl is no conventional restaurant. Chef Hajime Koto only plans to pull off 3-4 dinners a month as well as doing out-of-house catering when time allows.
ADDRESS
2-2-1 Nihonbashi
Bakurocho
Chuo-ku
Tokyo
-
‘Humour is foundational’: artist Ella Kruglyanskaya on painting as a ‘highly questionable’ pursuitElla Kruglyanskaya’s exhibition, ‘Shadows’ at Thomas Dane Gallery, is the first in a series of three this year, with openings in Basel and New York to follow
-
Australian bathhouse ‘About Time’ bridges softness and brutalism‘About Time’, an Australian bathhouse designed by Goss Studio, balances brutalist architecture and the softness of natural patina in a Japanese-inspired wellness hub
-
Marylebone restaurant Nina turns up the volume on Italian diningAt Nina, don’t expect a view of the Amalfi Coast. Do expect pasta, leopard print and industrial chic
-
A new book captures the kitschy allure of Japanese ‘love hotels’For his latest project, French photographer François Prost documents the whimsical façades that characterise these erotic roadside venues.
-
All aboard the world’s most luxurious train journeysStay on track with our pick of the most luxurious train journeys around the world, whether in 1920s-style opulence or contemporary chic
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Hoshino Resorts KAI Akiu: a soothing onsen hotelIn Japan’s bucolic northeast, Hoshino Resorts KAI Akiu breathes new life into a sleepy hot spring village without betraying its ancient roots
-
Shake off the winter chill at these design-led onsen hotels in JapanWhether you’re heading to the mountains of Hokkaido or the alleys of Kyoto’s Gion district, these immaculately designed onsen hotels will keep the shivers at bay
-
The new hotels you’ll want to stay at in 2025Where to stay in 2025? Let six of the most-read-about hotel openings of the past 12 months inspire your escape – from a tiny Tokyo bolthole to a Tanzanian safari retreat
-
2025 getaways: where Wallpaper* editors will be travelling to this yearFrom the Japanese art islands of Naoshima and Teshima to the Malaysian tropical paradise of Langkawi, here’s where Wallpaper* editors plan to travel to in 2025
-
The most whimsical hotel Christmas trees around the worldWe round up the best hotel Christmas tree collaborations of the year, from an abstract take in Madrid to a heritage-rooted installation in Amsterdam
-
Six brilliant bars for your 2025 celebrations, hot off the Wallpaper* travel deskWallpaper’s most-read bar reviews of the year can't be wrong: here’s inspiration for your festive and new year plans, from a swanky Las Vegas lounge to a minimalist London drinking den
