Overview
The Splaisir Yokohama opened on June 20, 2024, and I was there on day one. The name combines the French “plaisir” (joy) with the initials of Safety, Satisfy, and Smart—an admittedly bold move for a hotel name, but the property backs it up. Located inside the 43-story The Yokohama Front complex at the north exit of Yokohama Station, the hotel is connected to the station via the covered Hama Rail Walk in about 3 minutes, making it one of the most accessible properties in the city. The hotel occupies the 4th floor and 6th through 12th floors of the tower, with serviced apartments above and a café/bar on the 42nd floor with panoramic views.
Two things stand out before you even reach the room. First: the lobby design is distinctly non-standard—dark tones, art books, jazz playing throughout, Phalaenopsis orchids in rows for the grand opening, and The City Bakery (the celebrated New York chain, making its hotel debut here) positioned so the smell of fresh bread greets you on arrival. Second: every tap in the building dispenses purified water. Not just filtered—purified. You can drink straight from the bathroom sink or use the Zojirushi kettle without a plastic bottle in sight.
Room & Amenities
Room 913 is a standard double on the 9th floor. The palette is light wood tones, simple and modern—calming rather than characterless. A sofa by the window creates a sitting area without overcrowding the space. The view faces the JR tracks, delivering a clean spread of rail lines by day and a proper city skyline by night.
Amenities are thoughtfully assembled. The TV runs Netflix via a built-in app. A labeled case contains multi-connector charging cables. Dimmer switches are positioned on both sides of the bed, with additional power outlets and USB ports at the desk. The SHARP air purifier comes in matte black to match the room’s tone. A slow-sinking pillow and loose two-piece pajamas round out the sleep setup. Eco door plates allow guests to skip cleaning, reducing waste without any friction.
The bathroom and toilet are fully separate in all rooms—a meaningful distinction in this price range, where most business hotels combine them. Sekkisei skincare (cleanser through lotion) is laid out under the sink alongside cotton swabs and cotton pads. All standard toiletries—toothbrush, hairbrush, razor—are included. Purified water flows from the bathroom tap as well; the shower booth has shampoo, conditioner, and body soap. Standard doubles have a shower; Superior doubles add a bathtub. Shoe dryers, irons, and conversion plugs for overseas guests are available at the front desk.
Dining & Breakfast
Suju Dining occupies the 4th floor and is the hotel’s primary food venue. The restaurant has branches in Karuizawa, Roppongi Midtown, and Singapore—it’s an actual destination restaurant, not a hotel afterthought. In the evening, a 60-minute all-you-can-eat sushi course offers over 20 varieties of nigiri, gunkan, and rolls. The sushi rice uses aged Nagano Prefecture grain selected for its firm-yet-yielding texture; the tamagoyaki had a beautifully browned rustic quality; the salmon oshizushi was generously thick; the fish soup was deeply flavored. The space seats around 100 and is open enough to feel uncrowded.
Breakfast runs from 6:30 to 10:00 in the same space, with a choose-your-main-dish model supplemented by a buffet of Japanese side dishes and drinks. The side dish selection alone distinguishes this breakfast: over 10 handmade small dishes including pickled Nozawana leaves from Shinshu, homemade bonito flakes (“okaka”), nametake, pickled plums, kiriboshi daikon, and boiled greens. The drinks spread covers mandarin orange, grapefruit, tomato, and Shinshu apple juices, plus iced coffee, tea, and iced roasted green tea. The main dish—miso-marinated grilled fish using 32% Shinshu miso—was served with rice cooked in a copper pot from newly harvested Nagano grain. The miso soup was smooth and gently flavored, with free refills. A City Bakery breakfast set is also available as an alternative main. This is the kind of breakfast that makes you reconsider a restaurant reservation.
Hotel Facilities
The 4th-floor lobby includes a self-service cloakroom for pre-check-in and post-checkout storage (suitcases stored side by side), a nursing room, a multi-purpose toilet, and a fully equipped fitness gym—all before you reach the elevator. Laundry rooms are available on the 7th, 9th, and 11th floors (washing and drying machines that auto-add detergent and fabric softener), with vending machines on alternating floors. The distribution across three floors means it rarely gets crowded. Self-check-in and check-out machines handle arrival and departure efficiently.
The City Bakery on the 4th floor sells bread, pastries, and drinks in a lounge surrounded by design books—it’s the chain’s first hotel location. The lobby also houses a railway merchandise corner (reflecting the hotel’s Sagami Railway group affiliation) featuring items including a Galaxy Express 999 collaboration. Jazz plays throughout all common areas, and the 42nd-floor café/bar at the top of the tower is open for views.
Location & Access
Yokohama Station is one of Japan’s busiest rail hubs, served by JR (Yokohama, Keihin-Tohoku, Shonan-Shinjuku, and Tokaido lines), the Tokyu Toyoko Line, Keikyu Line, Sotetsu Line, and the Yokohama Municipal Subway. The Hama Rail Walk connecting the complex to the station takes approximately 3 minutes and is fully covered—convenient year-round. Minato Mirai Station on the Tokyu Toyoko Line is also nearby.
The hotel sits within the broader Yokohama north-exit redevelopment zone, where new arenas, cinemas, and facilities have been opening in the same period. The complex’s own commercial floors include restaurants, cafés, and United Cinema—the first movie theater to open in Yokohama. The 42nd-floor café/bar in the same tower provides rooftop-level views without a separate trip across the city. Parking is available in the complex.
Final Verdict
The Splaisir Yokohama is the kind of opening-day stay where everything is noticeably fresh—and for a hotel that opened on June 20, 2024, that’s exactly what it delivered. The combination of near-direct Yokohama Station access, purified water throughout every tap, a legitimate destination restaurant in Suju Dining, and separate bathrooms in every room places this well above the standard business hotel category while remaining reasonably priced. The jazz, the City Bakery bread, the Sekkisei skincare, and the Netflix TV are details that compound into a coherent and considered stay. Rates vary by season—check current prices on Agoda.
