Tokyo’s coolest one-room hotel is complete with a very small disco

Tokyo is a city that exists equally in the past as it does in the future, with the balance between traditional and the modern world coexisting side-by-side within its present day metropolis – and the city’s newest hotel, Trunk(House) in Tokyo’s buzzing Kagurazaka neighbourhood, is the perfect reflection of this.

The one-room boutique hotel has been sensitively restored and modernised from a 70-year-old former ryotei and is located in the historic Kagurazaka neighbourhood of Tokyo, affectionately thought of as a “Little Kyoto in Tokyo” because of its stunning shrines and temples, and showcases a truly bespoke hospitality experience.

The aim of the Trunk design team was to create the modern day ‘salon’ – the popular cultural gathering place for writers and philosophers in the 17th and 18th centuries – with a garden, tea room and a private chef on hand to whip up traditional Japanese cuisine.

Trunk founder, Yoshitaka Nojiri and the Trunk design team have completed extensive restoration work on the exterior, as well as a full renovation of the interior space in order to craft a masterful townhouse environment that offers travellers a dynamic and immersive hospitality experience in Tokyo. It is crafted around just one room, with living spaces designed around a more minimalist, artisan aesthetic.

The combination of contemporary and traditional styles are apparent through the traditional architecture used throughout the building, in particular the wood panelled ceilings and dark terrazzo floors. This intersects with the more contemporary attributes of the hotel with the use of marble countertops and custom furnishings made by Trunk’s in-house design team and Tripster; a Tokyo-based interior design studio.

Each object had been carefully chosen or custom-made especially for the hotel. The living room features a 1950 Jean Prouvé Potence wall lamp and a Serge Mouille Lampadaire light. They stand next to the metal-framed leather sofas that are set beside a low coffee table, both made by Stephen Kenn, a Los Angeles based furniture designer.

Each artwork in the hotel had been commissioned by a group of international artists, tasked with creating unique artworks to best reflect the hotel’s ‘Tokyo-ness’. One hangs above the master bed, a beautifully contemporary work created by American artist Alex Dodge that was inspired by the traditional Geishas that once resided there 70 years beforehand.

One of the more interesting focal points of the hotel is the the disco room, a bright-red room complete with a glittering disco ball and illuminated dance floor — said to be the smallest nightclub within Japan.

The Trunk(House) is the newest addition to the Trunk luxury design hotel concept in Japan. The Kagurazaka house encompasses the ever-changing landscape of Tokyo’s cultural and architectural identity with a mixture of tradition and modernity. The property sleeps up to four guests, whilst the dining room, living room and disco can also be used to privately and host up to 30 people for cocktails or buffet-style parties.

Visit: trunk-house.com