Bars in five-star hotels were once seemingly untouchable. These old-fashioned ¡ª and oftentimes grand ¡ª interiors with carpeted floors and bartenders in bow ties were impervious to trends that were taking place beyond their storied walls.
But the cocktail culture that boomed in Japan and the rest of Asia in the mid-2000s meant these institutions could no longer ignore their new, hipper counterparts who were courting the crowd with reimagined martinis and Manhattans. The latter establishments started to morph into pseudo-laboratories for alcoholic alchemy. Then they began scooping up awards. And hotels realized they had to jump on the bandwagon.
Today, it¡¯s almost impossible to not find a snazzy cocktail bar in a five-star hotel, especially in new properties. , which opened in Minato Ward in July 2025, follows such a blueprint. But unlike its peers, it has chosen to set up not one but three bar concepts ¡ª Driftwood Bar & Grill, Off Record and Yoi to Yoi ¡ª all connected to each other on the 43rd floor under the name Driftwood.
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