Hotel New Grand and Yamashita Park, as seen from the deck of the Hikawa Maru.

Hotel New Grand is the grande dame of Yokohama’s hospitality scene, and the only European-style grand hotel in Japan that still exists in pretty much condition as in the 1920s.

The hotel was opened in 1927, four years after the Great Kanto earthquake destroyed most of Yokohama, including the hotel’s predecessor, the Grand Hotel.  Situated on a waterfront location on the Yokohama Bund, Kaigan-dori, the Hotel swiftly became the place to stay at for visitors to the city.

Its biggest claim to fame is having hosted General MacArthur in the aftermath of World War II, when the Allied army, having secure the Japanese surrender, decided to make Yokohama their base in Japan.  General MacArthur would stay in the Hotel New Grand – in Room 313 facing the bay – for three days before moving on.

Today, much of the original building is still immaculately preserved as the hotel’s historic wing.  In particular, the original lobby, which sits on the second floor still looks almost exactly like it did when General MacArthur came through.

In 1991, a Tower Wing was added to the original building, greatly expanding the original’s capacity, and allowing for a full modernisation of amenities to take place. A stay in the hotel today is an absolute pleasure and a must for anyone swinging through the city en route to Tokyo.

View of Hotel New Grand’s original building and Tower Wing, from Yamashita Park.

The Cast Iron entrance to the Original Building., on Kaigan-dori.

The old stairway leading dramatically up to the former lobby.

The former lobby on the second floor stills unchanged from the 1920s.

Another view of the former lobby.

The Reception and Lobby today sits in the Tower Wing.

Another view of the present-day lobby and reception area.

View of the Central Courtyard, and a family gathered for a wedding.

Admiral Perry Room.

The logo of the hotel, seen at the top-floor viewing gallery of the Tower Wing.

The Hotel’s Cafe.

The Hotel’s Bar, the Sea Guardian II.

A glass of wine at the Sea Guardian II.

Yugyoan Tankuma is a Kyoto-style Kaiseki restaurant.

Le Normandie – the hotel’s French restaurant, with a view of the harbour.

Breakfast at Le Normandie.

The Courtyard, covered in snow.

Snow on the streets by the Hotel New Grand.

Goodbye, Hotel New Grand (and Yokohama).