Tokyo Tower is one of the most iconic landmarks in the city, and we plan to ascend to the top eventually even though it can be quite busy. On a recent trip, rather than go to the tower itself, we opted to go to the Sky Lounge Stellar Garden, which has a wonderful view of it instead.

Rising from the south end of Shiba Park is the building of the Prince Park Tower Tokyo hotel. At the top floor of this hotel is the Sky Lounge Stellar Garden, which overlooks the park and tower. When we arrived the hostess informed us that due to the limited number of seats in the bar there would be a short wait. Since we weren’t guests of the hotel we also would have to pay a cover charge to visit the bar. The charge was about 1500 yen ($14) if we remember correctly. It’s unfortunate to have to pay the fee, but the view is worth it.

After a short time seats were made available at the bar for us. The bar itself is in the center of the room with stools facing the windows and chairs grouped along the windows. Overall the bar is quite nice. It’s dimly lit with sprawling windows that let patrons enjoy the lights of the city and Tokyo Tower. The only negative aspect is that it is a smoking bar, and it was slightly smoky, but it was faint enough that it wasn’t bothersome. We each ordered a drink and enjoyed the view from the bar. A waitress told us she would let us know when one of the seating areas at the windows was free.

Once we had nearly finished our drinks a seat at the windows opened up. From the chairs at the window we had an amazing unobstructed view of Tokyo Tower. We sat there for a little while taking in the view.

Google Maps Link: Sky Lounge Stellar Garden