Best hotels in Japan

Japan's beautiful traditions, an homage to love for nature's every visage. On the wind crossing the water, hear the trees rustle and the birds sing. Open a window, and savour the richness of the moment.

Set in the forested hills of Shuzenji on the Izu Peninsula, its ancient Noh stage hosts seasonal performances by Living National Treasures, while every room comes with a private hot spring bath carved from fragrant koyamaki pine. Kaiseki dining is served in-room, the gardens are immaculate, and the whole place hums with a quiet, accumulated elegance that five centuries of hospitality tends to produce. Transformative, unhurried, and utterly Japanese.

A quietly enchanting nine-room ryokan in Shuzenji Onsen, Izu, whose name says it all: akari (light) and kaori (fragrance). Original lamps cast a warm glow through interiors that double as an art gallery, while a drift of sandalwood keeps things grounded in old Japan. Traditional materials, modern sensibility, wildflowers in corners. Small, considered, and utterly transportive.

Passing down the “warm and relaxing inn” cherished by the predecessor, Yagyu No Sho stives to be an inn that combines the beauty of Japanese architecture, cuisine, baths, scenery, and hospitality. In 2009, the 40th anniversary, gathered ancient craftsman skills for the main entrance, baths, and each room were renovated into authentic sukiya architecture. Prioritizing heartfelt hospitality, it strives for a beautiful Japanese inn in every aspect.

Relax in a modern, luxurious hotel room which features spectacular views of Sakurajima and Kagoshima City. Dine at one of the restaurants and bars and sample local Kagoshima dishes like black pork and beef. Indulge yourself with a massage at the on-site spa or soak in the natural hot springs. If you are hosting an event, reserve one of the state-of-the-art banquet halls at the hotel which reflect the traditional and festive atmosphere of the city.

Located on Shiroyama in Kagoshima, this tranquil space offers a spectacular view. Enjoy a luxurious view of Sakurajima, gourmet cuisine made with local ingredients, and exquisite hot springs. You are offered sophisticated rooms and comfortable service to ensure you have a special stay.

Matsuyama, the laid-back capital of Shikoku, is a literary and bathing city that most never reach – and that's exactly why you should go. Perched on a hillside above the 3,000-year-old Dogo Onsen district, Dogo-Kan is the work of the late Kisho Kurokawa, one of Japan's most celebrated architects, who poured his philosophy of 'symbiosis' into every detail. The result is a ryokan that is both centuries old in tradition yet contemporary in spirit, with an Edo-inspired lobby, communal baths fed by pure Dogo spring water, and kaiseki dinners built around the seasonal catch of the Setouchi coast. All in all, a thoroughly Japanese experience in a town that feels worlds away from anything familiar.

Matsuyama is Shikoku's largest city, but at it's heart, it's an old-fashioned tram town with a hilltop fortress, Japan's oldest hot springs and a literary heritage that inspired some of the country's finest haiku. Slotted right into the heart of it, the dependable Crowne Plaza puts the castle ropeway and buzzing Okaido shopping arcade on your doorstep, with Dogo Onsen just a ten-minute tram ride away. It's a chain hotel (and there's no two ways about it!), but the 14th-floor Sky Lounge with its panoramic views of Matsuyama Castle and the handsome French Renaissance-style Bansuisou Villa, elevates morning coffee into something really quite special.

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando has a gift for making concrete feel spiritual, and this extraordinary seven-suite retreat - perched on a mountaintop in Ehime Prefecture with the island-dotted Seto Inland Sea unfurling below - might be his most quietly thrilling project yet. Originally built as a private guesthouse, then used as a small modern art museum, the building was reimagined as a hotel under Ando's watchful eye, and his signature smooth-as-silk concrete walls, vast floor-to-ceiling windows and profoundly empty stretches of space create something closer to a meditative experience than a conventional stay. With museum-quality artwork throughout (Frank Stella in the dining room, calligrapher Rieko Kawabe in the corridors), a 30-metre infinity pool that appears to spill into the sea, and a staff whose attentiveness borders on telepathic, it's the kind of place where the frenetic activity of the mind begins to slow. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Key, and it's not hard to understand why.

The setting for Auberge Tosayama is Tosayama, the inner sanctum of Kochi City, on the island of Shikoku. With a backdrop of Kenmin no Mori Mt. Kuishi, and blessed with the abundantly flowing headwaters of the Kagami River, this place is laden with the graces of nature. Escape the hustle and bustle in only 30 minutes. Since first opening its doors in this beautiful village, Auberge Tosayama has continued to walk forward with the surrounding area. It exists as a bridge builder, taking action at home together with the next generation, and sending that energy outward.

A charming 4-star hotel nestled in the heart of Kochi, Japan. With its rich history and traditional architecture, this hotel offers a unique blend of comfort and cultural immersion. Built in 1968 and last renovated in 1994, Hotel Jyoseikan seamlessly combines modern amenities with a touch of old-world charm. Step into our hotel and be transported back in time. The well-preserved traditional architecture and decor create an atmosphere of elegance and tranquility.

Hotel New Nagasaki is adjacent to JR Nagasaki Station and easily accessible from Nagasaki Airport. The Nagasaki Ekimae tram stop is also nearby, making it an ideal location for sightseeing in Nagasaki city, including the World Heritage sites of Glover Garden and Dejima. You are offerred a comfortable stay in Nagasaki, as well as for use as a restaurant, for weddings, banquets, and meetings.

Ureshino Yadoya is a hot spring inn where you can harmonize your mind and body with tea and hot springs. Ureshino tea is Ureshino's greatest specialty. The tea that is prepared is served by the tea farmers themselves every day so you can fully experience the charm of Ureshino tea. Ureshino Onsen is one of Japan's three major hot springs for beautiful skin.

All 36 rooms are equipped with 100% natural hot spring water. The large public bath has a tea-scented Loÿly sauna and a tea-scented dry sauna. You can train your body to your heart's content. Saga's food, crafts, climate, etc. are all centered around Ureshino.

Some places take a while to reveal themselves. This is not one of them. From the moment you're greeted at the entrance by kimono-clad staff and your shoes are swapped for slippers, you're transported into a world of refined and unhurried Japanese ritual.

Tucked into the foothills of sacred Mt. Mifune in the rural hot spring town of Takeo, this intimate ryokan occupies a rather extraordinary position - woven into the fabric of Mifuneyama Rakuen, an Edo-period garden of such beauty it holds status as a Registered Monument of Japan. With just 11 rooms across a vast, forested estate, the sense of seclusion is absolute. The Michelin Guide clearly agrees, having awarded its highest honour of five red pavilions. Even the Japanese Imperial Family have checked in on multiple occasions, which tells you everything you need to know.

Hotel Nikko Fukuoka, only three minutes’ walk from Hakata Station, the gateway to Fukuoka and the rest of Kyushu. With magnificent restaurants serving the season’s finest flavors, and meticulous service for all who enter.

Hotel Nikko Fukuoka is furnished with many restaurants, tea lounges, and bars providing food and drink in many different styles. There are restaurants that serve Japanese cuisine, such as sushi, tempura, and wagyu teppanyaki, as well as Chinese, French, and buffet restaurants; and all have menus that feature seasonal delicacies.

Japan's first designer hotel, Il Palazzo opened in Fukuoka in 1989 as a genuine architectural statement — the work of Pritzker Prize-winning Italian architect Aldo Rossi, with interiors by celebrated Japanese designer Shigeru Uchida. The building is bold, theatrical, and unmistakably European in spirit, which makes it all the more interesting sitting in the heart of one of Japan's most vibrant cities. A minute's walk from Nakasu's famous yatai street food stalls, it puts you right in the thick of Fukuoka's nocturnal energy — a city that, frankly, doesn't get nearly enough credit on the Japan trail.

Situated in the heart of downtown in the main tower of the Fukuoka Daimyo Garden City complex, The Ritz-Carlton, Fukuoka is a sophisticated retreat with views across Hakata Bay. This luxury hotel in Fukuoka, Japan, features six dining venues that complement the city’s renown as a lively food capital, and playful references to the local textile art throughout its spaces.

A sleek, adults-only newcomer that opened in April 2025 on the upper floors of the Hulic Square building in Tenjin — Fukuoka's shopping and dining heart. An elevator runs from Tenjin Station's Exit 5 straight up to the 19th-floor lobby, where a terrace looks out over the city. Rooms are contemporary and comfortably sized for Japan, with Simmons beds and Nespresso machines as standard. A guest-only lounge on the 18th floor serves complimentary drinks and snacks. Best suited to couples and solo travellers wanting polish and a fuss-free urban base.

From the outside, the building is admittedly unremarkable - all concrete and main road. But step through the doors and something rather magical happens. The lobby opens up to a wall of glass and suddenly there it is: the vast, shimmering expanse of Beppu Bay, stretching out so far that sky and sea seem to merge into one. Perched right on the coastline of Japan's undisputed onsen capital, this is a contemporary resort that takes the region's 1,300-year bathing heritage and gives it a decidedly modern twist.

Every room has its own private open-air hot spring bath overlooking the water, the communal onsen on the ground floor sits so close to the ocean it's been nicknamed the "zero-metres-above-sea-level bath", and there are three distinct restaurants championing Oita Prefecture's exceptional produce. It's not a traditional ryokan in the tatami-and-futon sense, but the spirit of omotenashi runs deep, and the staff set the tone from the moment they hand you a welcome drink on the waterfront terrace.

This hilltop inn is an exercise in modern restraint: clean lines, warm wood, contemporary art on the walls, and not a single fussy detail in sight. And yet the classical virtues of Japanese hospitality are very much intact, from the sulfur-rich spring water piped into every room to the creative kaiseki dinners that showcase Oita Prefecture's remarkable larder. The real showstopper, though, is the position. Set high above the town with unobstructed views across Beppu Bay and the city's famously steaming streets below, it feels a world away from the tourist bustle of the "hells" - even though they're just a 15-minute drive down the hill.

The Saihokukan is Nagano City's grand old dame — a heritage hotel dating to 1890 that has hosted Japanese emperors, legendary shogi title matches, and cultural icons from novelist Natsume Soseki to painter Okamoto Taro. During the 1998 Winter Olympics, its ballroom hosted the Imperial tea reception — a first for any private venue in Japan. The hotel's own tagline is disarmingly honest: "not everything is exquisite, but it's a comfortable hotel." A characterful, historically rich base for exploring Nagano City and nearby Zenko-ji temple.

Located in the mountains, 200 meters above sea level, there is a village lined with thatched-roof temple lodgings. Welcome to Awai Togakushi Hotel. This hotel is a decentralized retreat rooted in the local culture of Togakushi. A place where people and nature coexist.

Takei Ryokan is a former Buddhist temple lodging in Nagano's sacred Togakushi highlands — well off the beaten track. The thatched-roof main building dates back to 1745 and is a protected historic structure, with original Buddhist carvings still visible in the beams. Just two guest rooms mean genuine intimacy, with private baths and seasonal Shinshu cuisine served in the ancient main house. No spa, no polish — just the rare privilege of sleeping inside a living piece of Japanese history.

A reliable, well-run business hotel two minutes on foot from JR Okayama Station, the Mitsui Garden sits squarely in the practical-but-pleasant sweet spot. Rooms are tidy and comfortable — Serta mattresses, in-room baths, free Wi-Fi — and the buffet breakfast pulls in a solid spread of Japanese and Western options to fuel a full day out.

The standout is the large public bath on the 10th floor: a hinoki cypress tub overlooking a small garden, open from 15:00 through to 9am. It's not a hot spring, but after a day on Naoshima or trawling Kurashiki's canal district, it does the job beautifully.

Ideally located, the ANA Crowne Plaza Okayama is just a 30 minutes' drive from the Okayama airport and is connected by a bridge to the JR Okayama station. Major sights including Korakuen, one of three most recognized gardens in Japan, and the Okayama Castle are conveniently located from the hotel. With its excellent location, business travelers can easily reach the Okayama Convention Center, while leisure travelers can explore the Okayama City Museum and other major historical sites.

Each room is in a separate building, and each has its own unique atmosphere. Some of the rooms are renovated from old sugar wholesaler houses and storehouses built in the Edo period, and the fusion of these with modern architecture is one of the highlights.

Enjoy the ultimate luxurious everyday life, where you can stay not just as a traveler, but as if you were living there.

Enjoy the beautiful views of rice terraces and beech forests, considered Japan's original landscape. Tokamachi, Niigata Prefecture, is a snowy region where people still live in harmony with nature. Our hotel, Hinano-yado Chitose, is located in Matsunoyama Onsen, a particularly snowy hot spring. Enjoy the open-air bath, which is 15 times more concentrated than Matsunoyama Onsen, one of Japan's three most medicinal hot springs, with water directly from the source. We await you with delicious rice and wild vegetables grown with melting snow, as well as other local ingredients, all made with local ingredients that can only be found in the countryside.