Must-see hotels in Japan

  • Yu-no-Mori

    Around Tokyo

    The 12 elegant rooms (Western-style on the 1st floor, Japanese-style on the 2nd) at this luxurious ryokan are decorated in natural tones, and each has a…

  • Hotel MyStays Premier Kanazawa

    Kanazawa

    Spacious (guest rooms are 32 sq metres!), stylish, fresh and current: this tourist hotel a stone's throw from the station is a good-value choice. It has…

  • Bizenya Ryokan

    Central Honshū

    This quietly upscale ryokan near Shin-bashi faces a lovely garden. Some rooms have private facilities; plans with or without meals are available.

  • Hostel Knot

    Izu Peninsula

    A beautifully restored old house with mixed and female-only capsule-style dorms, one tatami twin and friendly young staff.

  • Street entrance of Trunk hotel on backstreets of Shibuya/Harajuku area

    Trunk

    Harajuku & Aoyama

    Part of Tokyo's new wave of boutique hotels, Trunk's main selling point is its proximity to fashionable neighbourhoods Harajuku, Aoyama and Shibuya. And…

  • Tokyo, Japan - May 10, 2019: At Godzilla’s hometown of Tokyo, a giant Godzilla Head of the scaly menace is towering over the Toho Building in the Shinjuku Ward.; Shutterstock ID 1448007500; GL: Lonely Planet; netsuite: Lonely Planet Destinations Content; full: Tokyo Free Things Artile; name: Gemma Graham
1448007500
Japan-Tokyo-DerekTeo-Shutterstock-1448007500-RFE.jpg
Tokyo, Japan - May 10, 2019: At Godzilla’s hometown of Tokyo, a giant Godzilla Head of the scaly menace is towering over the Toho Building in the Shinjuku Ward.

    Hotel Gracery Shinjuku

    Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo

    The big draw of this huge (970 rooms!) hotel is the enormous Godzilla statue atop it (you, and taxi drivers, will have no trouble finding it). It's fairly…

  • Book and Bed Shinjuku

    Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo

    If bookstores are your happy place you'll feel right at home at this hostel where the beds are fitted into bookshelves. The capsule-style bunks have…

  • Reversible Destiny Lofts

    Tokyo

    This is a rare opportunity to sleep within one of Tokyo's most eccentric architectural landmarks. The two apartments – one has one bedroom sleeping two,…

  • Momoiwa-sō Youth Hostel

    Hokkaidō

    Part Lost Boys hideaway, part loopy summer camp, Momoiwa-sō is a very special place, which you will either love or hate. It has very strict rules, but…

  • Miyama Heimat Youth Hostel

    Kansai

    This hostel is in a modernised kayabukiya, with both Japanese- and Western-style bedding. It's out by its lonesome in the far west of the village – ideal…

  • Kanaya Ryokan

    Izu Peninsula

    Built in 1929, Kanaya Ryokan is fabulously traditional, although the cheapest rooms are relatively simple. The star attraction is the biggest all-wood …

  • New Furano Prince Hotel

    Hokkaidō

    The nicer of the two Prince hotels offers comfortable, classy, though not terribly stylish, rooms, decent restaurants and efficient service – all at the…

  • Asakichi Ryokan

    Kansai

    This six-room ryokan, running for over 200 years, occupies a wonderfully rambling old building roughly halfway between Gekū and Naikū. There's a nice…

  • Toipirka Kitaobihiro Youth Hostel

    Hokkaidō

    A great place to break for the night is this attractive log house with a hammock on the front porch and cosy sofas around a wood stove in the lounge. The…

  • Amanohashidate Youth Hostel

    Kansai

    On a hill overlooking the bay, about a 10-minute walk from the northern end of Amanohashidate, this old but well-kept hostel has both Western- and…

  • Book and Bed Ikebukuro

    Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo

    One of Tokyo's cooler concept hostels has beds tucked inside bookshelves (most books are in Japanese, but some are in English). 'Compact' bunks have 80cm…

  • Ryokan Katō

    Kansai

    In business for two centuries but marvellously up to date, Katō has English-speaking staff who cater well to international travellers. Especially…

  • Ino's Place

    Sapporo

    This is a popular backpackers' spot with all the fixings: friendly, bilingual staff, clean rooms with modern bunks, private lockers, free coffee and tea,…

  • Nishimuraya Hotel Shōgetsu-tei

    Kansai

    A bit far from town and in a rather ordinary building, this modern property is managed by the same family that runs Nishimuraya Honkan and offers a more…

  • Unzen Sky Hotel

    Kyūshū

    The lobby is ageing, but the 53 well-maintained rooms (mostly Japanese style, with private facilities) are a great deal. The rotemburo (outdoor bath) is…

  • Millennials

    Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa

    This new Shibuya capsule hotel has cabin-style rooms: single-decker, divided on the sides by walls, but with curtains for doors; they're literally the…

  • Iriwa

    Yaeyama Islands

    Just above Kabira-wan on the north coast, Iriwa is a comfortable guesthouse with dorm beds, two large private rooms, a small self-contained cottage and…

  • Moiwa Lodge 834

    Niseko

    The world's only ski-in, ski-out capsule hotel, Moiwa Lodge 834, in front of the Moiwa lifts, is popular with powder hounds who have no patience for the…

  • Tsundara Beach Retreat

    Yaeyama Islands

    Truly a retreat, this spacious, fully equipped beach house affords privacy and peace in beautiful abundance. On Ishigaki's sparsely populated northern…

  • ANA Holiday Inn Resort Miyazaki

    Kyūshū

    This shiny white, semi-cylindrical, beachfront tower with glass elevators has ocean-view rooms and onsen above the treetops (day use ¥1050). Low-season…

  • U-en

    Osaka

    Inside a restored, century-old townhouse down a quiet lane, U-en has seven upstairs rooms with a variety of bedding – futons and tatami mats in private…

  • Nara Hotel

    Nara

    Founded in 1909, this grande dame has hosted everyone from Edward VIII and Albert Einstein to Audrey Hepburn and the Dalai Lama. It retains a Meiji-era…

  • Book + Bed Hostel

    Southern Higashiyama

    With a cracking location and a 'novel' idea, this hostel is a unique option for those looking for budget accommodation in the heart of Gion. As expected,…

  • Miyazaki Kankō Hotel

    Kyūshū

    This towering hotel has two buildings: the west wing, and the more recently remodelled east wing (with room prices ¥2000 to ¥3000 more per person). Even…

  • Kyoto Yoshimizu Inn

    Southern Higashiyama

    Perched at the base of the Higashiyama mountains at the top of Maruyama-kōen, Yoshimizu is surrounded by greenery and it’s like staying in the countryside…

  • Marumi

    Hokkaidō

    Marumi prides itself on its gut-busting seafood banquets, making this a good choice if you've worked up a calorie deficit in the mountains. The Japanese…

  • Hana Hostel

    Hiroshima

    Hana has a choice of Japanese- or Western-style private rooms, some with a private toilet or full (if very small) en suite. Cosy lamp lighting and…

  • Anne Hostel Yokuzuna

    Asakusa & Sumida River

    Anne is an efficiently run and friendly operation. Spacious dorms (with between four and eight beds) offer broad bunks constructed from sturdy steel…

  • Dormy Inn Premium

    Fukuoka

    Its rates aren't the cheapest in town and its rooms are pretty cramped, but that doesn't tell the whole story. The Dormy Inn has a natural onsen (hot…

  • Eki-no-yado Hirafu

    Niseko

    This is Japan's only train station minshuku (family-run guesthouse) and it is wonderfully eccentric. It's literally part of tiny JR Hirafu Station: to…

  • Nakamuraya Ryokan

    Sapporo

    Located on a side street near the entrance to the Hokkaidō University Botanical Garden, a 10-minute walk from JR Sapporo Station, this charming Japanese…

  • Kōan Motosu Inn

    Fuji Five Lakes

    Kōan has two campgrounds on the lake, this one on the northeast corner has fine Fuji views, a jacuzzi, a helpful English-speaking owner and an attached…

  • Ryokan Seikō

    Tokyo

    Maximise your Japan experience by shacking up at this rambling traditional lodge in an 80-year-old building. Rooms have tatami floors, sliding paper doors…

  • Hilton Niseko

    Niseko

    The Hilton enjoys the best location of all – it is quite literally attached to the Niseko Gondola. Spacious Western-style rooms are complemented by a…

  • Karukaya Sansō

    Central Honshū

    The tatami rooms at this friendly riverside inn with lots of open space to explore are clean, tidy and unexceptional, but for the better ones, which have…

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