Places to stay we know well

76 hotels, camps, villas and ships, each described by the specialist who recommends it, including who it does not suit.

6 places to stay match your filters.

  • Snow-tipped Mount Fuji rising above the calm surface of Lake Kawaguchi on a clear day

    Hotel · Otemachi, Tokyo, Japan

    Aman Tokyo

    Large, calm suites on the top floors of an Otemachi tower, a short walk from Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace Gardens.

    • City base
    • Big suites
    • Spa and pool
  • The Oirase Stream tumbling over mossy boulders through green forest near Towada, Aomori

    Resort · Ago Bay, Ise-Shima National Park, Japan

    Amanemu

    Hot spring suites and villas above Ago Bay in Ise-Shima National Park, close to the Ise Grand Shrine.

    • Onsen
    • Coastal
    • Spa retreat
  • The pine-covered sandbar of Amanohashidate stretching across Miyazu Bay beneath misty hills

    Hotel · Yamashiro Onsen, Kaga, Ishikawa, Japan

    Beniya Mukayu

    A 16-room ryokan in the Yamashiro Onsen hot spring town, where every room has its own open-air bath facing the garden.

    • Ryokan
    • Private onsen
    • Garden views
  • Layered blue mountain ridges receding towards a snow-capped Mount Fuji, seen from Mount Tonmaku

    Hotel · Gora, Hakone, Japan

    Gora Kadan

    A hot spring ryokan in the former summer villa of an Imperial prince, high in the Hakone hills and an easy run from Tokyo.

    • Ryokan
    • Onsen
    • Imperial history
  • The Oirase Stream tumbling over mossy boulders through green forest near Towada, Aomori

    Hotel · Hanazono, Niseko, Hokkaido, Japan

    Zaborin

    Fifteen villas in the forest near Hanazono, each with its own indoor and outdoor hot spring bath, and a northern take on kaiseki.

    • Ryokan
    • Private onsen
    • Forest setting

Where a property's own photography is still to come, the cards show its destination instead.