238 Best Hotels in Japan

European-style furnishings and mellow contemporary art make the standard rooms at this high-end hotel some of the best in the city. As an added bonus, and unlike many other hotels in Japan, staying guests can make use of the pool and gym for free, and there are also discounts at the hotel's excellent restaurants. Be sure to enjoy a drink in Tavola 36, the hotel's top-floor sky lounge. If you are coming from the airport, use the courtesy phone to request a bellhop to collect your bags as soon as you get off the train. Take the third-floor exit at Nankai Namba Station.

It's as if a traditional ryokan has been transported from rural Japan and delicately placed into this otherwise unremarkable hotel tower, where, after you snake through the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa, you come to the Takanawa Hanakohro, with its Japanese-style suites and a staff that greets you with the utmost omotenashi, or mindful, unobtrusive hospitality. A stay here includes full access to all the lounges at neighboring Prince properties, as well as exclusive access to the Oh-Sai lounge, where you can have breakfast or an evening cocktail and participate in a matcha-making demonstration. Amid the four Prince hotels is a well-manicured garden that has a pond and is a quaint place for a short stroll.

With a central location and stylish, bright, and relatively spacious guest rooms, this hotel is a reliable choice for business travelers and families alike. The Michelin two-star French restaurant Pierre Gagnaire has excellent views, and the Atrium Lounge has live piano performances that create quite the atmosphere.

The 7Days and its slightly plusher next-door annex 7Days Plus ( 2–13–6 Harimaya-cho  088/884–7111) are budget business hotels done right. Smart, clean, and with all the basic amenities (including free Wi-Fi), rooms are an excellent value. Each hotel has connecting double rooms that are ideal for a family of four. Slightly removed from the nightlife center, the hotels are in the backstreets northeast of Harimaya Bridge.

Creature comforts await you at this downtown hotel, which seems a world away from the rugged outback seaport city of Abashiri. Western-style rooms done up in shades of yellows and blues, spacious Japanese rooms, and combination rooms overlook a main road out front or a parking lot out back. Fish from the local icy waters are a specialty of the Grand Glacier restaurant, which serves Japanese, Chinese, and French fare. English speakers are on staff.

A level-up on the typical business hotel, the Agnes has a more sophisticated feel than similarly priced options in town. One reason for that are the French pastries served downstairs, all baked on premises with high-quality ingredients and seasonal fruit. Add to that English-speaking staff and rooms that are compact but comfortable, with a white-and-brown color scheme. Across the street is a sister property, the Agnes Plus, which has a public bath open to guests of either Agnes. Walking out of the train station, take the second of two narrow streets that branch out to the right.

On of the most luxurious lodging options in Hokkaido, Hinanoza has just 25 suites, and while not all of them have views out over the lake, they are all beautifully designed with natural tones, mixing Japanese and western design. All rooms have their own rotemburo (private bath). The price includes dinner, breakfast, and most drinks. The hotel is also able to cater for dietary needs if contacted in advance.

Akita Castle Hotel has bright and airy rooms overlooking the moats of Senshu Park, with those on the fifth and sixth floors offering the better views, as do the window seats at the Japanese restaurant for breakfast. The building is a reflection of a different era, when things were big and showy, but as a place to stay, it is still a great location. For a big splurge, request the Imperial Suite, where the imperial family stays when in town.

If this is not the largest hotel in town, it feels like it, sitting beside the Seibu Department Store right in the thick of all the shops that line the arcade extending out from the station, with many eateries located nearby. The hotel itself has several different dining options, some with nice views. You are also directly connected to the department store via the lobby. A three-minute walk east will take you to JR Akita Station, and a seven-minute walk takes you to the edge of the entertainment district.

This reliable and popular hotel puts you close to the Peace Park and the nightlife of Nagarekawa. The Unkai restaurant, on the fifth floor, has tasty Japanese food and looks over a garden of dwarf trees surrounding a pond filled with colorful carp. In the morning, enjoy a full buffet breakfast in the hotel's ground-floor restaurant with plenty of Western and Japanese dishes to choose from. The club-level rooms were renovated in 2023.

Some of the rooms at this Western-style chain property have great views of Nijo Castle, which sits directly across the street, but though reasonably well appointed, they and the public areas are strictly standard issue and hardly atmospheric. In summer the breeze wafting through the popular rooftop beer garden is as exhilarating as are the nighttime city views.

Downtown's biggest international hotel, the ANA has some great city views and a good range of facilities, including a fitness center, several restaurants, and a top-floor bar. While not stunning, the rooms are all smart and clean, and doubles especially are good value for the rates. It's located next to Mitsukoshi department store on Ichiban-cho. Book a room with a view of the castle.

Right next to the train station the ANA Crowne Plaza Okayama is a modern, well-appointed hotel that has great views of the city, particularly from the premium rooms on the upper floors and its 20th-floor Sky Bar & Lounge. The 20th floor also has the Japanese restaurant Kuriya-sen and a teppanyaki restaurant, Osafune. 

One of Osaka's most venerable deluxe hotels, the Crowne Plaza overlooks Naka-no-shima Park. The 24-story building is a handsome white-tile structure with some unusual architectural features like great fluted columns in the lobby and an enclosed courtyard dotted with trees. The main bar is a throwback to a 1950s English gentlemen's club. Guest rooms feature shades of chocolate, tan, and cream, while the cups are traditional Japanese ceramics.

Unusually large beds and a central location—it's a block east of the ferry dock—make APA Hotel a good no-frills choice. This is a budget-priced hotel but offers a range of spacious Western-style rooms. If you need more space, there are family rooms for up to three people and deluxe rooms that can easily sleep five.

This pleasant, modern hotel is immediately adjacent to the JR Hirosaki Station and has a convenience store on the ground level. The breakfast, served on the second floor of the building, is a very involved buffet that is quite delicious. The variety available might make you want to hang around and eat, and it's definitely worth the extra charge if you like breakfasts.

A three-minute walk west from Senso-ji, this fairly recent hipster-ish addition to Asakusa's hotel scene has rooms (on its third to tenth floors) that are spacious and modern, with wooden flooring, wide windows, and stark concrete accents. The second-floor theater and first-floor restaurant–bar—both operated by the same company as the hotel—attract a creative crowd. 

Although the box-shaped Asakusa View is the largest Western-style hotel in the traditional Asakusa area, it isn't divorced from traditional culture—communal hinoki (Japanese-cypress) baths on the sixth floor overlook a Japanese garden. Rooms are basic, decorated in neutral tones, but single rooms can be small, starting at about 70 square feet. The suite rooms, on the 25th floor, have a view of the Senso-ji pagoda, the temple grounds, and the Tokyo Sky Tree tower. The hotel is a three-minute walk from the retro amusement park Hanayashiki.

This former department store in the heart of the downtown shopping area was remade into an elegant hotel. The lobby's creamy upholstery and yellow walls are echoed in the rooms, which are nicely furnished and have larger than usual bathrooms. A shared Japanese bath lets you get to know your fellow guests. There's a small teppanyaki restaurant and an 11th-floor piano bar with city views. 

In a small port town on Ikuchi Island, where the Shimanami Kaido enters the outskirts of Onomichi, this luxury ryokan has repurposed a 140-year-old merchant’s estate to create an inviting spot to end your bike tour. Blending modern amenities into the traditional setting, rooms combine elements such as tatami, cedar and granite flooring, cypress baths tubs, and shoji paper screens to create a very sleek, airy feel. Dinner (an optional extra) is served on antique tableware and features locally sourced produce turned into multicourse Japanese meals. The ryokan can also arrange activities such as Zen meditation at a local temple, cycling tours, and boat fishing. It  sometimes offers 20% seasonal discounts.

The Nagoya branch of this business hotel chain combines an excellent central location in Sakae (on Hisaya-odori) with good value rates. As with all decent business hotels, design-wise each room is simple and modern but very well kept, plus you get free Wi-Fi, and the free coffee in the lobby helps save a few hundred yen a day.

If you need a vacation from your vacation, then step off of Shinjuku's streets and into this Balinese-themed fantasy island, one of Tokyo's many "love hotels" that happens to offer both nice overnight accommodations and a quintessential Japanese experience (in general, people come to a love hotel for fun rather as a place to stay). Your room might have a karaoke machine, a projection system for movies, a massage chair, or even a sauna. There is pricing for day use or an overnight stay, so if you're looking for somewhere to spend a rainy afternoon, that's also an option. Typically love hotels are for couples (some refuse same-sex couples), but this place also welcomes small parties and events, so also offers food. Everyone must be over 18. 

Much classier than other members of this hotel chain, the Washington has guest rooms with views of the city or the sci-fi half-dome of Canal City. Hundreds of shops and eateries are steps away. The hotel has both wired Internet connection and Wi-Fi.

Direct connection to the metro lines makes this a great place to stay, as do the tastefully decorated rooms and lobby designed by renowned architect Kengo Kuma. The fitness center and many of the large, modern rooms have excellent city views; some suites even overlook the nearby Hie Shrine. The hotel's three restaurants are all good bets, though the highly rated breakfast is on the pricey side.

This affordable hotel is within a few minutes’ walk of JR Nara and Kintetsu-Nara stations. Rooms may be basic, but they are more stylish and spacious than most hotels within a similar price range. Beds are super comfortable, and the area is quiet at night, despite the central location. The morning breakfast buffet will set you up for a day of sightseeing.

Occupying the 19th to 37th floors of a tower that is, itself, on a slope above Shibuya's chaos, this hotel has an expansive, welcoming lobby, as well as spacious, tastefully designed rooms with neutral color schemes and fantastic views of Tokyo Tower or Mt. Fuji (when weather cooperates). Some rooms include windows in the bathroom to allow for bath-time city gazing. Rooms on the Executive floors have access to the 35th floor lounge for cocktails or afternoon tea.

While short-term guests can appreciate the amenities, the Citadines Shinjuku is also a bright bit of value for long-term travelers—a place where primary colors and attentive staffers greet you in the lobby, and guest rooms are cheerfully decorated and practically outfitted. If you spring for breakfast, you can fortify yourself with a wonderful continental-style spread before taking a stroll in the nearby Shinjuku Gyoen, a sprawling, landscaped garden. The nightlife scene here is also a draw. Note that it's easier to take a short taxi ride from Shinjuku Station than attempt to find the property from the nearest subway station.

Located in downtown Narita City, a very short walk from both train stations and close to Narita Omotesando, the shopping street leading to the beautiful Naritsan temple grounds, this minimalist property is the perfect base for some last-minute souvenir hunting and sightseeing. Other perks include a self-service laundry facility and a rate that includes a basic continental breakfast.

Elevators shoot up 28 floors in the slick, green-hued Tokyo Shiodome Building to a lobby of dark oak paneling and bronze lattices at the luxurious Conrad, which artfully mixes ultramodern and traditional Japanese aesthetics. Rooms have high ceilings and bathrooms with dual sinks, rain-shower heads, and separate tubs (complete with rubber duckies). For the best views, opt for a room facing the bay rather than one overlooking the city. Indeed, the Twin Bay View Rooms (a roomy 516 square feet) have the latest in modern hotel design (granite bathroom counters, ergonomic desk chairs) and Japanese aesthetics (a charcoal drawing of cherry blossoms above the headboard). Dining options include the award-winning China Blue and Kazahana, which serves superb Japanese cuisine and overlooks the Hama Rikyu Garden. Be sure to come with plenty of Hilton points (or your best plastic)—room prices are as sky-high as the lobby entrance.