Kansai
Running for seven generations, this is a fantastic ryokan for a splurge. It excels at everything: beautiful rooms arranged around a central garden; onsen…
Must-see hotels in Kansai
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Osaka
Osaka's most stylish hostel is inside a 1960s office building suitably kitted out with vintage furniture. There are Japanese- and Western-style private…
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Nara
An utterly charming stay in a traditional 1920s building, which was once a tea master's home. Choose from bunk-bed dorms or five different-size private…
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Kii Peninsula
Among Kōya-san's most atmospheric temples, with a thatched roof and an old kitchen with exposed wooden beams, Shōjōshin-in is a wonderful choice for your…
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Kii Peninsula
This pretty hillside temple, set around a garden, offers both simple but nicely done-up rooms and pricier en-suite rooms with newly updated facilities. It…
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Osaka
Opened in 2017, the Conrad has injected some much-needed contemporary glamour into Osaka's hotel scene. Occupying floors 33 to 40 of the Festival Tower…
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Kii Peninsula
An excellent modern B&B in a glen near central Hongū, with immaculate, comfortably minimalist design, lots of English-language sightseeing info and…
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Kansai
Newly renovated, with natural timber paneling, contemporary amenities (including a kitchen and laundry facilities), a communal lounge and a very chill…
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Kii Peninsula
In its 29th generation, Kamigoten was built in 1657 for the local lord and member of the Tokugawa family. It's been updated over the years and now feels…
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Kansai
The superb Ugenta is a stylish inn located in the village of Kibune, about 30 minutes north of Kyoto by taxi or train. There are only two rooms here, one…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Kansai
In business for two centuries but marvellously up to date, Katō has English-speaking staff who cater well to international travellers. Especially…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Kii Peninsula
This old minshuku was recently converted into a hostel by the reliable J-Hoppers team. There are spacious, cabin-style bunks and private Japanese-style…
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Kansai
This three-room hostel, in a vacant old house thoughtfully renovated by its young, English-speaking owners, is ideally set up for self-catering, with a…
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Kii Peninsula
Fukuchi-in has two standout features: a communal onsen bath, including a rotemburo (outdoor bath), and a garden designed by famous modernist landscape…
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Osaka
This great budget option in the heart of Amerika-Mura has a variety of rooms. Besides four-bed and six-bed dorms, there are private Japanese- and Western…
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Kii Peninsula
This beautifully renovated guesthouse, with exposed beams and traditional plaster walls, has two Japanese-style bedrooms and sleeps up to six; there's…
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Kii Peninsula
The fourth-generation Kosaka family of innkeepers opened this modern and polished building in 2015. The current-generation Kosaka-san doesn't speak much…
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Kansai
In northern Miyama and surrounded by farmland, this four-room family-run inn started as a pharmacy on the old road connecting Kyoto with the sea; it also…
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Osaka
Imagine spending the night in a first-class suite of an Airbus A380 – inside an office building. Cabins, closed off by sliding screens, contain private TV…
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Osaka
The Hilton has spacious rooms with king-sized beds and lovely touches such as shoji (sliding rice-paper) window screens. Staff speak English and are at…
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Kansai
A foreign-travellers' favourite, this 10-room ryokan in a nearly 100-year-old wooden building has heaps of traditional atmosphere and friendly, English…
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Capsule Hotel Asahi Plaza Shinsaibashi
Osaka
This is a classic capsule hotel, with over 400 pods on separate floors for men and women as well as communal baths, conveniently located in Ame-Mura. They…
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Kansai
This fairly new inn, with both Japanese- and Western-style rooms, is well set up for solo travellers and those who don't want to be locked into a meal…
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Kansai
Squat and concrete, family-run Denyō doesn't look like much but delivers on dinner, which features fresh local specialities such as ise-ebi (spiny lobster…
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Kansai
This long-time traveller favourite is a reliable choice and has friendly, English-speaking staff. Rooms have toilet and sink, and the communal onsen bath…
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Kōbe
One of Japan's most historic hotels (1870), in Kyū-Kyoryuchi (the former foreigners' settlement), the Oriental was rebuilt after the 1995 earthquake and…
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Nara
This welcoming little ryokan, conveniently located in Naramachi, has Japanese-style rooms with toilets (and some with bathroom). It's warm, homey and well…
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Kii Peninsula
Miyoshiya is a simple travellers' ryokan from the 1940s, and the knowledgeable English-speaking owner makes a stay here worth it. Most of the Japanese…
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Kansai
Right on Yanagi-dōri, conveniently located for Kinosaki's soto-yu (public bathhouses), this long-running ryokan (350 years!) is well kept and welcoming…
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Osaka
Opposite an elementary school, Mitsuwaya has wooden bunk dorms with lots of power points, shelves, a storage locker and privacy curtains. It's full of…
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Osaka
Minami's most elegant hotel, with stunning views and direct connections to KIX airport via Nankai line trains that depart from Namba Station below the…
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Kansai
This is a great budget choice, with owners who love welcoming foreign guests. Rooms are simple (with shared facilities) but well cared for, and the onsen…
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Kii Peninsula
A boon for budget travellers, this light and clean guesthouse has capsule-style bunks and a few private rooms, all with shared facilities. It's also a few…
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Kii Peninsula
One of Kōya-san's smaller temples, with only 14 rooms, Sōji-in is also one of the most modernised: all rooms have air-conditioning, some have baths (and…
