These Are Japan’s Best Hotels, Pools, Spas and More in 2025

TRAVELERS IN JAPAN are spoiled for choice when it comes to luxury stays, whether they want a Hollywood-famous Tokyo hotel or traditional onsen digs. Omotenashi, the Japanese hospitality style of selfless service, can be found across the country, from tropical Okinawa to the ski-in/ski-out resorts of Niseko—and for sure in each one of the resorts, hotels and spas featured in these lists. Get inspired for your next Japan trip with these winning properties across the country.

BEST BEACH, ISLAND + UPCOUNTRY HOTELS

1. Park Hyatt Niseko

Majestic views framed by the lobby at Park Hyatt Niseko. Courtesy of Park Hyatt Niseko

Since 2020, this has been the resort for winter in Niseko, thanks not only to ski-in/ski-out access to Hanazono powder but also to award-winning design by BAR Studio that brings sophisticated scale to Alpine-chalet hominess. With just 100 rooms and 28 suites, the hotel has a whopping eight restaurants, including a Pierre Herm. patisserie. A gin-forward cocktail bar with fireplace lounge and a modern stone-clad onsen bath are chic aprés-skioptions. The fun doesn’t end with the ski season though, as the hotel also has seven tree-top trekking courses and a popular summer art installation event.

2. Club Med Kiroro Grand, Hokkaido

3. ANA InterContinental Beppu Resort & Spa, Kyushu

4. Amanemu, Honshu

5. Yu Kiroro, Hokkaido

6. Setsu Niseko, Hokkaido

7. Hotel Indigo Karuizawa, Honshu

8. Halekulani Okinawa

9. ANA InterContinental Appi Kogen Resort, Honshu

10. Fuji Speedway Hotel, Honshu

BEST CITY HOTELS

1. The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto

Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto

Kyoto just keeps gaining great hotels, and travelers just keep choosing the Ritz! No surprise, with its expansive Zen-spired property offering airy rooms with riverside views, easy access to Gion and Higashiyama, and the incomparable dining experience of Chef’s Table by Katsuhito Inoue, not to mention Italian, kaiseki, sushi, tempura, and teppan options. With a richly textured interior in sleek woods and soothing sky tones, bonsai, sumi-e ink painting, and lacquer accents drawn from Kyoto’s rich artistic history, it’s a luxurious immersion in the traditional Japanese aesthetic. And don’t forget its signature spa treatments rooted in local wellness, with antioxidant-rich green tea and bamboo.

2. Park Hyatt Kyoto

3. Aman Tokyo

4. Palace Hotel Tokyo

5. Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills

6. Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo

7. InterContinental Osaka

8. Dusit Thani Kyoto

9. The Ritz-Carlton, Fukuoka

10. Bellustar Tokyo, a Pan Pacific Hotel

BEST HOTEL SPAS

1. Evian Spa at Palace Hotel Tokyo

Courtesy of Palace Hotel Tokyo

This 1,200-square-metre spa is one of only three Evian-branded spas outside France, and is a perennial favorite for its marble mist sauna, treatment rooms with Imperial Garden views, and Aqua Move Experience add-on, a gentle stretching treatment in the pool that uses water resistance to relax and limber up the body―perfect after a day on the Tokyo tourist trail.

2. Harnn Heritage Spa at InterContinental Beppu Resort & Spa

3. AO Spa at Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills

4. Hyatt Regency Hakone Resort & Spa

5. The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Kyoto

6. Yu, The Spa by L’Occitane at Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo

7. The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo

8. Wellness at Amafuru Oka, Kagoshima Prefecture

9. Fukuzumiro Ryokan Onsen, Hakone

10. Kinosaki Onsen at Nishimuraya Hotel Shogetsutei

BEST HOTEL POOLS

1. ANA InterContinental Beppu Resort & Spa

Courtesy of ANA InterContinental
Beppu Resort & Spa

Simplicity wins when you’ve got views like these. The year-round infinity pool and jacuzzi at this hillside resort in Oita prefecture eschew fancy ornamentation and splish-splash features to focus guests’ attention on the panoramic vista of Beppu’s stunning townscape and bay.

2. Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto, a Luxury Collection Hotel

3. Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills

4. Halekulani Okinawa

5. Bvlgari Hotel Tokyo

BEST GENERAL MANAGERS

1. Masaru Watanabe, Palace Hotel Tokyo

Masaru Watanabe has been with the Palace for more than 35 years, working his way up from bellman to GM and executive director. He says the Palace’s unique guest experience is created by harmoniously balancing concept, design, service and product to express Japanese sensibilities.

2. Mari Takara, Hotel Indigo Karuizwa

3. Neil McInnes, Conrad Tokyo

4. Maxime Hotelier, Kimpton Tokyo

5. Takanori Muroi, Hotel Seiryu Kyoto

You’ll find great diversity in these lists of our readers’ picks of the best hotels and hotel features across Japan for 2025. And for all of this year’s Luxury Awards Asia-Pacific winners, click here.

Lede and hero image by coward_lion/©GettyImages.

Written By

Jessica Kozuka

Jessica Kozuka works freelance as a writer and editor, specialising in travel, lifestyle and language ..Read Moreacquisition. In addition to being the resident curator for Luxe City Guides Tokyo, she’s been published in Travel+Leisure SEA, CNN Travel, Wine Spectator, The Japan Times, and a fleet of inflight magazines. Jessica also writes and edits English study materials for Benesse correspondence courses, Aeon conversation schools, and other corporate clients. Read Less