The Best Hotels to Book in Kanazawa, Japan

Enveloped by a rare patch of woodland still clinging on in the heart of the city, this deeply dignified traditional inn feels like an escape across the centuries. Tatami rooms open onto forest views, and every bedroom has a unique feel, thanks to antique furniture, painted paper screens and traditional fabrics. Add fine Hokuriku cuisine and an on-site teahouse, and it’s the quintessential ryokan experience.

The philosophy of this downtown hotel is to function as a modern village square, connecting guests with locals and the city. That means excellent concierge services, delicious local food and smart, restrained rooms themed around the traditions of Kaga Yuzen silk dyeing. Each room is decorated in one of the Kaga Gosai, the five traditional colours that decorate Kanazawa kimonos. It’s a modern creation but unmistakably Japanese, down to the traditional bathhouse, and right in the thick of things near the castle.

Kanazawa’s landmark Kanazawa-jō Castle and Kenroku-en Garden are just a few minutes’ amble from this dynamic, modern hotel on Kanazawa’s main strip. It’s smartly designed, with mood-setting lighting, shimmering fabrics and mural-style headboards, plus swankier concept rooms inspired by Kanazawa landmarks. Modern artworks fill the futuristic lobby, there’s a bathhouse – of course – and the restaurant looks out onto an atrium garden.

Close to the Sai River, within walking distance of the parklands flanking Kanazawa-jō Castle, Agora Kanazawa blends sleek modernity with traditional ryokan motifs. The minimalist, modernist rooms have reinvented shōji screens, zaisu chairs (with no legs) and mattresses on raised platforms, but there are also Western-style rooms for the uninitiated. It’s very understated, very elegant, and there’s an enticing bathhouse and spa and a carmine-red restaurant inspired by traditional teahouse design.

So close to Kanazawa-jō Castle you can almost hear the arrows swoosh overhead, KKR Hotel Kanazawa is a sculptural concrete monument, full of airy public spaces and compact rooms that come in international and Japanese styles. It’s the location that steals the show here; you’re just minutes from the downtown sights, some of which can be seen from the bedroom windows.

Space isn’t everything – staying at the Kanazawa Capsule Hotel Musashimachi feels a bit like travelling into space, with beds in modernist pods set in futuristic arrays, like suspended animation bays for interstellar travel. Bathroom facilities are shared, but they have to be – the capsule rooms have just enough space for a mattress, TV, a shelf and a coat hanger. It’s very central, and certainly an experience that guests remember.

The Nikko brand is associated with high standards of service, and that’s certainly the case at this soaring hotel tower, almost on top of the train station but a little further from the sights. The high-rise setting means great city views, and the bedrooms have restrained colours, soft sheets and roasted green tea alongside filter coffee. There are multiple restaurants covering diverse cuisines; several take full advantage of those stunning city vistas.

Sarasaro is a very different hotel experience to anything else on offer in Kanazawa. Set in a low-rise, wood-clad building beside the Sai River, this low-key hotel feels like a suburban home; it’s calm, quiet and unpretentious. Rooms are compact, but there are perks: the owner, a former cook, prepares a full Japanese breakfast, and the old town is an easy bus ride from a stop just seconds from the front door.

The robot velociraptors behind reception are the first sign that Henn na Hotel Kanazawa Korimbo is not your average hotel. This offbeat concept hotel near the castle has a thing for technology, with touchscreen consoles in the rooms, vending machines in the lobby and robot-controlled check-in and check-out. Against this backdrop, the friendly restaurant serving homemade soba noodles is a surprisingly human touch.