HOTEL RIDGE, a blissful experience for all five senses

Located in Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture, on a hilltop in Setonaikai National Park overlooking the scenic Naruto Straits below, HOTEL RIDGE is an exquisite lodging with only 10 guest rooms on a spacious site of approximately 70,000 tsubo (approximately 1.2 acres), catering to a limited number of guests.
Surrounded by rich nature, HOTEL RIDGEis a private oasis where guests can enjoy a relaxing and blissful time, feeling the great outdoors while gazing at the tranquil waters of the Seto Inland Sea, based on the concept of “experiencing bliss with all five senses.
All of the 10 carefully selected guest rooms, all with ocean views, will be renovated in April 2019. The 10 rooms in the five buildings consist of four Japanese-style rooms and six Western-style rooms, each with a different design. Each room is furnished with artwork based on the concept of the room and furnishings unique to the Awa region, allowing guests to feel the comfortable local climate. The view of the Seto Inland Sea from the room’s deck, where you can feel the sea breeze on your skin and enjoy the view of the Seto Inland Sea spread out before you, will stimulate all five senses in a pleasant way.

The indoor baths in the guest rooms are comfortable, but for a more relaxing experience, the spa and esthetic treatments are not to be missed. The 100% free-flowing simple spring water, pumped up from 1,500 meters below the ground, has a smooth and mild spring quality that blends well with the skin, and is said to be effective in treating skin diseases, neuralgia, sensitivity to cold, and fatigue. There is also a deck overlooking the straits, where you can relax and soak in the seasonal sea breezes.

Relax with an ocean view of the Seto Inland Sea

Within the hotel’s spacious grounds, visitors can enjoy the charm of the tasteful architecture of Banri-so, with its dry landscape garden and tea ceremony room, and Mitsui Suishoen (former Mitsui Takatatsu Villa) Annex, a wooden house designated as a Tangible Cultural Property.
The “Banri-so,” with its white walls surrounding a dry landscape-style Japanese garden reminiscent of the Great Wall of China, can be used by guests as a luxurious dining room. One cannot help but be impressed by the many kaiseki dishes served in this atmospheric space, which are decorated with seasonal and unique Awa ingredients. Breakfast, too, is a gorgeous way to start a perfect day, filling the body and soul with sumptuous dishes that will energize you for the day ahead.

The “Mitsui Suishoen (former Mitsui Takatatsu Villa) Annex,” with its exquisite shimmering sunrise through the window glass, is open for tours for guests. Visitors are invited to tour the annex, where rare architectural techniques can be seen everywhere, and fully immerse themselves in this fantastic world.

If you want to enjoy Western food as well, go to ” California Table”. The restaurant’s superb location, stretching from the Naruto Straits to the Seto Inland Sea, will impress you as if you were visiting a resort on the West Coast, and will further enhance the appeal of its creative French cuisine, which makes abundant use of seasonal, local ingredients.
The hotel’s name is also derived from the California wine “RIDGE, ” which is to be enjoyed together with such a sophisticated space. This historic brand won first prize at the 30th anniversary tasting of the Paris Showdown, and a wide variety of wines are available, all of which are deeply flavored gems. It is a good idea to find your favorite wine from the unique lineup.

The restaurant is an exquisite space that creates a calm and relaxing flow of time, as if you have entered a time warp from the hustle and bustle of everyday life into a different world. It will promise you an extraordinary trip with a pleasant sense of openness.

The post HOTEL RIDGE, a blissful space with luxurious nature / Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Open-air bath overlooking the Seto Inland Sea from the terrace

Yumesenkei Villa Amahara, located on the east coast of Awaji Island, is the newest addition to Hotel New Awaji’s villa, Awaji Yumesenkei, whose symbolic phrase is “The sea you wanted to see is here.
Awaji Island is the birthplace of Japan and the birthplace of the nation as described in the beginning of the Kojiki, the oldest extant chronicle of Japan. Inspired by the passage “Takamagahara, the place where the gods reside,” the inn was named “Amahara” (meaning “heavenly field” in Japanese), and is a place where you can spend your time as you please.
All 18 guest rooms have deck terraces and private open-air baths, and all rooms have views of the Seto Inland Sea. Two separate maisonette villas, “Matsuki” and “Umisaki,” have deck terraces leading to a private pier, allowing guests to go directly down to the beach from their rooms.

Enjoy the hot springs and relax at your leisure.

Spa Terrace Suigetsu, a facility shared by Hotel New Awaji and Awaji Yumesenkei, draws in hot springs of different qualities from the “Furumoe Onsen,” a naturally nigori hot spring with a source on the premises, and the “Sumoto Onsen,” with a source on Mount Mikuma, allowing guests to enjoy the two hot springs. In addition, the Garden Lounge, available only to guests of Amahara, offers after-dinner digestif service, a library, and Internet access. You can freely choose where and when to spend your time at “Tianyuan” according to your own mood. There may be something you have not found yet, something you have always wanted to see.

The post Elegant Hotel “Yumesenkei Villa Tianyuan”/Sumoto City, Hyogo Pref. first appeared on NIHONMONO.