There are only 11 in Japan. Enjoy gourmet food at a Relais & Chateaux inn.

Autumn is the season for food, and some people will be traveling with the goal of eating. If so, why not enjoy a trip where you can enjoy high-quality meals while staying at a lodging recognized by Relais & Chateaux?

Relais & Chateaux is a mark of lodgings and restaurants that have passed rigorous screening.

Founded in 1954, Relais & Châteaux is a non-profit organization that only hotels and restaurants around the world that offer high-quality food and hospitality can join. The organization consists of 580 hotels and restaurants in 68 countries that have passed rigorous screening.

Relais & Chateaux are supported by privately owned hotel owners and chefs who have strong beliefs in coexisting with the local community and preserving the richness and diversity of food culture, and who wish to build heartfelt relationships with their guests. In 2014, UNESCO announced the vision of 20 Relais & Chateaux hotels, which actively works to protect the history and environment of the land.

In Japan, there are only 11 hotels and 9 restaurants that are members. Here, we will introduce 5 gourmet hotels from among these select facilities.

Beniya Mukayu (Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture)
A Japanese kaiseki meal made with the abundant ingredients of Kaga and Noto, and dashi stock prepared by the head chef every morning.

Beniya Mukayu is a hot spring inn located on the heights of Mt. Yakushi, at the end of a narrow slope leading from the Kaga Yamashiro hot spring town in Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture. "Mukayu" means "something that is simply natural, without any artificiality," and is said to be one of Zhuangzi's favorite words.

Get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and regain your composure through the healing power of nature. You can spend a quiet, peaceful and luxurious time here.

There are 16 guest rooms in total, all with their own open-air baths. The hotel is built around the nature of Mount Yakushi, where a variety of trees grow lushly, including red pines over 300 years old, weeping cherry trees, maples, and magnolias, so you can enjoy lush views from every room.

One of the most popular rooms is the special room "Byakuryoku," which was completed in 2018. The room is about 100 square meters in size and features an open-air bath and a wide veranda where you can enjoy a view of the garden, with a shoin study placed between them. There is also a large moon-viewing terrace, perfect for relaxing quietly while watching the natural scenery change with the seasons.

The key to Beniya Mukayu's cuisine is "subtraction," making the most of the seasonal ingredients that Kaga and Noto are known for. The dish is based on a stock that head chef Hiroaki Kado makes himself every morning, and for dinner you can enjoy a Japanese kaiseki meal that matches the season.

For example, Kobako Crab Amber Jelly is a luxurious dish that can only be enjoyed in the winter, made by removing the meat from female snow crabs known as kobako crabs caught locally at Hashidate Port and serving it with crab vinegar jelly.

The duck meatball hotpot (limited time only) made with ducks raised in Kaga is one of Beniya Mukayu's signature dishes. The special broth made from duck bones creates a deep flavor. The special meatballs made from a mixture of loin, gizzard, and liver, and the rich rice porridge served after the hotpot are exquisite flavors that attract many repeat customers.

Hokuriku is famous for the high-class fish, Nodoguro, and here you can enjoy carefully grilled Nodoguro over charcoal. Add a squeeze of Sudachi citrus fruit to taste.

You can enjoy Kaga's gourmet cuisine with your eyes and tongue along with a variety of tableware that exudes Ishikawa culture, including Kutani ware, Yamanaka lacquerware, and Wajima lacquerware.

The breakfast includes a variety of nutritious dishes that are quintessentially Japanese, such as freshly caught cod roe (the roe of pollock caught by longline fishing), homemade dried baby sardines with Japanese pepper, rolled omelet made with fresh local eggs, and miso soup with a strong dashi stock. The rice cooked in an individual clay pot in each room is made from Koshihikari rice grown by a local contracted farmer and polished in-house.

The hotel offers a variety of experiences that guests can take part in if they stay for two nights or more, such as the popular "Spa Entei Treatment Center" where treatments using Yamashiro hot spring water and medicinal herbs are available, the "Library" where you can spend a quiet and rich time, and even the "Moss Terrarium" where you can fill a bottle with moss and create your own garden. Why not go out to experience the slow flow of time in nature while enjoying the view of the streets of Yamashiro Onsen town and the Kutani ware pottery "Yondai Suda Seikagama" located close to the inn?

Beniya Mukayu

Gora Flower Bed (Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture)
Enjoy the changing seasons with your eyes and tongue. Kaiseki cuisine made with local and seasonal ingredients

The history of Gora Kadan began after the war when the company took over the former Kan'innomiya villa, surrounded by the lush nature of Hakone. The current style was completed after renovation in 1989. It is a space that combines the comfort of both Japanese and Western styles, gently soothing all who visit.

Particularly eye-catching is the "pillar corridor," a glass lattice door corridor that connects the guest rooms to the large public bath. It was designed by the current proprietress to allow guests to feel the changing of the seasons.

The featured dishes are dishes that allow you to enjoy the changing seasons through your taste buds, based on the essence of kaiseki cuisine, which is the "first season" when ingredients first become available, the "season" when they are ripe to eat, and the "nagori" when they pass the season's peak and you lament its passing.

Our seafood, including rosy seabass and golden-eyed snapper, is sourced from our convenient location surrounded by Sagami Bay and Suruga Bay, allowing us to procure the freshest fish caught in both bays on the same day, so you can enjoy them at their best.

The most popular item on the breakfast menu is the local Odawara specialty, dried fish. You can choose your favorite fish from salted salmon, cod, horse mackerel, and barracuda. There is also a Western menu, so please choose whichever you prefer.

Of the 41 guest rooms, the one we recommend is the annex "Akatsuki," which opened in April 2021. From the open-air bath, where you can have the weak alkaline simple spring water, also known as "beautiful skin water," all to yourself, you can look out over the dry landscape garden, which features bold rocks, a feature of Gora. It is a spectacular view with a sense of unity, including Mount Daimonji towering in the background. The spacious Japanese-style room, which can accommodate up to six people, is furnished with a variety of furnishings carefully selected by the proprietress.

At "KADAN SPA," where skilled beauticians will soothe your daily fatigue, treatments are prepared to suit each individual's symptoms. Combined with the adjacent rock bath, you can achieve even deeper healing. Don't miss out on the spectacular views and natural energy spots scattered around, such as Lake Ashi overlooking the majestic Mt. Fuji, Hakone Shrine, and Owakudani.

Gora Flower Bed

Nishimuraya Main Building (Kinosaki Town, Hyogo Prefecture)
Enjoy local specialties such as Tajima beef and Matsuba crab with the traditional taste that has been handed down for 160 years.

Kinosaki Onsen is located in the northern part of Hyogo Prefecture. Nishimuraya Honkan was established 160 years ago in this area, which has a history of 1,300 years since it first opened and still retains the atmosphere of a traditional hot spring town. Inside the building, which is also designated as a national registered tangible cultural property, you can feel the breath of history and the solemn yet relaxed flow of time. The beautiful garden that can be seen from the lobby also never fails to captivate visitors.

The restaurant offers a variety of dishes that allow you to enjoy the "traditional Nishimuraya flavor" that has been passed down since the restaurant first opened, all of which use ingredients that can only be found here.

The menu is filled with dishes created by Executive Chef Yoshinobu Takahashi using seasonal ingredients sourced locally. The menu incorporates an abundance of local Tajima ingredients, including Tajima beef, the source of Kobe beef, fresh seafood such as tilefish and sandfish caught in the Sea of Japan, and snow crab, a winter specialty of Kinosaki Onsen.

The menu changes every month, so you'll be able to discover new flavors every time you visit. Meals are served in the guest rooms, allowing you to experience the hospitality that only a Japanese inn can provide, which is the secret to its popularity.

The 33 guest rooms are built around the garden, so you can enjoy different views from each one. The most recommended room is the "Moon Viewing Room." Located in the Hiratakan, a separate building designed by Hirata Masaya, a master craftsman of sukiya, this room features an independent building with a raised floor and an open-air bath with a Shigaraki ware ceramic bathtub.

There is also a garden pond that can only be seen from this "Moon Viewing Room," making this a particularly special room in the Nishimuraya Main Building.

The hotel has three large baths: the Japanese-style "Yoshi no Yu" bath, which is enveloped in the scent of cypress, the "Fuku no Yu" bath, decorated with elegant Chinese tile motifs, and the "Sho no Yu" bath, which overlooks the courtyard. Guests can also enjoy free tickets to the seven public baths (outdoor baths) in Kinosaki Onsen. Strolling around the hot spring town in a yukata and geta sandals is also a fun part of the trip.

Nishimuraya Main Building

Sky Forest (Kirishima City, Kagoshima Prefecture)
Enjoy the bounty of nature in its best condition. The chef's attention to detail can be felt throughout the creative cuisine.

There are only five villas with hot springs on a vast site the size of 13 Tokyo Domes. "Tenku no Mori" is a luxury resort built based on the worldview of the owner, Takeo Tajima.

Furthermore, this facility is conveniently located just 15 minutes by car from Kagoshima Airport, and overlooks the Kirishima mountain range, surrounded by dynamic nature. There are three villas for overnight stays and two villas for day trips only. Spending time in this luxurious space will allow you to forget about time and your daily routine and free your mind.

Among them, "Akane Sasu Oka" is designed to be the most beautiful place for the setting sun to shine in, allowing you to experience the changing of the day with all five senses. The view of the Kirishima mountain range from the gourd-shaped open-air bath is indescribably spectacular. From the tip of the deck, you can also get a panoramic view of the terraced fields.

Hanachiru-sato is a day-use villa, but it's a place where the sunrise is beautiful. In fact, guests staying at other villas can get up early to go and enjoy the spectacular view.

The theme of the cuisine served at this hotel is "Eat the earth, eat the seasons" and "Appreciate the seasons". The owner carefully selects seasonal vegetables from terraced fields where more than 30 types of vegetables are grown without pesticides and serves them in their natural state.

For example, there are a variety of exciting dishes that make you feel as if you are enjoying the bounty of the land and sea of Kirishima, such as marinated Annou sweet potato and local chicken, loofah and scorpionfish, aquapazza with green olives, and stewed Japanese black beef cheeks and beets.

Breakfast includes a main dish made with local eggs, as well as seasonal bread, soups and smoothies made with freshly harvested vegetables and fruits. Desserts such as dekopon jelly and homemade pasteurized yogurt are also a treat. The chef's attention to detail shines through in everything from cooking methods to presentation, in order to bring out the best in the ingredients available that day.

Experience all the charms of Kyushu, including its rich nature, culture, and history, with your whole body and enjoy the special space created by the "Forest in the Sky."

Forest in the Sky

The Uza Terrace Beach Club Villas (Yomitan Village, Okinawa Prefecture)
Continental French cuisine using ingredients from our own farm and fresh, locally caught seasonal fish

All 48 guest rooms are villa-style rooms with pools. The Uza Terrace Beach Club Villas in Yomitan Village, central Okinawa, is a place where you can spend the most luxurious time with your family and friends without any worries.

Among the many guest rooms, the most popular is the "Premium Villa Two Bedroom." Measuring 137 square meters, the two buildings, each with a living room and two bedrooms, are built on either side of a private pool, giving the feeling of a villa where you can enjoy your time however you like.

This hotel operates under the concept of "Our Farm to Table," and serves the bounty of nature harvested from its own farm, "OUR FARM," adjacent to the hotel, in its restaurant, bar and lounge.

More than 10 kinds of seasonal vegetables, herbs, fruits, etc. are grown using natural farming methods without the use of chemical fertilizers. They also grow rare vegetables that are hard to find in supermarkets.

At the restaurant "Fine Dining," you can enjoy continental cuisine based on French cuisine. The chef's menu includes hors d'oeuvres with fresh seafood caught in the local sea in tartare and vegetables from the restaurant's own farm, presented in a gorgeous garden-like arrangement, a flavorful risotto made with dried vegetables and a bouillon slowly simmered, and Okinawan black wagyu beef fillet grilled to perfection over binchotan charcoal.

For breakfast, you can choose one main dish from meat, fish, eggs, or galette, and enjoy drinks, salads, fruit, and more buffet-style.

"In-room dining" is also popular, where you can dine in the living room of your room or by the pool. Enjoying a meal in a private space is a luxury that can only be found in a resort villa.

One of the most recommended items on the "In-Room Dining" menu is the "Western-style meal 'Chef's Jewelry Box'" which is served at dinnertime and is limited to 10 meals per day. The menu includes dishes that are carefully designed to look good and taste good, such as carpaccio of freshly caught fish carefully marinated in natural salt and paired with a slightly sweet and sour sugarcane-based sauce, and beef fillet served with an original sauce made from red wine and the local specialty Tomami miso (broad bean miso).

Vegetables and herbs harvested from the hotel's own farm are also used in the treatments in the beauty salon, allowing you to recharge your body with the power of nature. Other popular menu items include a tomato body pack and a jet spa with floating herbs. In addition, be sure to try out the activities around the hotel, such as a private cruise where you can enjoy Okinawa's beautiful sea from a boat.

The Uza Terrace Beach Club Villas

We hope you enjoyed these lodgings, filled with comfortable spaces and delicious cuisine. With the theme of "Autumn is the season for appetites," we recommend a gourmet tour for your next trip in search of authentic flavors recognized by Relais & Châteaux. A wonderful experience that will please both your eyes and your palate awaits you.

*The menu at each accommodation will vary depending on the season, weather, and availability of ingredients.