Kai Okuhida Hotel

Japan

Over a century of Japanese hospitality has been woven into Kai Okuhida, the latest onsen ryokan from multi-award-winning Hoshino Resorts. The lantern-lit abode sits some 1,200m up in Japan’s Northern Alps, in one of the largest geothermal areas in the country – a rumple of pine-lined valleys known as Okuhida Onsengo beloved for 100-plus therapeutic hot springs. The 49 rooms are crafted with splashes of scarlet and locally sourced wood, while mountain views frame the turn of the seasons, as guests hike nearby Kamikochi or ski local slopes; and some include private outdoor onsen that plume into crisp mountain air. In the restaurant, a fine-dining kaiseki dinner is on offer – expect butter-soft Hida beef. But the highlight has to be the communal rotemburo hot-spring bath, cocooning bathers in walls mimicking wintry snow drifts.

Words by Jo Davey. Doubles from £152. +81 50-3134 8092, hoshinoresorts.com