Home Destinations The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko – A Luxurious Escape

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko – A Luxurious Escape

by Jerry

When: November 2024

Where: Nikko, Japan

Length of stay: 3 nights

Room reserved: Lake Chuzenji View Room

Room received: Lake Chuzenji View Suite

Price per night: 136 900 JPY (original room)

Travel companion: Wife

Status / collaboration: Marriott Gold Elite / Collaboration with hotel

*In collaboration with The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

During the pandemic, I saw a brand new Ritz-Carlton open up in Japan – one that had the first ever natural onsen in a Ritz-Carlton property. At that time travelling was impossible, so I could only dream of the day we would finally be able to return to Japan and give this hotel a try. At the end of 2024 it was finally time to do that.

This hotel review was done in collaboration with The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko, however you can always trust that I write my reviews honestly. I was a normal paying customer, but in return of this review I received some extras, such as a room upgrade to the next category and a few experiences.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

We spent a total of 16 nights in Japan, but for the three nights we spent in The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko, our main goal was to relax, experience some kind of spiritual cleansing and do a small social media detox. This meant we only took pictures during our trip, but didn’t use any social media. It was like a holiday within a holiday, which I strongly urge you to try one day, wherever you might be spending your vacation.

ARRIVAL

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko outside

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko is located in an area called Oku-Nikko, which is about 30 minutes by car up the mountain from Nikko Station. I recommend taking a taxi from the station, if you don’t have your own car. There’s also a bus available to the area. Just beware that the road you have to take to get to the hotel, the Irohazaka Winding Road, is true to its name with 48 hairpin turns. Some might get slightly carsick here, so be prepared for that. I loved it, but my wife not so much.

When coming from Tokyo there are two easy ways to get to Nikko Station, either from Asakusa Station or Tokyo Station. We chose the special Tobu Spacia X train to get from Asakusa to Nikko, which took around two hours. The experience itself was fantastic and the ride was pretty cheap. The only problem with this particular train is its popularity so if you want to grab nice seats, you might have to get up at three in the morning to get them, like I did (at least in Finland). The best seats are sold in minutes, if not seconds, after becoming available a month before.

Interior of the Spacia X Cockpit Lounge train car

The other option is to use the highspeed shinkansen train, but in this case, you need to travel from Tokyo Station to Utsunomiya with a shinkansen and then continue from Utsunomiya to Nikko with a slower local train. These local trains run about once an hour so take that into consideration. The travel time is around the same than with Spacia X. The shinkansen is slightly more expensive.

We took the shinkansen back and tried out the GranClass

But once you start making your way through the Nikko area from the station towards the hotel, the views are gorgeous. Especially when climbing the side of the mountain via the winding road, it feels like you’re in a movie. Actually, the Japanese cult drifting anime, Initial D, got its inspiration from this very road.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

When you get to your destination, The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko, you are immediately greeted by friendly staff, who will take care of everything for you. You just have to walk through a huge wooden door into a serene hallway and start relaxing, as that is what you are here to do.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

We were taken to a quiet lounge area with a fireplace on both sides and served some tea and a small welcome snack, while the kind staff member took care of the check-in formalities. This is what I love in luxury hotels. No need for check-in desks – just get comfortable as they take care of everything.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

It was a nice surprise that our room was ready, even though we arrived a few hours before the official check-in time. But even if it hadn’t been, it would have been easy to spend a few hours sampling the delicious menu at The Lobby Lounge.

GENERAL

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko
Mount Nantai in the background

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko is situated next to the beautiful Lake Chuzenji, which is in fact the highest natural lake in all of Japan at 1 269 meters above sea level. There are World Heritage shrines and temples in the area, as well as beautiful nature, so if you decide to do something else than just relax at the hotel, there is surely lots to do.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

The hotel itself is designed with the idea in mind that you should always be able to see a part of nature, wherever you are in the common areas, and this ethos shows. Instead of in-your-face art, you have enormous floor-to-ceiling windows covering most surfaces with views of nature. This can be a Japanese rock garden, a small pine tree or maybe a water feature. Everything is very well thought out. This creates a serene atmosphere that makes people relax instantly.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

There are many interesting pieces of art all over the hotel, but we also loved the small bonsais and other plants/trees scattered here and there. The light wood covering every surface from the floor to the ceiling makes the entire hotel feel very airy and part of nature itself.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

SURROUNDING AREA

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko
*Picture received from The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

There is so much to see and do in the surrounding area of The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko, but as we were there to relax and only had a few days, we managed to only scratch the surface. However, I definitely recommend at least checking out some of the temples nearby as well as the Kegon Falls, a waterfall located right next to the hotel.

Kegon Falls, Nikko

As we were visiting during the off-season, many places like restaurants and shops had already closed. Some of the buildings in Oku-Nikko had been abandoned ages ago and some of the places have seen their best days. However, there is much to do and see here that I hope places like The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko bring more people and funds to the area.

Nikko

The best thing to do, if you don’t want to spend the entire time relaxing at the hotel, is to go hiking, riding a bike or if weather permits, you could do some kinds of water sports on the beautiful lake.

OUR ROOM

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite

We had booked a room with a Lake Chuzenji view, but got upgraded to a suite with the same view. This was hands down one of the most beautiful hotel rooms we’ve ever stayed at. At 115 square meters (1238sq feet) it’s even bigger than our apartment, so it’s no wonder my wife was ready to move in the second we stepped inside this gorgeous room.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko
Mt. Nantai
We could even see Mt. Nantai from our balcony
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko
The scenery changes multiple times a time according to the weather and light in such a beautiful way

Depending on how much you appreciate open vistas, I’d highly recommend getting a room from this side of the hotel, as the scenery is just stunning. I’m sure the others are nice too, but I’d rather pay extra to get this view, as it is something you can’t find anywhere else.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite

At the entrance of the room there is a traditional genkan, where you leave your shoes and step up to reach the actual living quarters. When the room was cleaned, the provided slippers were always left facing the room, so that we could just step into them once we arrived. I love this kind of attention to detail.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite

Our Lake Chuzenji View Suite was simply breathtaking! We loved it from the minute we arrived. The high, vaulted ceilings, light wood and airy rooms ensured a feeling of understated luxury and closeness to nature at the same time.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
The minibar was hidden into that cabinet
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
These closing doors separated the bedroom from the living room

The living room and bedroom are basically one big space with a half wall separating them from each other, which makes the room feel extremely spacious. When you want to, you can close the sliding doors on each side of the wall to separate the rooms from each other.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
The engawa or “porch” of the room
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
We loved the Japanese maple tree, momiji, on our balcony
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

Our favourite space was located next to the living room – a room resembling a traditional engawa (porch). It had a small sofa, a dining table and a gorgeous view over the lake and mountains. Next to it was a balcony that covered the length of the entire room.

By the way, for some reason after turndown service the balcony door was locked on two evenings in a way that I couldn’t get it to open. I don’t know why this was, but I wanted to mention it just in case.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
The table at the engawa was perfect for having breakfast or other in-room dining
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite

The choice of small details and bigger furniture had been done masterfully in our room. The little Japanese kokedama (small trees planted into moss balls) were adorable, and the big table made out of a tree trunk really grounded the room.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
A big mirror with a make-up table
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
These kinds of latticed sliding doors separated the bedroom from the room’s hallway and bathroom

A long hallway with huge amounts of storage space ran through the entire length of the room from the front door. Along this hallway were also two separate toilets. Thumbs up for this, as it’s rare to have more than one toilet in hotel rooms.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
The most important lights could be operated from the panels on the night tables
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite

The actual bedroom had a comfortable bed and a big TV, which you could hide behind small sliding doors if you wanted. All of the windows had electrically operated blinds and sheers, so you could get the entire room pitch-black if you wanted.

Bathroom and toilets

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
View from the bedroom to the bathroom
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite

I love it whenever a hotel room has double sinks, as they make getting ready in the morning so much faster and easier.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite

The bathroom located right next to the bedroom was one of the highlights of this beautiful suite. One of the walls was solely glass-to-ceiling windows, which provided ample amounts of natural light and a gorgeous view over the lake.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite

The shower and bathtub were in the same big room behind a glass wall. I like it when they have their own enclosed space that stays warm when taking a shower – also it keeps the rest of the bathroom dry.

Water pressure on both the handheld shower and the rain shower on the ceiling were excellent. I couldn’t try the bathtub in any of our hotels on this particular trip because of a small surgery I had earlier, but my wife loved the deep soaking tub. Especially after sprinkling some Japanese hinoki bath salts into the water, which made the entire space smell so good! The hinoki bath salts are a great example of using something small to elevate the guest’s experience with a local product – an extra sprinkle of luxury.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
Bath salts
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
We love Diptyque products

It’s great when you can actually take a bath and just enjoy the view of the lake at the same time. And for those moments when you need a little more privacy, you can just close the electric blinds and sheers.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite

The room of course had two high-end Toto toilets with all the functions you might need. The only thing I was missing in the toilets was a proper towel rack, where you can put your hand towel up once you’ve started using it.

BREAKFAST

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Japanese restaurant

Breakfast in The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko was a special affair. I’ve never experienced anything like it elsewhere. You have one restaurant, where everyone eats, and you need to let them know beforehand, what time you are arriving. At first, I felt this was a bit odd, but then I understood the reason when we had our first breakfast.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko breakfast
The Japanese set in the foreground

Instead of a buffet or à la carte options you either choose the Western set or the Japanese set, which is then prepared just for you. I personally don’t like buffets, so this was perfect. And no worries, they will take your dietary restrictions into consideration. Then you are presented with a beautiful bento box -like tray with all kinds of different foods. In addition to this you can get different kinds of tea and coffee as much as you want.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko breakfast

You can also go to a small buffet to pick up some singular items like juices and yogurts, but there isn’t much you need after getting the entire set in front of you.

In-room breakfast is also available – Western set in the foreground

I was sceptical at first, because I usually just order something like eggs benedict from a list, but I was very pleasantly surprised by how it turned out. My wife chose the Japanese and I chose the Western set every morning, and we both loved the food. Many of the food items were something I wouldn’t have picked myself, but that is the beauty in choosing a set menu – you get to try new things.

FOOD AND BEVERAGE

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
You can also have a serene tea moment in the comfort of your own room

Restaurants

Lakehouse

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lakehouse restaurant

The Lakehouse restaurant is an incredibly atmospheric space with an upstairs and a downstairs. The downstairs is apparently more laid back, but we only had time to try the upstairs à la carte dining. The ingredients used were of high quality, the service worked well and the food was good. I especially recommend coming here for the ambience.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lakehouse restaurant

The Japanese Restaurant

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Japanese restaurant
The ceiling is a piece of art

The Japanese Restaurant is the place where you have breakfast each morning, but there you can also have dinner or even sushi in a tranquil side room, which is where we had a delicious lunch one day. The sushi was delicious and very high quality. Of course the service worked beautifully in here as well, as it did everywhere else in the hotel. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to everyone who likes sushi.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko sushi
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

Afternoon tea

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko afternoon tea

We always love to check out the afternoon tea offerings in luxury hotel. This time we had it at The Lobby Lounge right after our arrival, which was a good time as we were famished. As we had quite a few food restrictions, we didn’t get the normal set most will usually get, so keep that in mind.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko afternoon tea
You can also choose your tea visually.

At first when I heard we can each choose one tea without extra cost, I thought it was a bit odd, as usually you can have as many tea varieties as you like during an afternoon tea. However, I understood the reason when they poured the teas, as they were of very high quality and there was a proper ritual to it. It’s not just a pot that is brought to the table. For each of our teas we were able to get three brews out of it, which was more than enough. Everytime the aroma and taste changed after each brew.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko afternoon tea

I wouldn’t have guessed that one of my highlights for the afternoon tea was their strawberry jam made out of local strawberries from Tochigi prefecture. These strawberries are something they are very proud of in this area, which is why they can be found in all kinds of forms around the hotel’s menus from cocktails to jams and pastries. I understand why because it was simply so delicious! Best I’ve ever had.

The Bar

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko bar

The Bar of The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko is something I recommend you experience while staying here. Even though I prefer classic cocktails myself, the signature cocktails on the menu, like the one which looks like the nearby Kegon waterfall with its cascading steam, are definitely worth a try.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko kegon falls cocktail

If you look at the back wall of the bar closely and know something about Japanese whiskies, you’ll notice that they’ve been laid out in geographical order, with whiskies coming from the eastern and northern parts of the country on the right and the southern and western parts on the left. The wall itself looks like black bamboo made out of tiles. By the way, the ice they use is harvested from a lake in the area and stored in a huge freezer – and it was some of the clearest ice I’ve seen.

I’m very specific about my cocktails as my go to bar in Finland is one of the most highly regarded bars in the country. Usually, the drinks I get in most bars are not up to my standards, but this time I was pleasantly surprised to get one of the best Old Fashioned cocktails anywhere.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko bar

If the main bartender, Tagami-san, is still working there when you visit, tell him Jerry says hi. He was such a funny guy when I got to know him. At first he felt a bit reserved, but once I got to talking to him, he opened up and we were basically friends by the time we left a few days later. He is extremely knowledgeable – a true Japanese gentleman bartender, who has vast amounts of experience from different bars around Japan.

EXPERIENCES

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko
They have a proper tea station at The Lobby Lounge, so you know you are getting high quality matcha

The Experiences in The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko are something I highly recommend trying if you just have the time to spare. These experiences range from bike rides around the area to zazen meditation led by a local monk in the mornings (this I wanted to try, but just didn’t have the time for).

We got to test out four different Experiences, a Fire Ceremony, an art tour around the hotel, a furoshiki class and also some stargazing. All of these were provided to us as part of the collaboration.

The Fire Ceremony

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko fire ceremony

Prior to our trip to Japan I’d experienced the worst years of my life. One of the main things I wanted from the Nikko part of our holiday, was to cleanse myself from the bad energies, so that I’d be able to start the new year from a clean slate. When The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko suggested we try a private Fire Ceremony at a nearby temple, I was immediately sold.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko fire ceremony

As a part of this ceremony a member of the hotel staff takes you to Chuzenji Buddhist Temple, where the head priest will perform a private ceremony for you. Just a heads up, if you do this during the colder months, dress warmly, as the inside of the temple is freezing. They provided us with a heater which helped a lot.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko fire ceremony
You are given these sutras to write as an offering to the temple (I was surprised by my penmanship here)

I don’t want to tell too much about this experience as it’s best to just to see it for yourself, but basically you can choose two wishes per person from a specific list provided for you. These are things like good health, success in a project, happiness etc.. Once you choose these, the head priest will pray for them on your behalf. Once the ceremony is done, you get these little wooden boxes that are to be displayed somewhere in your house – never to be opened, so that the prayers/blessings don’t disappear.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko fire ceremony
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko fire ceremony

The actual ceremony was mesmerizing and something very unique. I wholeheartedly recommend this experience if you are at all spiritual or at least ready to experience different cultures. Just as long as you are respectful when visiting. I just wanted to mention that taking photos of the ceremony is completely okay, and the monks were very friendly so I they won’t mind it either – just don’t take any photos in the main halls that you will get to tour after the ceremony.

The art tour

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko
This painting depicts all kinds of landmarks aroung the area – even the Kegon Falls can be found here

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko is brimming with all kinds of art, so much so, that the entire hotel could be depicted as one big piece of art. We participated in this tour around the hotel, where a member of the staff explains the ideas behind some of these pieces. The tour always varies and they never want to take guests to all of the art pieces, so that you can go and discover them on your own as well.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

This is a very laid-back experience that lasts under an hour. If art is your thing, I recommend giving it a try. We definitely liked it. Oh, and we managed to tell the staff about one particular piece of glass displayed in one of the restaurants, that it has been made by a Finnish sculptor. They told us they would include that info in the upcoming tours, so keep a look out for that and let me know, if they happen to mention it.

All of the art had a strong foundation in the area and themes surrounding it, like the repurposed ropes from fishing boats below.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

Furoshiki class

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

Furoshikis are traditional Japanese wrapping cloths used to wrap presents, carry bento boxes etc. and they can even be used as bags themselves. This is a relaxing and very hands-on experience and I was afraid I would be terrible at it, like I usually am with all kinds of arts and crafts, but I have to say I nailed it. I wasn’t the best at every version we tried, but at least in one of them I was even better than my wife, which is a badge of honour for me.

I couldn’t have imagined furoshikis could be so versatile. After the interesting class we received Ritz-Carlton branded furoshiki bag handles, that can be attached to any furoshiki fabric we want. These same kinds of handles/bags were available in the rooms for guests to use, especially when going to the spa or onsen, to carry their belongings. I didn’t provide a picture here as the pictures themselves weren’t that great to look at – but I promise you I managed to do one beautiful furoshiki package!

Stargazing

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko stargazing

This was something I really wanted to do, as I’ve always been fascinated by the stars, the night sky and all kinds of phenomena involving the sky. The weather forecast wasn’t looking too good leading up to the evening of our Stargazing Experience, but I just knew deep inside that it would be okay. The staff called us a few hours before and told us we might not see anything due to cloud cover, but it was up to us if we still wanted to go. I was confident the weather would be on our side so we went ahead with our plans.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko stargazing

Kamimura-san, the Guest Experience Manager, met us at the lobby that evening and took us to a nearby area with the hotel car. We really got along well with her as she was such a kind and interesting person. This even made the drive to the stargazing spot a pleasure.

Once we got out of the car in an empty parking lot (every other guest had cancelled) and the lights of the car turned off, we were greeted by the most amazing starry sky I had ever seen. For example, I’d never seen the Milky Way before, but now it was right there in front of my eyes.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko stargazing

After a while I had to ask what the flashes were that I was seeing every now and then. It was like someone was taking photos with a flash on, but a thousand times more powerful. Then she told me there’s a thunderstorm on the other side of the mountain we were looking at. I hadn’t even thought of the possibility of it being due to actual lightning, because I didn’t hear any thunder and also in Finland, where we live, thunder and lightning are associated basically only with summer. It is very rare to see that during the winter or even late autumn in our part of the world.

It is hard to describe what it felt like being under the millions of stars in a pitch-black area, staring at a mountain with lightning flashing behind it. To top it all off, we even saw a couple of shooting stars during the 15 minutes we spent there! I don’t know, how long you can spend doing this, but we decided on the 15 minute mark that it was enough for us, as we had seen everything we wanted and it was getting kind of cold.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

So if you decide to do this, and you really should, take warm clothing with you. Kamimura-san provided us with disposable heat packs to keep us warm, which helped, but still you should be prepared.

THE SPA AND ONSEN

Spa treatments

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Spa
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Spa

I love visiting spas in luxury hotels. I just love it, and the spa at The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko is no exception. We booked a couple’s room for my Relaxation Massage and my wife’s Moist Pearl Facial treatment. If I would have been able to take baths on this trip, I would’ve paid a bit of extra to get access to the small private onsen, but this time I had to skip it. Our treatments were part of the collaboration.

As you walk through the serene halls of the spa building, you are transferred into another world. If you still had some remnants of stress when you came in, those will be gone when you leave. At first, we were offered a delicious speciality tea only available at the spa and of course some warm oshibori, as is custom.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Spa

After this we were guided to the actual private couple’s treatment room. I know it can sometimes be stressful for some people to go to a massage, as they don’t know how everything works in that particular place. Just to ease any possible fears, I’d like to mention that the staff is very respectful of guest’s privacy. You are led into the room where you can change out of your yukata into the provided “paper shorts” in private. After you’ve gotten under the sheets/towels, only then the staff returns to the room.

My masseuse, Deki-san, had a magical touch which made the stress in my body melt away. At times I had trouble staying awake as it was so relaxing. I hadn’t been able to get a massage for months because of a small surgery I went to, which made this feel extra great.

At the same time my wife was next to me in the knowledgeable hands of Ishikawa-san, getting a facial treatment. She was so relaxed during it that her Oura ring thought she had fallen asleep. Her skin felt extra firm and moist even the next day. She loved every minute of it.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Spa
Picture received from The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko – this is a single treatment room
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Spa

After our treatments we were led to a tranquil area with plush armchairs and provided more tea and small pastries. This made it easier to return to the “real world” again.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Spa

It was raining during our treaments, which made the walk back to our room through the small courtyard even more ambient. I’ll probably post a video of this moment (in addition to other content) on my Instagram so check it out after this.

Thank you to the entire lovely staff of the Spa for making our visit so relaxing and fantastic.

Onsen

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Spa
Picture received from The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

I’ve only used pictures of the onsen received from The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko as it is strictly prohibited to take pictures in there, for a good reason.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to test out the onsen, which was a huge disappointment, as it was one of the things I had been waiting for years. Well, this just gives me one more reason to return here.

Fortunately however, my wife checked it out – hesitantly at first, but absolutely loved it!

Her words:

The ambience of the onsen was very serene from the moment I stepped into the dressing room. I visited later in the evening, so there were no other people around. Water bottles and all sorts of amenities, including haircare and skincare products, were available.

Relaxing in the outdoor pool was an amazing experience as it was raining outside. The feeling of the hot water around me and the cool mountain air on my face, as rain was pouring down on the rocks and moss in front of me was something I’ll never forget. Afterwards my body felt really heavy, in a relaxed way. I had a great night’s sleep. I’d like to point out that if you are not familiar with the natural scent of onsens, the sulphuric smell might be odd at first, but personally it didn’t bother me at all. It is more like a struck match instead of rotting eggs that some might imagine when talking about this smell.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko
Picture received from The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko
Picture received from The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

THE SERVICE

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

The service at The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko is just what you might expect from a proper Ritz Carlton – impeccable. With these kinds of properties there isn’t really much you can say, that needs improvement, but I found a couple of small things.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko
When people went to sit outside, the staff would immediately come and turn on the warmers for guests
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

As we both have food restrictions, we informed the hotel of these beforehand, so that they would have this information available in every restaurant. We did this to make it easier to them and for us, so that we wouldn’t have to go through the list every time we sat down somewhere. They took our restrictions and especially allergies extremely seriously, which was great to see.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

However, I felt that the communication between the staff didn’t always work so perfectly. We basically had to go through our restrictions almost each time we ate somewhere. I noticed that they probably had the list ready, but at times they just wanted to check everything and at other times we needed to tell them again. I know this is a small thing, and the most important thing for me is that they take these into consideration, but especially in a Ritz-Carlton, I’d expect to say it once and then not having to say it again.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

Also, this is nitpicking, I know, but when I stay at a hotel of this level, I’d prefer not having to say my room number even once. That is how it usually works in many five-star hotels and I’ve especially noticed this in Ritz-Carltons around the world. In The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko our room number was asked each time we went somewhere to eat or if we had requests regarding the room.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

The only thing I would have wanted roomwise would have been an extra pair of slippers, that I would have only used during the evening/after a shower. Also during turndown service they could have provided those little mats/towels on each side of the bed, like they do in most luxury hotels. If such small details are the only “problems” in this hotel, it tells you a lot about the level of service there.

During turndown service the hotel always provided some small snacks, which was a nice surprise. When it wasn’t too windy, they also lit up a small lantern on the balcony to make the evening even more cozy. These kinds of small things make a good hotel a great one.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite
Each evening during turndown service they had brought us little snacks into the room

SUMMARY

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko immediately took its place on the list of our favourite hotels in the world. This is a hotel we will definitely return to as soon as we get the chance. It would be interesting to see the hotel and the surrounding area during different seasons, because the implementation of nature in the hotel itself makes it possible for the ambiance to change thanks to the weather and time of year.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko Lake Chuzenji View Suite

I would say The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko is one of those places, where you can truly escape the stress and demands of your everyday life – to escape the mundane. It’s easily accessible by public transport from bustling Tokyo and the area isn’t overcrowded with tourists like other popular places, so you should definitely put this on your “go to -list”.

All in all, we made some great connections to some of the staff working here and we are looking forward to seeing them again, when we return in the future. I’d especially like to mention Ayaka-san from The Lobby Lounge, who took care of us with a smile every time we visited. If you want to relax properly and forget everything else, if you want to experience nature or if you want to just curl up next to a fireplace to read a book in a gorgeous setting, this hotel is the perfect destination for you.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

Whenever guests leave a member of the staff plays the Ritz-Carlton gong located at the front door to wish them a safe journey home, which is an amazing way to end such an incredible stay there. Also, you get an omamori (protective charm) when you leave. The charm has a different colour each year, so it would be great to start collecting them.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

If you decide to visit The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko, I would love to hear about it, as information like that helps me make these in-depth reviews on my blog.

A special thank you to Keith-san for making this possible. And to my wife, who took many of the pictures seen in this blog post.

You may also like

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.