Kanazawa for couples: 5 stays with Kaga cooking and a private bath

Which have a hot-spring bath in the room?

Kokarian, a runner-up, has one in all four rooms. Hyakurakuso has an open-air bath in fourteen of its twenty-four, plus five private baths. In the city, Korinkyo and HOTEL AO KANAZAWA have a private sauna in their suites rather than a hot spring — central Kanazawa is not a hot-spring town.

Where do I eat Kaga-ryori, and what is it?

Kaga-ryori is the formal cooking of the old Kaga domain, built on Hokuriku seafood, Kaga vegetables and local lacquerware. Kanazawa Chaya, run by the Kagaya group, serves a creative kappo menu in that tradition. Motoyu Ishiya does a kaiseki of Kaga vegetables, Nanao port fish and Noto beef, and Hyakurakuso a kaiseki of Kanazawa and Noto produce in a private dining room. HOTEL AO KANAZAWA’s sushi counter is the alternative if you would rather have Hokuriku fish simply.

Will anyone speak English?

Rakuten’s listings say the same thing about all of these: a few staff with some English. Hyatt Centric Kanazawa, a runner-up, is an international chain and the safest bet. THE HOTEL SANRAKU, being large and recent, is the next most straightforward. The four-room Kokarian will have the least. Kanazawa is well used to foreign visitors, but a small ryokan still runs in Japanese.

Should we stay in the city or at a hot spring?

In the city if you want to walk: Kenrokuen, the castle, the 21st Century Museum and the tea-house districts are all close to each other, and Omicho market is best early. Go out to Yuwaku if the bath is the point — Hyakurakuso is about twenty minutes by car and runs a free pick-up from Kanazawa station and Kenrokuen, booked the day before, so you can do both across two nights.

I have a tattoo. Does it matter?

Less than usual here, because three of the five have no communal bath at all — HOTEL AO KANAZAWA, Korinkyo and THE HOTEL SANRAKU. Korinkyo’s rooftop sauna and bath are private, and the suites at both Korinkyo and AO have their own sauna. At Hyakurakuso take one of the fourteen rooms with a bath, or book a private one. Kanazawa Chaya and Motoyu Ishiya have communal baths, so ask.

Can they arrange something for an anniversary?

Hyakurakuso will supply flowers, a cake, a message plate or balloons for a fee. Kanazawa Chaya has anniversary plans, and Motoyu Ishiya has a couples’ plan in a room converted from a storehouse. Say what the occasion is when you book rather than on arrival — Japanese inns prepare this in advance or not at all.

Which one would you book?

HOTEL AO KANAZAWA: fifteen rooms a minute from the Kenrokuen bus stop, a sushi counter scoring 4.93 for dinner with the castle gate in the window, 4.77 across 322 reviews, and about 63% of the median price. The rooms are small, from 19 m². If the bath matters more than the position, Hyakurakuso at Yuwaku is the one, with the free pick-up to get you there.