Japan Is In Love With This Floating Hotel

Japan Is In Love With This Floating Hotel

Guntû is a nineteen-room hotel floating in the Seto Inland Sea in southwestern Japan. The 266-foot ship sets sail from the Bella Vista Marina in Onomichi, a one-hour drive from Hiroshima Airport, which itself is just an 80-minute flight from both Tokyo and Seoul. From there, it embarks on a highly scenic route along the Chugoku and Shikoku coastlines, which feature multi-layered mountain ridgelines and sunsets worth writing home about. Guests can choose to stay one, two or three nights onboard, selecting between several distinct routes. Guntû’s maiden voyage took place in October, 2017, and it’s been delighting ever since.

Guntû was designed by the Yokohama-born architect Yasube Horibe. Horibe is a professor of architecture at the Graduate School of the Kyoto University of Art and Design, and a recipient of the 2016 Architectural Institute of Japan Prize (Architectural Design Division) for his design of Charnel House in Chikurin-ji. His vision for Guntû was one of warmth and welcome, a place where guests would immediately feel at home. To achieve it, Horibe used warm woods in his design: honey-colored alder on the walls and ceilings and ash on the floors. Most of the furniture aboard Guntû is made of warm, soothing woods as well.

Each of Guntû’s nineteen rooms offers its own private sea terrace and a flood of light through expansive windows, making for a photogenic scene at any time of day or night. The 970-square-foot Guntû Suite offers panoramic views from the ship’s bow, while the Grand Suite trades a bit of indoor floor space for a more spacious terrace. Some of the Terrace Suites also feature an open-air bath. There’s a spa, sauna, communal bath and gym on board, all designed in Horibe’s cozy aesthetic. If the photos from your suite aren’t to your liking, head to the rooftop observation deck, complete with a bar and ample space to soak up the pristine aqueous views.

“What you want, when you want it, and as much as you want,” is how Guntû describes its dining options. “We carefully prepare and serve outstanding meals that make the most of the flavor, simplicity, and beauty of ingredients encountered during once-in-a-lifetime moments.” Meals are prepared under the supervision of Kenzo Sato, who hails from Shigeyoshi in Tokyo. Both Japanese and Western dishes are served in the main dining room, though the real magic comes at the sushi counter. Freshly-caught seafood is delivered directly from local fishermen to Guntû, where it is prepared and served to guests within hours of being caught. There’s a tearoom onboard, too.

If three days at sea doesn’t sound like your idea of paradise, don’t fret: on-shore activities are available as well. Guntû’s excursions vary by season and location, though you can expect coastal walks through port towns, joining local fishermen in their daily catch and other calming activities to strengthen your bond with the stunning natural landscapes of southwestern Japan. Nighttime saké tasting from Guntû’s moon-viewing boat is another guest favorite.

With every passing year, luxury hospitality developers push their properties further off the beaten path. The likes of Alila, Aman and Four Seasons have made it clear that, with the right locale and amenities, sparkling properties on even the most secluded of South Pacific islands will attract guests in droves. Yet the question remains: how far can this trend go? As international travel gets cheaper, and business travelers go further, I expect many more concepts like Guntû to spring up in the years to come. As for Guntû itself—I can’t imagine a better place to catch up on Murakami’s latest, can you?

via Forbes https://www.forbes.com

May 9, 2018 at 04:13PM