Mitsui Garden Hotel Kanazawa

Rooms and decor

The Mitsui Garden Hotel Kanazawa rides on two things — a top-floor onsen and a spot right by Omicho Market, the 300-year-old fish market. The building is a 14-floor grey-and-white block about 700 metres from JR Kanazawa Station on the Kenrokuen-guchi side, a 10-minute walk over the bridge across the Asanogawa river. The ground-floor lobby is done in Kaga-yuzen hand-woven cloth in indigo and gold over noto hiba wood floors, and it smells warm and woody, like walking into a Japanese home. Overall guest reviews land around 8.9/10. The Moderate Twin runs $86 a night for 22 sqm — modern Japanese business-hotel style in brown and soft green, with two 110×195cm twin beds, Simmons mattresses and down pillows. The 3.5 sqm bathroom is a unit bath, with tub, shower and a Toto Washlet all in one, stocked with Japanese Pola toiletries. It is small but laid out so it never feels cramped, and you get 4 sachets of drip coffee and 4 bottles of mineral water free, refillable at the lobby whenever.

Food and amenities

The heart of the place is the onsen and sauna on the 14th floor, on real Kaga hot-spring water piped straight in — sodium chloride and sulfate that loosen muscles and leave your skin soft. There are two indoor baths (hot and warm) plus a dry sauna, a cold plunge and an outdoor stone bath, open 15:00 to 01:00 and 06:00 to 10:00. Reviewers say that around 22:00 it drops to about four people, dead quiet, with stars through the open top-floor window — the feel of a ryokan at business-hotel money. Breakfast is the other draw: the buffet at the hotel costs about $15 and brings Jibuni stew, Kanazawa sashimi, gold-leaf wagashi and a chef cooking sweet Kaga-style egg, with the standout being Kanazawa's sweet natto.

Location and getting there

The next morning it is a 4-minute walk to Omicho Market — 300 years old, open from 09:00, with vendors hauling in tuna, giant crab and fresh amaebi sweet shrimp. The popular order is the Kaisendon, a mixed-sashimi rice bowl for about $17 at Iki Iki Tei — tuna, salmon, crab and uni roe over warm rice, eaten right there in the market, which reviewers call the best of their lives. Back at the hotel you can borrow a bike free from the lobby; it is an 8-minute ride to Kenroku-en versus a 25-minute walk.

Things to know before booking

The honest catch is size — standard rooms are 22 sqm, smaller than the Hyatt or Nikko, which is normal for this business-hotel class. You are also a 10-minute walk (700m) from the station, the furthest of the station-area picks. Parking is about $10 a night, limited, and needs booking ahead. Families should note the Triple Room sleeps 3 in 25 sqm for about $165, but there are only 12 of them, so reserve early. One money tip: book the breakfast in advance and it drops to about $12, about $3 off the walk-in price.

Our take

The Mitsui Garden Hotel Kanazawa is the best call for food-minded couples and anyone who loves a soak — a top-floor onsen open every day, 4 minutes from Omicho Market, and a Jibuni breakfast buffet worth the alarm. The 8.9/10 from 593 reviews, second-best in the group, backs that up. At $86 and up it runs about 40% under the Hyatt for Mitsui Garden quality — a clean fit if you want to soak after sightseeing and eat sashimi at Omicho without spending big.