KUMU Kanazawa by THE SHARE HOTELS

It’s not quite fair to say that Kanazawa, on Japan’s western coast, is an overlooked tourist destination. Japanese people themselves are well aware of its charms — it’s a popular destination for domestic travel — it’s just the foreigners who seem to have missed the memo. But when word gets out that this seaside city is home to hotels of the Share Hotels Kumu Kanazawa’s caliber, that’ll likely change. Here unapologetically contemporary post-industrial design, bare concrete and all, meets Japanese hospitality tradition; we’ve never seen tatami rooms look quite so modern.

The Western rooms are impressive as well, while the Bunk and Loft rooms are fit for families and larger parties in multiple configurations, and the bathrooms are a futuristic, minimalist vision. All of the interior spaces are stylish, clean-lined yet organic, impressive but not imposing — a hotel, however design-forward, must be, above all else, a welcoming space. There’s no restaurant per se, but a tea salon provides a central social space, serving light fare from midday into the night, and a rooftop deck provides a bit of open-air relaxation. It’s hard enough to find hotel design on Share’s level in Tokyo, Kyoto, or Osaka — to find it in Kanazawa will be, for overseas guests at least, a real eye-opener.

Credit some photos: Takumi Ota