The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

What the classifiers highlight

On the shore of Lake Chuzenji inside Nikko National Park, with Mount Nantai across the water, the hotel gives all 94 rooms a lake or mountain view and each its own Zen rock garden. Both MICHELIN and Forbes rate it among Japan's best; Forbes counts Five Stars. Interiors draw on Kanuma-kumiko, a local craft of cypress carved into geometric lattice.