Late Checkout
Booked through usBecome a client

Which to choose · Nikko

Fufu or the Ritz-Carlton, Nikko?

Fufu is a 24-suite hot-spring ryokan in the town of Nikko, on the site of the Tamozawa Imperial Villa's 1914 annexe, a 14- to 16-minute walk from Rinno-ji, Futarasan Shrine and Toshogu. The Ritz-Carlton is a 94-room hotel up on the shore of Lake Chuzenji in Oku-Nikko, inside the national park and facing Mount Nantai. Fufu gives every suite its own open-air bath by the shrines; the Ritz-Carlton gives the lake, shared hot-spring baths and a spa.

Fufu Nikko

Honcho, beside the Tamozawa Imperial Villa, Nikko

Fufu Nikko

Opened 2020

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

Lake Chuzenji, Nikko

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

Opened 2020 · 84 rooms

In short

Choose Fufu for a hot-spring bath in every suite and the shrines on foot; choose the Ritz-Carlton for a balcony facing Lake Chuzenji or Mount Nantai, Kegon Falls nearby and a spa with shared onsen baths.

  • A first visit to Nikko

    Fufu Nikko

    Rinno-ji, Futarasan Shrine and Toshogu are all within a 16-minute walk.

  • The view

    The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

    The Lake Chuzenji View rooms and suites look across the water, and the Mount Nantai View rooms face the mountain.

  • An onsen

    Fufu Nikko

    Each of the 24 suites has its own open-air bath fed by the hotel's spring.

Fufu Nikko

Choose Fufu Nikko for

  • Every suite has an open-air bath fed by the hotel's own Tamozawa spring
  • Rinno-ji is 14 minutes on foot, Futarasan Shrine 15 and Toshogu 16
  • Setchu's kaiseki with Western touches from Tochigi produce, in private dining rooms, or teppanyaki at Kou

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

Choose The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko for

  • Rooms of 57 sq m with a balcony and an engawa-style lounge, facing Lake Chuzenji, Mount Nantai or the garden
  • Indoor and outdoor baths of sulphur spring water from Nikko Yumoto Onsen, and spa treatments paired with a private open-air bath
  • Kegon Falls and the Senjogahara marshland nearby, and the Lakehouse by the water, café below and restaurant above

Side by side

Where
Honcho, beside the Tamozawa Imperial Villa
Lake Chuzenji
Opened
2020
2020
Last renovated
–
–
Rooms
–
84, 10 of them suites
Room sizes
–
57 sq m
Restaurants and bars
3
4
Pool
Yes
–
Hot spring
Yes
Yes
Awards
2 MICHELIN Keys
2 MICHELIN Keys, Forbes 5 stars
Design
–
Layan Architects + Designers
Airport
–
Tokyo Narita (NRT), 208 km, and Tokyo Haneda (HND), 209 km
Brand
Fufu
The Ritz-Carlton
Booked through us
Our own perks
Marriott STARS

The rooms

Fufu Nikko

Which to book. The FUFU Luxury Premium Suite is the one with both an indoor bath and a large open-air bath big enough for a family; the Precious Suite has the big bell-shaped window onto the trees and a tatami window seat.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

The first room

Fufu Nikko

–

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

Riverside Garden View (King or Two Doubles)

Riverside Garden View (King or Two Doubles)

57 sq m · garden view · balcony and engawa

The room to ask for

Fufu Nikko

FUFU Luxury Premium Suite

FUFU Luxury Premium Suite

140 sq m · Nikko woodland view · second floor (3F); indoor hot-spring bath plus a large open-air bath; sleeps four

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

–

The largest suite

Fufu Nikko

–

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

The Ritz-Carlton Suite

The Ritz-Carlton Suite

277 sq m · Lake Chuzenji view · balcony

Dining

Fufu Nikko

Opening dishes with sea urchin and caviar at Setchu
A course with truffle on a blue-and-white plate

  • Setchu · Japanese kaiseki

  • Teppanyaki Kou · teppanyaki restaurant · seatings 6pm and 8.30pm

  • FUFU Lounge · lounge · afternoon tea

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

  • The Japanese Restaurant · Japanese restaurant

  • Lakehouse · Western restaurant and café · lakeside

  • The Lobby Lounge · lobby lounge · afternoon tea

  • The Bar · whisky and cocktail bar

The spa and the pool

Fufu Nikko

No spa or pool; each suite has an open-air bath of Tamozawa hot-spring water from the hotel's own source, and there is a large public bath with indoor and open-air pools by the river.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

Indoor and outdoor onsen baths of sulphur spring water from Nikko Yumoto Onsen, a spa whose treatments can be paired with a private open-air hot-spring bath, and a 24-hour fitness studio.

Where they are

The two stand 8.3 km apart, as the crow flies.

Fufu Nikko

Next to the Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park, a walk from Rinno-ji and Toshogu

  • Tobu-Nikko station

    10 min by taxi, No pick-up

  • JR Nikko station

    10 min by taxi, No pick-up

  • Asakusa station

    120 min by train, Tobu line to Tobu-Nikko

  • Tokyo station

    105 min by train, Shinkansen to Utsunomiya, then JR Nikko Line

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

On the shore of Lake Chuzenji in Oku-Nikko, within Nikko National Park

  • Tokyo

    150 min by train, about two and a half hours

  • Narita Airport

    194 min by car, hotel limousine, booking required; 208 km

  • Haneda Airport

    174 min by car, hotel limousine, booking required; 209 km

The building

Fufu Nikko

Built on the site of the annexe to the Tamozawa Imperial Villa, put up in 1914 as a summer retreat for the imperial family and later run as the Nikko Tamozawa Hotel until 2006; the land is leased from Tobu Railway. Developed and owned by Hulic, run by the Hulic-Kato Pleasure Group joint venture Hulic Fufu, and opened on 2 October 2020 in a Japanese-Western Taisho style.

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

Interiors of the guest rooms, arrival lobby, lounge, library and bar by Layan Architects + Designers of Melbourne, the spa by Nikken Space Design and the Lakehouse restaurant by Strickland. The concept, 'a residence in harmony with the nature of Oku-Nikko', recalls the lakeside retreats of foreign diplomats since the Meiji era; sliding doors draw on Kanuma kumiko latticework, and a lobby shelf reuses art panels from the Nikko Lakeside Hotel, which operated for 120 years. Opened in 2020 as the first international luxury hotel in Tochigi.

Booked through us

Fufu Nikko

Fufu Nikko

Our own perks

  • A room upgrade on arrival where one is free

  • Breakfast for two each day

  • A hotel credit to spend on dining or the spa

  • Early check-in or late checkout when the hotel can give it

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko

Marriott STARS

  • A room upgrade on arrival when one is available

  • Daily breakfast for two

  • A US$100 hotel credit each stay

  • Early check-in and late checkout when available

On the hotel's flexible public rate.

Become a client

Still deciding? Tell us your dates and what matters most, and we will say which we would choose, and book it at the hotel’s own rate with the perks above.

Questions

Fufu: Toshogu is a 16-minute walk, and Tobu-Nikko and JR Nikko stations about 10 minutes by taxi. Lake Chuzenji, where the Ritz-Carlton stands, is 25 minutes by car from Fufu, and buses run up from the Tobu-Nikko station bus terminal.

At Fufu, yes: all 24 suites have an open-air hot-spring bath, and the FUFU Luxury Premium Suite adds an indoor one. At the Ritz-Carlton the hot spring is in shared indoor and outdoor baths, and a private open-air bath can be paired with a spa treatment.

More hotels compared