Tenku no Mori

Extreme luxury and posh onsen hotel. Great f&b, gourmet dinner! Luxury villa! Must try! That’s if you can afford it.

It is impossible to compare Tenku no Mori with most other ultra-luxury hotels. For starters, the 123-acre site has just three private villas spread out through the property. Each villa is beautifully designed in classic contemporary Japanese fashion with extensive use of beautiful woods from the surrounding country-side. Think the opposite of bling: simple, refined elegance. We were fortunate to occupy the largest villa-and I mean large! It consisted of a huge glass walled "bedroom house" surrounded by wooden decks overlooking the valley . There was totally a separate "living room" house, again huge and well-equipped connected to the bedroom building by open wooden walkways.. Each building has an onsen and the wooden deck in front of the "living room" building contained yet a third large onsen allowing one to contemplate the beauty of the surrounding hills while soaking in the hot-spring-fed onsen. Dinner was prepared in front of a wood-burning oven in the separate lodge building by Tenku No Mori's talented chef. This was in essence a multi-course kaiseki meal prepared in front of us and just for the two of us. Talk about privacy! Each course was based on local ingredients, with the vegetable and chickens sourced from Tenku No Mori's own farm. Amongst the many dishes that we were presented with were: bonito soup; local "sweet fish" in a egg-based tempura batter; shiitake mushrooms picked on the property and served both sashimi style and grilled; satsuma age deep fried fish cake; Osumi beef; and-hold your breath- raw chicken consisting of small pieces of various parts of the chicken including he heart! (My wife opted to have her chicken pieces grilled, despite my urging her to try the raw chicken that are specially raised by Tenku No Mori.)Simply outstanding. While the chef does not speak English, a lovely woman served as our interpreter and enabled us to engage in conversation with the chef as he prepared each course. All in all, this is one of the most memorable places that we have ever stayed.

I had a massive all-glass villa to myself (with western bed and full kitchen) on top of a mountain with sweeping views all around, and a private onsen to soak in while contemplating the beauty of rural Japan. I explored the stunning 123 acre property on foot (running in fact) including the organic gardens, the duck pond with the adorable ducks which surround you as you feed them, and the open air theater. I also took a river safari in an open-air jeep through the riverbed, which was fun. The food is world-class - both Japanese and western.

Most amazing meals I've ever had and perhaps the most peaceful place I've ever stayed in my life.

What a great place!

the view is absolutely stunning top notch will go back again

Wonderful place well kept Stunning views from all the rooms

Amazing