Ryokan Asukaso

Ryokan Asukaso is the closest ryokan to Nara Park on this list, about a 12-minute walk from Kintetsu Nara Station past Sanjo Street and Sarusawa Pond Park. The deer from the park wander right into the front garden. The lobby is the real ryokan thing — tatami floors, hinoki wood, and an ikebana arrangement on the central table — and staff in soft brown-and-cream kimono greet you with welcome matcha and fresh red-bean wagashi. The overall guest score is around 9.6/10, the highest in Nara.

Rooms and decor

The Standard Tatami room runs about $286 a night with breakfast and the kaiseki dinner included, and measures 18 sq m plus a 4 sq m balcony. You get fresh-smelling tatami, wooden shoji screens, and a low hinoki chabudai dining table. Staff bring a cherry-blossom-patterned yukata to wear in the room. The bed is a premium 5-layer Tojaku futon, 18 cm thick, stowed in the oshiire closet and laid out for you in the evening after dinner. The unit bathroom is small in the ryokan style but spotless, with a deep soaking tub and a Toto Washlet. From the balcony you look out over Sarusawa Pond, the 50-metre five-story pagoda of Kofuku-ji, and deer circling the water.

Food and amenities

At 18:30 staff knock and carry in the 12-course kaiseki dinner, setting it on the chabudai and serving one course at a time over two hours. It opens with a sakizuke of sea urchin and yuba tofu, then an eight-item zensai in a large wooden box, a clear suimono fish broth, five kinds of sashimi (Yamato salmon, tuna belly, sea bream), a simmered nimono of taro and mushroom, six pieces of tempura (large prawn and matsutake mushroom), and the headliner — 100 grams of A5 Yamato Wagyu seared on a hot stone. Koshihikari rice, miso soup, and three sweets close it out, each plate set down like a small artwork and poured alongside local Yamato sake from the Imanishi Brewery. Breakfast is a 9-course Japanese kaiseki served in your room at 8 AM.

Location and getting there

Asukaso sits right on the edge of Nara Park beside Sarusawa Pond, about 12 minutes on foot from Kintetsu Nara Station and 18 minutes from JR Nara. After dinner you can soak in the ground-floor onsen, where the floor and walls are cream-and-gold marble and the mineral salt-and-magnesium water runs at 42°C — twenty minutes and your muscles let go. There are separate men's and women's baths plus a small outdoor bath looking onto a Zen garden, all open 24 hours. Step into the garden around 7 AM and eight or so deer are already waiting for shika-senbei, sold in the lobby for about $1.50 — they bow for the crackers, and it is worth doing once.

Things to know before booking

It is not cheap: about $286 a night, though that does cover both the kaiseki dinner and breakfast. You sleep on a futon on tatami rather than a tall spring bed, so if that is a dealbreaker this is not your hotel — that said, the 5-layer Tojaku futon is genuinely comfortable and you can request a free extra. The unit bathroom is small, standard for a ryokan, even with its deep tub and Toto Washlet. And with only 23 rooms, dinner times fill up — pre-book your 18:00 or 19:00 slot at check-in.

Our take

Ryokan Asukaso is the best ryokan in Nara, and its 9.6/10 is the top score in the city. It is the closest you can stay to Nara Park, with deer at the door, real tatami rooms, kimono-clad staff, a 12-course kaiseki in your room, A5 Yamato Wagyu, a marble onsen, and views over Sarusawa Pond and Kofuku-ji — all from about $286 a night with meals included. For honeymooning couples, anyone chasing a genuine ryokan stay, kaiseki-loving foodies, and deer lovers, this is the one you remember for life.