WORLD’S OLDEST HOTEL
GAMZE YESILDAG
The world’s oldest hotel is the 1315-year-old thermal hotel, Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, which has been run by the same family for 52 generations in Japan.
Let’s stop and think about this information for a moment and then continue. Founded in 705, the hotel, visited by samurai and important political figures at the time, is located in a valley. Its surroundings are preserved enough to make it feel like historical Japanese paintings, especially during the autumn period. Located 130 km west of Tokyo, in a sparsely populated village, the hotel was last renovated in 1997.
In addition to a 4-star service at the hotel, the traditional Japanese style has not been abandoned. Keiunkan brings the traditional Japanese aesthetic to life in its entirety with 35 tatami-scale rooms with floor tables, each of which opens to Mountain and river views. The hotel has the most efficient Spa in Japan, and has an outdoor thermal pool in each room, as well as shared pools where men and women can enter at different times.
The rooms and the hotel are described in general, the most prominent aspect is its deep-rooted history. In addition, the hotel underlines the fact that it continues Japanese traditions at every point, from the way it works to the interior architecture, from the view to the food. For example, one of the highlights of the two largest rooms is the moon viewing terrace. The traditional sliding doors of the rooms, which open completely, look at the surrounding mountains and rivers and part of the poetic landscape. From this point of view, Keiunkan seems to say that luxury or comfort can be sought not in the newest and most flamboyant, but in the most peaceful.
Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan is an example that proves how important it is to keep him alive to preserve the traditional, and to keep up with the era. As it is a commercial business, it may be thought that it should do so anyway, but even at the expense of making some concessions in terms of comfort (as we have seen in some visitor comments) it is important to have the courage to live it. Learning that the second oldest hotel in the world is also a hotel founded in 718 and again located in Japan reminds us once again that this behavior of protection and survival is not a coincidence.
