Guntû
unscoredno first-hand write-up in the thread
Guntû is a 19-cabin floating ryokan that cruises the Seto Inland Sea, designed by Yasushi Horibe, with a sushi bar and terrace cypress baths on the top suites. It books as a cruise instead of as a room, and at $3,750–$5,250 a night it is the most expensive stay here. The only guest reviews are on Tabelog, where 3.08 over 19 reviews is respectable on that restaurant-review scale, and the repeat passengers there praise the attentive crew and the eat-as-you-like menu. Nobody in the thread has sailed on it.
Scores
Food
Meals run on the ship's own rule, whatever you like, as much as you like: the chefs cook what you ask for from the fresh ingredients on display, there is a sushi bar, and the dinner menu changes daily around that day's recommendations, so no two voyages eat the same. The handful of Tabelog reviewers, several of them repeat passengers, are satisfied with it, but nobody in the thread has eaten on board.
Bath
The top suites have private open-air cypress baths on their terraces over the water, and there is a communal hinoki bath for everyone else. These are heated tubs on a ship, so there is no hot-spring water anywhere on board. Nobody in the thread has written about the bathing here.
Service
The crew is what the Tabelog reviewers praise most, and the repeat passengers among them describe friendly, attentive hospitality that leaves nothing wanting. The press routinely calls Guntû one of the world's great hotel experiences. Nobody in the thread has written about the service here.
Room
The 19 cabins are Yasushi Horibe's work, and the top suites have open-air cypress baths on private terraces facing the water. Nobody in the thread or among the Tabelog reviewers has written about the cabins themselves.
Place
Guntû cruises the Seto Inland Sea from a marina near Onomichi, so the islands and water outside the window change through the stay, and Yasushi Horibe shaped the ship's roofline and hull to echo the tiled-roof towns of the Setouchi coast. Routes vary between voyages.
Getting there
- Hiroshima — 1h, 1 transfer. Reverse of: JR Sanyo local Onomichi→Fukuyama (~15 min), Sanyo Shinkansen Fukuyama→Hiroshima (~25 min) — change at Fukuyama (faster than Shin-Onomichi, 3 km out of town).
- Kyoto — 2h20, 1 transfer. Bookend down the Sanyo Shinkansen: 'Nozomi'/'Sakura' Kyoto→Fukuyama (~1h40), then JR local Fukuyama→Onomichi into town. (Shin-Onomichi is direct but sits ~3 km out, so Fukuyama-and-local lands you at the station.)