The Expedition Hotel Zenagi

I only wish I’d stayed more than one night. As a solo traveler, I felt welcomed and looked after, and the staff are what make Zenagi special. Dinesh was a wonderful hiking guide on the three-hour walk from Magome to Tsumago, sharing the Nakasendo trail and samurai history. His enthusiasm and kindness made it a breeze. Selah was so sweet and made me breakfast in the morning. Her English was fantastic, and we had lovely conversations. The villa is amazing, but the dinner was just WOW. All eight courses were incredible, one of the best meals I’ve ever had. Yosuke, the sommelier, picked amazing pairings. Do the full pairing! I’m still dreaming of charred eggplant with jalapeño sauce alongside hot, fragrant sake. The venison ragu stood out too, even though I’m not a big game meat person. Non gave faultless service with a friendly smile and jokes, and drew a wonderful bath to end the night. I had a little tear in my eye when I left the next morning. Bravo Zenagi, you’re a slice of heaven!

We stayed at Zenagi for three nights and already want to go back. Everyone looked after us so well. During the Nakasando hikes, our driver Dinesh would appear at rest stops with water or hot tea, and at lunchtime he’d have a table and chairs ready at a beautiful spot. Back at the house, Non and manager Selah always greeted us with lovely smiles. The accommodation was tastefully decorated, with luxurious bathrooms and fine cedar bath tubs. Dinners were legendary, each of the three nights had a different theme and ingredients, and every meal was tasty and perfectly done. They even surprised me with an early birthday celebration. The Mont Blanc dessert was the best I’ve ever had, better than ones at three Michelin starred restaurants. Meeting local artists and learning traditional Japanese lacquer art, Maki-e, were special optional activities. Water rafting was a lot of fun, with amazing scenery. They captured our moments on their phones and shared all the photos with us. There’s no better way to do Nakasando trails than the Zenagi way!

Selah and her Team at Zenagi were unbelievably impressive, and our stay was the highlight of our first trip to Japan. The Residence itself is outstanding, and the attentive staff took care of every detail, from our welcome and rooms to onsen preparation and cleaning. Dinesh led our Nakasendo Trail and Post Towns tours with wonderful humor and knowledge. The dinners were truly amazing, with presentation, local produce, and flavors worthy of Michelin ratings. We can’t recommend staying at Zenagi highly enough. It felt as close to heaven as we’ll probably ever get!

We first found Zenagi three years ago while walking the Nakasendo trail, and liked the beautiful house, catering, and activities so much that we came back in November during another Japan trip. Last time we enjoyed kayaking on the Kiso river and paragliding high above the rice paddies in the Kiso valley. Selah, the private butler, and her team pampered us through our three-day, two-night stay. She’d been in touch for weeks to carefully plan the activities and exceeded our already high expectations. A private visit to the Yamato family, who make beautiful bowls and plates from different woods, and hands-on maki-e painting were memorable. So was the Mino Ceramic Art Museum and Kõbei Kiln in Tajimi. The kiln is 220 years old, and Ryotaro Kato, now the eighth-generation head of this family of Living National Treasure potters, guided us. We also had the privilege of a Matcha Tea ceremony with the artist and drank Matcha from bowls that were artworks in themselves. Chef Ishimatsu prepared two multi-course dinners with an innovative “farm to kitchen” approach using local producers. Both were amazing in presentation and execution, including how he handled dietary restrictions. Zenagi will surely be on our destination list again for a future Japan trip.