The Most Extravagant Hotel in Japan - Hotel Kawakyu

In this video we've come to Wakayama Prefecture, to the coastal town of Shirahama, to visit one of the most extravagant hotels in Japan. Costing over 36 billion yen and taking over 2 million man-hours to complete, the Kawakyu Hotel is the ultimate fusion of European architecture, traditional Japanese culture, fine art and incredible history. Contrasting against the blue ocean, its brilliant orange roof stands out for miles, comprising of 470,000 restored tiles sourced from the Forbidden City of Beijing. Similarly, the majority of the bricks used in construction of the walls were sourced from various locations across Britain. After opening its doors in 1991, the unique architecture was quick to garner international praise. It's even rumoured that a certain eccentric member of pop royalty attempted to purchase the hotel but was ultimately unsuccessful. While the exterior is certainly not lacking in eye-catching detail, what waits for you inside is even more impressive. This is the ground lobby of Hotel Kawakyu and look at the ceiling. It's incredible and it actually has the Guinness World Record for the largest ceiling in the world that's covered with gold leaf. And not only the ceiling is impressive but look at this pillar made of marble. I heard each one cost over 1 million dollars and there are 24 of them supporting the ceiling. Immediately after basking in the golden glow of this extravagant ceiling, our high-class experience continues as we visit the hotel's very own art museum. Flanking the lobby are two galleries featuring art from traditional Japanese brush artists Taikan Yokoyama and Ikuo Hirayama. There are also pieces by many world-renowned artists including a fairly sizable collection of illustrations by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali. Towards the back of the gallery is a large installation in an old repurposed banquet hall which certainly takes you by surprise. It's quite a contrast from what we saw. Yeah I mean in the main corridor there was always like traditional Japanese artwork and this is all very modern. It's almost like a chalkboard. It's all been painted black. It's almost like graffiti. It's very very modern. Very vivid like white, black, red colors. Very very cool. And this piece in the middle which is kind of straight up to the white house. What is the theme of this room? There are three themes in this room. There is love, peace, and freedom. First, there is freedom here. There are butterflies. And on top of that, there are flowers and forest. This is peace. And on the far right, there are a lot of hearts. This is love. With such a grand entrance and an impressive collection of artwork from around the world, it's easy to forget for a moment that this is actually a hotel. And of course, no fancy hotel is complete without some equally fancy rooms to choose from. Guys, oh wow. This place is huge. This room is the presidential suite and is probably bigger than most people's apartments. But while the size certainly makes it stand out, there's one feature in particular that puts it a cut above the rest. Okay guys, check this out. Wow, amazing. I've got the private bath here. And you know, it's open air, so it's almost like a mini onsen. I can't wait to try this. Although only the presidential suite comes with its own private bath, Kawakyu Hotel is certainly not short of options when it comes to enjoying that traditional Japanese onsen experience. From this bath with an incredible panoramic view that looks out over the ocean, to a refreshing outdoor onsen and everything in between. After a nice soak, you can spend some time relaxing in the spa. Or if you're feeling a little more active, then you can head to the roof and do a few laps in the swimming pool. How was the nap? It was good, man. I feel recharged. We started at like six in the morning today, so I need a midday power nap. But yeah, check this out. We're in the Japanese suite, which is pretty nice. Tatami mats, all the furniture is super low. It's got those nice like earthy tones into the greens and stuff. Yeah, I feel pretty relaxed in here. I'd say it's a modern Japanese style. I think so, yeah. It still looks a little Western, but it's nice. It's a hybrid. Yeah, check out this view, man. This is crazy. So this looks out over the bay here. Really nice. And you can see down on the lawn there, there's a little circle of grass. That's where all the private helicopters land for those extra VIP guests. Yeah, I heard so. We should try that next time. I think next time, yeah. We'll have to come in and try it again. Looks good. Despite the heavily European-influenced exterior of the hotel, there's still plenty more Japanese-themed areas hidden within. Next up, we're guided to the traditional Japanese banquet hall, an enormous space that can host 50 guests and covers the area of 70 tatami mats. At the end of the room is an incredible folding screen, adorned with the image of Five Maiko, the title given to Apprentice Geisha. As we don't quite have enough people to fill a banquet hall for dinner this evening, we'll just have to settle for our very own private room. On the menu for our meal this evening is an absolute feast, comprising of three main dishes all perfectly prepared by the highly-skilled hands of Chef Fukaomi. First up is a fish and vegetable hot pot. But it doesn't just use any fish though. This dish uses kue, one of the rarest and most expensive fish in Japan. Looks good. Is this your first time trying the kue fish? Kue, yeah. I mean, I hadn't heard about it until about two minutes ago. While we were eating. I just googled it. It's called a long-tooth grouper. If anyone knows what that is. How is it? Delicious. So good. Yeah, it's really good. How does it taste like? It's like in the middle of cod and salmon, maybe? It's not sweet, it's not salty. It's a bit chewy. Like meat. It's more like meat, actually. Interesting. It's really good, yeah. The other two dishes were different approaches to serving up perhaps Japan's most highly-regarded ingredient, Wagyu beef. Shabu Shabu has thinly-sliced cuts of grade A5 Wagyu beef quickly boiled with vegetables in a light and flavourful soup. Sukiyaki, however, sees the Wagyu fried in a sweet sauce which is then further enhanced when dipped into the rich golden yolk of a raw egg. That is so soft. To finish up the evening, we head down to Cafe Diablo for a rather impressive mixology performance that sees a Diablo cocktail being prepared while the liqueur is set ablaze producing these brilliant streams of blue flame. So this is the Cafe Diablo cocktail and I'm pretty excited. It feels quite warm and if you've seen the video up to this point you know why because it was just on fire a few minutes ago. It's got an orange liqueur base, it's got a cream foam in it and then they just dashed on the top there a little bit of amaretto which I'm a big fan of. I guess I just need to try it. Oh, it's very hot. It's very orangey, very zingy. The cream's a bit sweet. Amaretto as well. Interesting. I didn't know what to expect even though I knew the ingredients. I couldn't imagine what they would taste like blended together. After seeing that show I'm glad that the taste lives up to the spectacle. You're going to appreciate more. It's hot. To start the next day off right we'll be skipping coffee and going straight for the hard stuff. Hidden in the basement is the largest wine cellar in Japan. Housing around 5000 bottles over two floors, this is one seriously impressive collection of vintage wines. And not only do they have labels from countless world famous vineyards but some of these bottles are centuries old. OK guys, so this is the oldest bottle of wine in this entire cellar. It's from 1789 the first year of the French Revolution. I've made wine over 200 years ago but is it still OK? I haven't had wine over 200 years ago but I think it's still OK. Thank you. Maybe, yeah. Certainly with the country's biggest wine cellar installed, it's par for the course that the Kawakyu Hotel also has a luxurious restaurant for you to enjoy that wine in. Completely contrasting to our experience in the private Japanese dining rooms the main restaurant is enormous and divided into three areas each with a distinct aesthetic and decor. This is a real antique brick. About 300 years ago the Italian cheese factory brought this brick here and sliced it to make this. They brought it from Italy? Yes. The restaurant was designed in the Moroccan style and was actually built in Morocco. The Moroccan artist Paolo Rosa used a really large red brick and sculpted it. So this is not a piece of wood? No, it's a piece of wood. This pillar is also by the same artist? Yes, it is. It has the same velvet pattern. It's a work by Jocop Rizzi. In the evening the Kawakyu Hotel offers up to its guests one of the most elaborate buffets I've ever seen. Serving up everything from monstrous Wagyu steaks and crispy stone-baked pizza to fresh made-to-order sushi. There's also an overwhelming assortment of sweets with a cake selection that will give you a heart attack just from looking at it. If it wasn't already obvious by this point in the video the experiences to be had here at the Kawakyu Hotel are unlike anything else in Japan. And with that unfortunately our time here has come to an end. Having sampled some of the finest cuisine in the country, soaked in a ludicrous amount of onsen and indulged in some high-class art and culture it's safe to say that any other hotel in the future is probably going to leave me a little disappointed. Thank you for watching!