The Shisui hotel makes you want to extend your stay beyond just a daytrip in Nara, Japan

Nara often ends up playing second fiddle to Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto on holidays to Japan. Usually, it is relegated to a day trip of quick temple visits and close encounters of the hangry deer kind.

Which is a pity as the city — the nation’s first capital from 710 to 794 — is a treasure trove of Japan’s oldest cultural artefacts and UNESCO World Heritage sites all worth more than a fleeting glance. The prefecture is now pulling out all the stops to attract visitors to stay overnight — for many years it has had the lowest number of guest rooms in Japan — including a slew of luxury hotel openings lined up in the next few years.

One of them is Shisui, a Luxury Collection Hotel, which is part of Marriott Bonvoy’s global portfolio. Opened in September 2023, the hotel is an easy 10-minute walk from the Kintetsu-Nara station, but it would be more stylish to pull up in the driveway of the former Nara governor’s official residence in a cab.

Designed by famed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the 43-suite Shisui is infused with modern sensibilities in traditional wooden structures with a lush garden blooming with foliage such as bright pink camellias and fragrant yuzu trees in winter.

The reception lobby, all-day dining restaurant Suiyou and lounge are housed in the wooden structure originally built in 1922 as the Nara governor’s official residence, which was used until 2017. Echoes of its past are found in the classical Japanese roofed gate now used as the hotel’s main entrance, photos of Emperor Showa’s visit to Nara in 1951 adorning the corridors and the room where the San Francisco Peace Treaty was ratified that year. A refurbished warehouse is now a modern sushi restaurant Shousou with eight counter seats while the spa and guestrooms are in western-style blocks.

We stayed in a deluxe suite with a hot spring bathtub, one of 23 with indoor or open-air onsens. Nothing trumps dipping in 40 degrees Celsius waters in the privacy of your room anytime and then chilling out at the sitting area to enjoy expansive garden views. The next best indulgence was the free-flow champagne and snacks from 5pm to 6pm for all hotel guests, with seats facing a Zen garden.

Meals at Suiyou were a discovery of produce from around the Nara prefecture. Breakfast packed a punch with appetisers of boiled winter vegetables and pickled persimmon followed by mains of grilled fish, omelette with arrowroot from Yoshino and winter bowls of warm roasted tea porridge and pork miso soup.

The 10-course Tokika tasting menu trooped out Nara specialities in Japanese and French styles. Asuka nabe, where free-range Yamato Niku chicken and vegetables are simmered in a milk and soup stock, was served with a puff pastry lid. Lightly steamed seasonal vegetables were artistically lined up on a plate with a brush of pumpkin puree while a poached egg in dashi was served in a separate bowl. The Yamato roast beef was paired with hishio shoyu and okowa (rice wrapped in persimmon leaf).

The hotel is on a quiet street off a busy thoroughfare. A five-minute amble takes you to the western part of Nara Park, which at 8am on a crisp winter day, was serenely beautiful. The paths were clear, the people were few and the deer, too dopey to run after anyone.

The Central and Great South Gates of the Todaiji, the most powerful of the Seven Great Temples of Nara when the city was the capital, are located at this end of the park. Besides the world’s largest bronze Buddha statue in the Great Buddha Hall, the other noteworthy structure is the Great South Gate, the largest temple entrance in Japan. It is also one of the few existing examples of the Daibutsu-yo religious architectural style, which originated from China and is characterised by thick wooden beams and decorative mouldings — an example of how the intersection of cultures was prevalent in the city’s history.

UNESCO World Heritage sites like the Kofukuji and Kasuga Taisha (known for its 3,000 stone lanterns) temples and Nara National Museum are a 10-minute stroll away. The Yoshikien and Isuien Gardens, where foliage-lined stone paths, a little stream and teahouse make for bucolic morning walks, are practically next door.

There is no lack of good dining and drinking options around Nara but thanks to the hotel staff, we found some hidden gems. Sobadokoro Kitahara, which is only two minutes from the hotel, is so serious about its handmade soba that they didn’t open the day the buckwheat flour didn’t arrive on time. When we visited the next day, the English menu and friendly owner made ordering easy and there were clear instructions on how to eat the noodles. Dishes such as nishin (seasoned herring in soy sauce and dashi soup stock) and itawasa (fish cakes with wasabi and soy sauce) were delightfully rustic too. Another gem was Kura, an oden izakaya, which doesn’t take phone nor online reservations and is run by a sweet elderly couple. Go early for the best pick of the oden items. The day’s specials were handwritten on paper and pasted on the wooden walls. We had plump and juicy pork dumplings and nanakusa gayu, a seven-herb porridge only served on Jan 7.

In the three days we were in Nara, we felt we had only skimmed the surface of the city’s nuanced layers, which can only be fully appreciated with time. Give it more than a day-trip chance.

Go here for more information on Shisui, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Nara.