Hotel Kabuki

The place

In the heart of San Francisco's Japantown, Hotel Kabuki hides inside an unassuming residential building. The lobby tells another story — lively and contemporary, moving between Japanese and Western sensibilities.

The 225 rooms and suites hold to charcoal grey and neutral tones, warmed by wooden furnishing, Japanese graphic prints, and brass lighting. Plush bedding, a work desk, Netflix, designer bath products — the essentials, quietly handled.

A 4,000-square-foot fitness studio sits alongside an open-air meditation garden, where the city falls away. The table is the other draw: Nari, led by chef Pim Techamuanvivit, is a Michelin-starred restaurant with a seafood-focused Thai menu.