The Hottest New Hotel Openings of Summer 2019

"In 2017, when the 15-room Trunk Hotel opened in the heart of Shibuya, Tokyo, it shook up the capital city’s hotel scene. Finally, a truly boutique option (read: organic in-room snacks, pour-over coffee, and bespoke whiskey cocktails at the lobby bar) in a city known for its sleek, high-rise hotels and, on the other end of the spectrum, its low-fi traditional ryokans. The same team is behind the new Trunk House, a mid-century former geisha house in Tokyo’s Kagurazaka neighborhood (dubbed Little Kyoto for its ancient shrines, temples, and parks) that's been turned into a small hotel set to open this August. The goal is to recreate a more residential experience for guests while nodding to the building’s commercial past, with a living room and private garden, a small tearoom with an irori fireplace (a traditional Japanese sunken hearth), a tiny disco with a state-of-the-art karaoke machine, and a bath area with a cypress soaking tub surrounded by shunga (Japanese-style adult artwork) printed onto white tiles. It sounds like just the right mix of old and new, racy and staid."