The Matsumoto Jujo hotel re-opened in 2020 after a multi-year renovation project that kicked off in 2018. The inn and entire area of Matsumoto (Nagano prefecture) has a 300-year history as hotspring village and the renovation project centered around preserving this heritage while also connecting the past to present and future. The architects at Suppose Design Office set off to achieve this goal by transforming obsolete spaces into unique and sometimes unexpected experiences.
All 24 rooms of the hotel have their own private bath, and so the original public bath was no longer necessary. So it was turned into a library that would help connect locals and tourists; the region with tourism. But instead of gutting it, the architects chose to maintain much of its original form, leaving even many of the faucets and tiles so that its history could be felt and seen.
Matsumoto Jujo (松本十帖) literally means “10 stories” of Matsumoto and the hotel has been designed to facilitate a myriad of experiences that are intended to connect guests with the broader town and region. For one thing, the hotel has no on-site parking. Guests are asked to park at a cafe that the hotel runs, which also serves as reception desk for hotel check-in. From there, guests make their way to the hotel (a short walk) which has four different entrances, another mechanism that creates an open hotel. Guests can come and go as they please and the libraries–one is geared towards adults while another is specifically for children–are open 24 hours a day.
You can learn more about the Matsumoto Jujo hotel, and plan your visit, by visiting their website.
