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Kanazawa · Hotel shortlist

Cheap hotels in the historic centre, Kanazawa

Fiona Gallagher

Fiona Gallagher Australia and New Zealand

Updated 1 September 2026 · 9 Kanazawa hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in Kanazawa, out of the 9 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.4 down to 3.9.

Every one comes in under $130 a night, and the one I would book first is $54.

Smile Hotel Kananazawa Nishiguchi Ekimae

Highest rated of the five

Smile Hotel Kananazawa Nishiguchi Ekimae

★★★★★4.4 from 467 reviews

Smile Hotel Kananazawa Nishiguchi Ekimae comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.4 from 467 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.

It is a 3 star property, found under city centre and around $54 a night on the dates we checked.

9 hotels in Kanazawa qualified for this list and five made it. ARIGATO STAY Kanazawa-Ekimae is the one I would book if the first is full.

Why it works for this trip

  • Air conditioningthe one that decides a summer trip
  • Step free accesslevel entry and a lift

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All five, ranked

  1. Smile Hotel Kananazawa Nishiguchi Ekimae1

    Smile Hotel Kananazawa Nishiguchi Ekimae

    ★★★★★4.4 from 467 reviews

    • Air conditioning
    • Accessible

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  2. ARIGATO STAY Kanazawa-Ekimae2

    ARIGATO STAY Kanazawa-Ekimae

    ★★★★★4.2 from 328 reviews

    • Parking
    • Air conditioning
    • Accessible

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  3. ARIGATO STAY Kanazawakata (Machi)3

    ARIGATO STAY Kanazawakata (Machi)

    ★★★★★4.2 from 259 reviews

    • Restaurant
    • Air conditioning
    • Accessible

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  4. Via Inn Kanazawa4

    Via Inn Kanazawa

    ★★★★★4.1 from 979 reviews

    • Restaurant
    • Parking
    • Kid friendly
    • Air conditioning
    • Accessible

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  5. Kenroku Haitsu 2025

    Kenroku Haitsu 202

    ★★★★★3.9 from 44 reviews

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    How this list was put together

    9 Kanazawa hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.

    Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

    The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

    What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

    Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

    Fiona Gallagher

    Fiona Gallagher Australia and New Zealand

    Half her year is already on research boats, so holidays are deliberately dry land. Long-distance hiking routes in the off season, alone, with nothing being measured.

    Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.