Pure Indulgence

Alex Jenkins checks out the foremost places in the Asia-Pacific region where you can combine world-class golf with the best in spa and wellness treatments

The stunning Fuji Course at the Kawana Resort Hotel

Tokyo

The Japanese tend to do things a little differently when it comes to golf - the traditional mid-round stop for lunch and a cooling beer being one of them - but a game in the Land of the Rising Sun is an experience to savour, especially if you find yourself at the Kawana Resort Hotel, a grand Art-Deco structure built in the Roaring Twenties, situated on the Izu Peninsula a couple hours’ south of Tokyo.

Japan’s answer to Pebble Beach, the Fuji Course at Kawana is the most revered seaside layout in the country and was the work of Englishman Charles Hugh Alison, who along with his design partner Harry Colt, was responsible for some of the famous courses in the West during the early part of the 20th century. This cliff-top gem, which is perennially ranked inside the world’s top 100 courses, affords stunning views of both the ocean and the famous snow-capped peak it is named after.

While the hotel features a traditional onsen in the locker room, those in search of further pampering need look no further than the nearby town of Ito, one of Japan’s top-three spa resorts, home to more than 700 facilities where visitors can relax in mixed-gender thermal hot springs.

www.princehotels.com/en/kawana 

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