Hyatt’s unique Fuji Speedway Hotel

This is a new one for me (and actually it is new): Hyatt’s Fuji Speedway Hotel, a combined boutique hotel and motorsports museum built adjacent to the historic Fuji Speedway. With iconic scenes of Mt Fuji thrown in for good measure. Not always fast and furious: often slow and serene. But there’s excitement enough if you want it. Especially when there are races on.

Fuji Speedway Hotel is located in the city of Oyama, in Shizuoka Prefecture, which is on Japan’s Pacific coast on Japan’s main island, Honshu. So it’s easy to get to, only 40 minutes from Tokyo by train.

The region

If you’re not especially into motorsports, there are still plenty of other reasons to travel to Shizuoka. The capital Shizuoka City is famous for tea leaves, much of which come from the tea-growing city of Kakegawa, and as the retirement place of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who founded the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603. The Izu Peninsula boasts hot springs and pristine beaches. The city of Fujinomiya, on the slopes of Mt Fuji, features a famous shrine and waterfalls. The Kanzanji Onsen is a hot spring resort located on the shores of Lake Hamanako.

The hotel

And again, if you’re not into motorsports, there are still plenty of other reasons to stay at Fuji Speedway Hotel. Not least the spectacular views of Mt Fuji. There are 120 rooms, which include 21 suites and five villas, many of which have balconies and large windows affording views of either Fuji Speedway race circuit or Mt Fuji. There are also four restaurants and bars which feature local cuisine and international fare. And onsen, a gym and a spa.

The racetrack

Fuji Speedway is an FIA-certified Grade 1 race circuit. It was built in 1963 and is famous for the length of its “straight”: 1.475km. Through the decades it has hosted such events as the FIA World Sportscar Championship, the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix, the Super GT Fuji 500, and more. At 12pm each day (except on race days, naturally) visitors can drive the course in their own car or a rental vehicle as part of a Circuit Experience (fees apply).

The museum

Opened late last year, the Fuji Motorsports Museum has a permanent exhibition which has been put together with the assistance of a number of Japanese and international car makers. And it’s that car making, and how motorsports were instrumental to its evolution, that the museum focuses on, taking in 130 years of motorsports history via about 40 separate exhibits featuring famous cars and makes.

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Fuji Speedway Hotel

645 Omika, Oyama-cho, Sunto-gun, Shizuoka, Japan, 410-1308

hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/japan/fuji-speedway-hotel