27 Best Hotels in Shikoku, Japan

The 7Days and its slightly plusher annex 7Days Plus are budget business hotels done right. Smart, clean, and with all the basic amenities (including free Wi-Fi), rooms are an excellent value. Both hotels have connecting double rooms that are ideal for a family of four. Slightly removed from the nightlife center at Otetsuji-dori, the hotel is in backstreets northeast of Harimaya Bridge.

A level-up on the typical business hotel, the Agnes has a more sophisticated feel than similarly priced options in town. One reason for that are the French pastries served downstairs, all baked on premises with high-quality ingredients and seasonal fruit. Add to that English-speaking staff and rooms that are compact but comfortable, with a white-and-brown color scheme. Across the street is a sister-property, the Agnes Plus, which has a public bath open to guests of either Agnes. Walking out of the train station, take the second of two narrow streets that branch out to the right.

Downtown's biggest international hotel, the ANA has some great city views and a good range of facilities, including a fitness center, several restaurants, and a sky bar. While not stunning, the rooms are all smart and clean, and doubles especially are good value for the rates. It's located next to Mitsukoshi department store on Ichiban-cho. Ask for a room with a view of the castle.

In a small port town on Ikuchi Island, where the Shimanami Kaido enters the outskirts of Onomichi, this luxury ryokan has repurposed a 140-year-old merchant’s estate to create an inviting spot to end your bike tour. Blending modern amenities into the traditional setting, rooms combine elements such as tatami, cedar and granite flooring, cypress baths tubs, and shoji paper screens to create a very sleek, airy feel. Dinner is served on antique tableware and features locally sourced produce turned into multi-course Japanese meals. The ryokan can also arrange activities such as Zen meditation at a local temple, cycling tours, and boat fishing.

If a search for absolute serenity is what brought you to Iya, head straight for Chiiori House. This restored Iya farmhouse, managed by the Chiiori Trust, is available for private overnight stays. The recently renovated facilities are a lot more comfortable than what residents from past centuries were used to, especially the swanky kitchen and cedar bathtub, but the breeze through the cedar trees and the morning mist over the valley are timeless. You can prepare your own food in the kitchen or arrange for a local cook to prepare an Iya-style dinner for an additional fee per person. Can sleep up to 10 people, with the per-person rate becoming smaller as the number of guests increases.

This Western-style luxury hotel is so spacious and modern that it almost feels out of place in gruff Kochi. This is the place to experience the city's hospitality and escape the hustle and bustle of the streets. There's a lovely café on the ground floor with desserts on display that will tempt you each time you walk past, and slightly expensive but high-end restaurants on the second. The rooms are pleasant and nicely proportioned, and the staff are extremely helpful.

A reliable and well-maintained business hotel chain next to the Marugame-machi shopping arcade, the Roynet has helpful staff and great access to Takamatsu's main drinking and dining areas. The rooms are small, but the slightly larger "Hollywood twin" ones come with reclining massage chairs. All rooms have free Wi-Fi, and there's a handy coin laundry on-site, plus a 24-hour convenience store in the same building.

With its central location, smart decor, and great amenities, this branch of a national chain seems almost too good to be true in this price range. The terrific rooftop hot tub gets bonus points, and you can have an affordable in-house massage, the perfect way to relax after a day of sightseeing.

The owner of this small ryokan in Honmura, which has three Japanese-style rooms and one guesthouse, spent decades in France and Morocco before returning to Naoshima to turn his family's 17th-century home into an inn. In the main house are exquisitely decorated tatami rooms, though the sliding screen doors aren't as quiet as many travelers would like. For more privacy ask for the annex guesthouse, which has its own kitchen and sleeps up to four people. Meals are available.

A top choice for a luxury ryokan experience, Hanajyukai overlooks city and sea from a flower-covered mountainside. In typical ryokan fashion, most rooms are fully tatami, but some also incorporate wood flooring, and there are rooms with beds (not futon) tastefully incorporated into the traditional design; book one of the "designers rooms" for that. Or splurge on a "rotemburo-tsuki" room, if you want a private hot-spring bath. Dinners are classic kaiseki with French twists, although no-meal plans are also available if you want to cut costs or eat out in Takamatsu. The scenic rooftop spa will melt your travel stress away. The inn is a 10-minute taxi ride from the city center.

It's hard to say what part of a stay at the Hotel Benesse House is the most memorable: the gorgeous views of the Seto Inland Sea, special access to the artworks at the Benesse Museum, or the Tadao Ando architecture and the luxurious yet minimalist decor of the hotel rooms. Each of the four buildings containing guest rooms has a different theme and location: Park, Beach, Museum (in the Benesse House Museum), and Oval, which is an artwork in itself, farther up the hill and accessed by walkways or a monorail. Stunning views of nature and art abound. The several restaurants on the property include Japanese and French ones and a café. The staff members are friendly and capable but deliberately keep their distance—a change from the ever-attentive service in other upscale Japanese hotels. Add-on meal plans are available.

Guest rooms at this more affordable alternative to Yume Kura are compact but have a modern Japanese aesthetic, and the service here is remarkable. Breakfast is a step up from the average midrange hotel offerings. It's a buffet of fresh local vegetables delivered daily direct from Ehime farmers, and the fish comes from the Seto Inland Sea.

From the outside, you might think you've booked a drab business hotel, but inside everything is surprisingly smart and contemporary. Better yet, it's literally next door to the main building at Dogo Onsen, so you couldn't ask for better access to the city's famous hot-springs baths. "Standard Doubles" might feel a bit too snug, but the "Deluxe Twins" are unusually spacious for Japan. The sushi restaurant on the first floor also serves good Japanese breakfast sets.

Smart but affordable, this hotel offers great city access—it's across from the JR Station—and a good range of facilities and amenities. Rooms are simple in design, but doubles are spacious, with queen-size beds, and the corner twins are huge by local standards. The top-floor natural hot-spring bath will soothe and rejuvenate you after a day on your feet.

The private onsen bathtubs on each room's balcony here have breathtaking views of the unspoiled valley below. The Japanese-style rooms are luxurious. Follow Route 45 as it curves right and transforms back into the old Route 32; make a left just after the decrepit pink Kazurabashi Hotel, and the lush Iya Bijin will come up on your right.

This traditional inn just up the road from Kazura-bashi has spacious rooms, an outdoor hot-spring bath, and unobstructed views of the valley, but the home-style feast you're served at dinner and breakfast are what you'll write home about. Two meals are included in most rates, but breakfast-only and dinner-only options are also available at a much lower rate.

Perched on the edge of a steep ravine above the Iya River, this upscale hot-springs inn provides absolute luxury in the middle of nowhere. Iya Onsen is one of Japan's three "secret" baths (if you ask locals where the other two are, nobody seems to know). Reasons to stay here include the sweeping views from most guest rooms, the lavish meals, and the riverside hot-spring bath accessed by cable car. When the mist rises from the valley in the early morning, it really does feel like you're in a hidden world. If you're not staying here, there are lunch-and-bath options starting at ¥4,000 per person. A hotel bus picks up overnight guests from Oboke Station at 4:10 pm.

If you're inclined to indulge in Western-style comfort, this hotel next to Takamatsu Station is a good choice. The decor is pleasant if no great shakes—the city views are the selling point at Takamtasu's tallest hotel. The corner rooms on the upper floors have sweeping views of the Inland Sea. The Clement also comes with a reputation for attentive service.

"Fit for a king" is often an exaggeration, but in this case it's true—Jyoseikan is where the emperor stays when the royal family comes to Kochi. A monumental, somewhat dated exterior gives way to a grand interior with spacious Japanese-style rooms, exquisite tatami suites, and a sauna and bath with wonderful views of the city and the castle. There are pleasant Western-style twins available, but they don't come close to the traditional Japanese rooms in either the main building or new annex. No-meal or limited-meal plans are possible too, if you want to keep the price more affordable, but most rates include breakfast and a refined kaiseki dinner. It's seven stops west of Harimaya Bridge by tram. 

A charming old townhouse in the heart of Uchiko, defined by its dark wooden beams and tatami mat floors, Ori is only available to one group of up to eight people per night in three rooms, but still staffed with several locals who will happily help guests immerse themselves into the community. It's a lovely traditional setting, albeit with modern amenities and well-equipped kitchen, created by an organization called Setouchi Cominca Stays, who have also restored several other old buildings in Uchiko into private rentals and inns; some of which are more affordable than Ori.

Stretching along a sandy beach, this resort hotel is peerless for its comfort, service, luxury, and access to the sights. Pick your favorite room from a variety of Western and Japanese arrangements with unique character; the Japanese website has pictures of every room. Ask for a beachside room, so the sound of the surf can lull you to sleep. The waves at the beach are too rough for swimming, but there's a fun restaurant on the dunes.

Pristine rooms, excellent rates, and a prime location near nightlife and shopping make this hotel a superb midrange choice. As at most business hotels, the rooms are on the small side, so book one of the roomier "Hollywood twin" rooms. Breakfast is decent value at an additional ¥1,200, though there are cheaper options in the cafes in the Obiya-machi arcade, where the Richmond is located.

Staying at this group of eight farmhouses in the mountains of eastern Iya is the perfect way to experience traditional life here. The Chiiori Trust renovated them, retaining their rustic aesthetic with thatched roofs, thick wood floorboards, and sliding shoji doors. Present-day comforts like soaker tubs and wireless Internet access have been tastefully incorporated. Fusho House has a stunning view of the mountainside village across the valley. Make your meals yourself, or for an extra fee ask the Chiiori Trust to bring in a local cook.

Comfortable facilities and easy city access make for a pleasing stay at this budget chain hotel. Rooms are nice if not inspiring, and the hotel has Internet access and a coin laundry. Walking out of the train station, follow the big road that branches off diagonally to the left. There's another branch five minutes further away from the station, if this one is full.

This elegant spa resort is the last thing you'd expect to find in the rough-and-tumble fishing town of Muroto Cape; spacious guest rooms all have ocean views, both from the windows and from the in-room tubs. The restaurant specializes in "Kuroshio Italian" cuisine, using fresh Kochi vegetables and fish brought in from the Pacific Ocean. The spa offers a range of treatments using seawater drawn from around the cape. The staff speak some English and provides flawless service. This is definitely a splurge, and there's not much to see or do around the resort, but if you're looking for complete relaxation, you can't do better than here. If you book three days in advance, someone on staff can pick you up at Kochi Airport.

A splurge but absolutely worth it, this high-class ryokan behind the Dogo Onsen bathhouse delivers the royal treatment. The guest rooms are extremely spacious and offer views of the hot springs and the city, vistas you can also enjoy from your private balcony while soaking in a wooden tub in water drawn from the springs. The Japanese-style rooms have wooden floors and tatami sections, but instead of futons there are Western-style mattresses. Meals, inspired by French haute cuisine, are in private rooms in the restaurant downstairs; both breakfast and dinner are included with room rates.