3 Best Hotels in Naoshima, Shikoku

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 cuisines 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.

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.

Just a three-minute walk from Miyanoura ferry terminal you'll find this hidden little gem where the hostess, Yukiko-san, carefully attends to her guests and makes great food. The old villa-turned-ryokan is a wooden structure, and the rooms are traditional Japanese with tatami mats and sliding doors. The per-person price includes both breakfast and dinner.