Best hotels in Takamatsu

Takamatsu is one of Japan's best-kept secrets — a laid-back port city on Shikoku's northern coast that serves as the gateway to the extraordinary art islands of the Seto Inland Sea. Naoshima, Shodoshima and Megijima are all a short ferry ride away, and back on the mainland, Ritsurin Garden (arguably Japan's finest) and Kagawa's legendary sanuki udon scene await. The hotel itself is a full-service city property, polished rather than boutique, but its position couldn't be better: one minute's walk from JR Takamatsu Station and directly opposite the ferry terminal. For exploring this corner of Japan, it's hard to beat as a base.

In the pilgrimage town of Kotohira, just at the foot of the forested Mount Zozu in a quiet, unhurried corner of Shikoku, sits a ryokan that's been welcoming travellers since 1627. Originally an inn for pilgrims visiting the revered Konpirasan shrine, Kotohira Kadan has hosted Japan's literary greats, imperial family members and countless souls who arrive to climb the famous 1,368 stone steps to pray. Today, it's a layered property that sprawls across hillside gardens with heritage cottages, renovated guest wings and Konpira Onsen's skin-softening hot spring water known locally as 'The Great Beauty's Bath'.

The vast temple grounds, covering a total area of about 45,000 square meters, are divided into two parts: the East Wing, called the Garan, and the West Wing, called the Tanjōin. The Garan, where the Kondo, the five-storied pagoda, and other buildings stand, has been part of the temple since the temple's foundation. The Tanjōin, with the Mieido at the center, is the site of the Saeki family's former residence, where Kobo Daishi was born. Together, they show Zentsūji’s connections with Kobo Daishi’s birth and family life.

The hotel sits five minutes from the station in the middle of Kagawa's capital, the kind of city most visitors treat as a ferry terminal for the art islands of the Seto Inland Sea. That's a mistake, and this hotel is part of the reason why. The whole place runs on what its designers call Takamatsu Art Deco: 1920s New York bones dressed in bonsai motifs and locally woven rugs, then handed the full club-floor treatment usually kept for a hotel's top few rooms. Kaiseki dinners happen behind sliding doors in one of six private rooms at Nishiki. Miss the last ferry to Naoshima and you'll hardly mind.

Everyone needs a place to lay their weary head. For travellers visiting Tonosho-cho, Shodoshima International Hotel is an excellent choice for rest and rejuvenation. Well-known for its family-friendly environment and proximity to great restaurants An offbeat island in the Seto Inland Sea, Shodoshima is famous for its olive groves, 400-year-old soy sauce breweries and a Mediterranean climate you really wouldn't expect in Japan. The Kokusai Hotel is on the western coast, a stone's throw from Angel Road, the photogenic sandbar that appears and disappears with the tides. It's a classic Japanese seaside resort and water is the star of the show: every room faces the ocean, the natural onsen gazes straight out to sea, and the dining is all about just-landed Seto Inland Sea seafood seasoned with the island's own olive oil and soy sauce.and attractions, Shodoshima International Hotel makes it easy to enjoy the best of Tonosho-cho.