Individual rooms may vary on tour, especially when the group stays outside of hotels. While rooms may be appointed differently in regards to attached bath, size, etc., we make efforts to accommodate travelers with mobility or medical issues and to share fairly among the group.
JAPAN
Western-style Hotels
Comparable to international hotel chains, western-style hotels have beds and en suite bathrooms. The default accommodation type is a double twin room.
Business Hotels
More common in metropolitan areas, “business hotels” are designed to accommodate traveling Japanese business people. Rooms are very space efficient, smaller than western-style hotels, but still with an en suite bathroom. All travelers stay in single occupancy rooms.
Ryokan
Ryokan are traditional Japanese inns which commonly feature tatami mat rooms with shōji screen walls, futon bedding on the floor, seasonal Japanese-style course meals, and large communal hot baths. SFS frequents several specially curated authentic ryokan in relaxing natural landscapes, such as a village of thatched-roof farmhouses or forested slopes near a mountain river. A quintessential Japanese experience, expect to stay in assorted historic rooms with two or more people and a communal bathroom.
Minshuku
Home-style Japanese inns roughly equivalent to a bed and breakfast, minshuku are quaint and friendly family-run establishments. With fewer frills than ryokan – guests fold and store their own bedding in the morning – minshuku offer a more intimate and casual family experience.
Benesse House Park
Designed by famed architect Tadao Ando around the concept of coexistence between nature, architecture, and art, the Benesse House complex offers contemporary art installations amidst sweeping architectural forms and the natural beauty of Setonaikai National Park. Benesse House Park is one of the rare wooden buildings and displays artwork exclusively for its guests to appreciate, including site-specific works by Hiroshi Sugimoto.
Ohana Cottages
Two renovated cottages located a fifteen-minute walk from Benesse House (seven minutes from the Benesse restaurant) and just down the road from Yayoi Kusama’s famous pumpkin by the sea. Similar to minshuku accommodations, travelers sleep on futon in a communal room. The cottage also includes a kitchen, bathroom, and laundry machine.
