Setouchi Retreat

The place

Setouchi Retreat hides in the mountains just north of Matsuyama's town center. Tadao Ando designed the building as a museum and guesthouse; it has since been remade as a minimalist hotel — bare concrete walls, soaring ceilings, clean lines that set the tone before you reach your room.

There are only 7 suites, each unusually spacious; some sleep five. Sleek modern furnishings, floor-to-ceiling windows, and in a few of them, a private semi-open-air onsen.

Wellness is the quiet engine here. A long outdoor pool holds the panorama; behind it wait a heated indoor pool, a hot spring jacuzzi, and a dry sauna. In the evening, the kitchen turns to exquisite Kaiseki.