2-Star Hotels in Naoshima

Large yurt with 4 beds. Very clean. Quite hard beds. Excellent location near Benesse Museum (walking distance, or next to bus stop). Excellent airconditioning. Toilets and shower are quite far from the yurts. Basic comfort but that’s ok. Very quite place. Diner is good: you get a large plate with plentiful of meat and some shrimps, vegetables to put on a table bbq. Breakfast is too basic and not our taste: Japanese udon noodles. Tip: go to the nearby Terrace restaurant : you get an excellent breakfast buffet with tons of choice for around 25-30 euro.

Family hotel, breakfast is unique. In an older house, the space is a bit cramped. It is quite convenient to play, there is a station nearby

For those seeking budget friendly accommodation in Naoshima, La Curacion offers just that. It's easily found by the instructions provided by the host - take the bus from the ferry terminal and you'll arrive there in 10 minutes. Be warned, the buses don't have very much luggage space (2 bags for the entire bus!) so if you can, leave some luggage in the lockers at the ferry terminal and take a small bag for your trip. The accommodation offers a small kitchen with everything you need, and a washing machine. Check in is late - 4pm. You can leave your bags with the hosts in the meantime, but we explored the island and its art spaces to get the most out of our day and returned at 6pm. I don't think our host was very impressed with that. Communication was not easy. There is a wonderful Okonomiyaki restaurant (also serving other dishes) across the street. Bicycles are provided by the hosts, but these are fixed speed. If you really want to explore the island, you'll need electric bicycles (unless you are super fit!) because there are big hills where the main galleries are located. Small hills to the main town are achievable. There you can find many restaurants as well as the Ando Museum and the many Art Space Projects, and the bicycle rental shop - another bike rental is at the ferry terminal. From the accommodation, if you head in the opposite direction, I'd recommend walking. La Curacion is actually well situated closer to the main galleries of Benesse, Chi Chu, and Lee Ufan. You'll walk through a lovely neighbourhood of classic Japanese residential architecture complete with resplendent gardens, past a small dam full of curious koi and turtles, and eventually enter the Benesse project sculpture garden. From there, wind your way up to the main gallery and then the other two. Some may not appreciate the artwork, but the spaces are spectacular and the whole project is wonderful.

As long as your expectations are set at around a hostel level, then this place is great. Lovely views, convenient location, rooms are clean and feel fairly spacious, nicely designed. Beyond that, we felt there was more care that could have been extended. We left our bags as it was too early to check in, and spent the day out sight seeing in extreme heat. When we returned, complete overheated and exhausted, our bags were still at the bottom of 3 levels of stairs, so we had to lug them up three levels. We then arrived at our room and it was like a sauna! No air conditioning on and the fridge was turned off! So the cold drinks we had bought had no way of staying cold as the fridge took time to work. The air con took ages to cool down the room. It would have been a really simple gesture, knowing the heat and knowing we were unlikely to get bank to our room until later, to turn those on for us. There was also no warning given about dinner options - most things book out and close early. The restaurant attached to My Lodge just shrugged their shoulders when we looked for solutions. It would make a huge difference to the stay of guests if, upon check-in or even at the time of booking, they were advised about limited dinner options. And if in Summer, air conditioning and fridges were turned on. I understand that taking bags to the room may be too much for the owners as it’s a steep climb, but this also may prove difficult for some guests, so something to be aware of. These may sound like small things, but they made our stay so much more tiring and uncomfortable.

A 3-minute walk from Miyaura Port, it was a renovated private house in the Miyaura village and was used when I visited the 2022 Setouchi Triennale. There is nothing like the front desk and there are no staff. Use the reserved room, check out only by leaving the key in the room. There is no hassle. I used ”ROOM CHARLIE”. A rental room with a bedroom, living room and private bathroom. The kitchenette has a refrigerator, microwave and electric kettle, and you can cook a little. Clean, functional, easy to use and very good.