Yufuin Bettei Itsuki

Set below the slope of Mt. Yufu, on a quiet lane a short drive from central Yufuin, Bettei Itsuki gathers fourteen freestanding cottages across thirteen buildings. Each is built as a separate unit, not a wing of a larger block, and each comes with its own hot spring bath: some semi-open to a terrace, some fully open to the sky, one with a rock-lined tub that is the only one of its kind on the property. Rooms vary in mood room to room. Karin pairs pale wood with plaster walls and a corridor view of Mt. Yufu. Mokuren keeps a rock open-air bath under the stars. Yamabuki mixes exposed beams, Ryukyu tatami and a Cassina bed. The special cottage Yuzen runs to three bedrooms and a rare stone-floor bath, suited to a family or a group travelling together. Interiors lean modern throughout, with wood grain, plaster, and the odd tiled surface standing in for ornament. Kinrin Lake and Yufuin Station sit close by. The pace here is unhurried. Guests can hear little beyond the garden from most rooms, and the private baths mean no one shares a bathhouse schedule.