The Best Hotels in Kamiamakusa

Twelve suites on Hiai Island inside Unzen Amakusa National Park, each with a private open-air onsen bath and views straight out over the Amakusa seascape. This minimalist boutique hotel sits where the mild climate and the water do most of the decorating. Guests eat together in the restaurant, where the kitchen draws on the islands and the surrounding sea. The Michelin Guide has awarded it one Key.

The sawtooth rooflines of the freestanding cottages are the first sign that this small wellness resort inside Unzen-Amakusa National Park is not following anyone's rulebook. Rooms and cottages are fitted with modernist furniture and warm textures, all oriented toward Mount Unzen and the Ariake Sea. A sauna complex, outdoor Jacuzzi, and infinity pool round things out, while birds, quite literally the ones that gave the place its name, cut across the sky above.