How a Japanese Museum in a Secluded Location Pioneered ‘Art Hotels’

A $3 per hour ferry from Uno to Miyanoura, on the small Japanese island of Naoshima, is operated from a port that looks like nothing. It takes about 50 minutes from Okayama by train. Yayoi’s giant yellow and black spotted pumpkin sculpture welcomes passengers as they embark on the artistic world that lies ahead, centred around Benesse House Museum.

Here, on a quiet hillside overlooking the Seto Inland Sea, guests don’t just sleep in rooms adorned with art—they inhabit a museum. As night falls and the day-trippers depart hotel guests Exclusive access after hours to galleries that house works by artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Walter De Maria and more.

Benesse House Museum opened in 1992 and is the opposite of a luxury hotel, where excess often takes on opulence: pillow menus are available, as well as infinity pools and a spa that promises transformation. Here, austere elegance defines luxury—no TVs in rooms, no gym, not even a swimming pool. Its Website explicitly states It is “a hotel designed to make you think about art, architecture, nature and yourself.” This groundbreaking concept has inspired a global art hotel movement that has transformed luxury accommodations across the globe.

Benesse House and Naoshima

Before Benesse House opened, Naoshima was known primarily for copper smelting, fishing, and salt production—an unlikely setting for the intersection of art, hospitality, and architectural innovation.

Two men had similar visions: Tetsuhiko Fukutake was the founder of Fukutake Publishing. His goal was to establish a cultural center in the Seto Inland Sea. Chikatsugu Mikake, the then mayor of Naoshima envisioned the island being developed as a hub for culture. In 1985, two men met and laid the foundations for the Benesse House Museum.

The hotel was designed by Pritzker Prize winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando in his signature minimalist style, creating spaces that co-exist with nature, architecture and art. The interiors are filled with large windows that allow the natural environment to be seen. Artwork is displayed in the galleries and along the beach, as well as nearby forests.

The 65 guestrooms and suites are located in four buildings around the island. They feature wood accents, furniture and floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

In this way, guests can experience art as active participants, not passive observers. They will be able to observe how, for instance, a Cy Twombly statue or an installation by Richard Long interacts with the environment at dawn, noon, and at night.

Japan, with its cultural influence on the world, was the perfect place for the birth of the art hotel. You can also find out more about the Ma Negative space wabi-sabi (the beauty in imperfection and change). These philosophies manifest in Benesse House’s deliberate restraint—spaces designed for contemplation rather than excessive comfort and convenience.

Benesse House Museum was opened in 1998 and transformed Naoshima Island into a world of art. The 1998 exhibition expanded its artistic vision. Art House ProjectArt installations were created in vacant houses of Naoshima’s Honmura district. The Chichu Art Museum, Also designed by Ando in 2004, the gallery houses works from Claude Monet as well as James Turrell. It is mostly underground, preserving much of the island’s natural scenery.

Fukutake’s and Miyake’s vision eventually expanded to other islands such as Teshima, where a droplet-shaped art museum was built among rice terraces, and Inujima, where an abandoned copper refinery was transformed into the Seirensho Art Museum. A single museum-hotel has transformed an entire archipelago into a comprehensive destination for art.

Best Art Hotels Around the World

Hotel chains from South Africa and Brazil are now marketing themselves as “art hotel” even though their approach varies dramatically.

The Silo In Cape Town, opened its doors in March 2017. This was a few weeks before the neighboring hotel. Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA), which occupies the six top floors of a reimagined cement grain silo. British designer Thomas Heatherwick transformed the industrial structure with enormous, convex geometric windows—56 panels of glass in each—that bulge outward like giant pillowed eyes, turning the building into a sculptural object visible across Cape Town’s waterfront.

All 28 guestrooms and suites have been designed in collaboration with the co-owner Liz Biden’s pizzazzBiden’s personal collection includes antiques and crystal chandeliers as well as contemporary African art. Each accommodation includes a guide on the artwork in its room, creating a link with the museum beneath. Standing bathtubs at the bottom of the large windows allow guests to enjoy the views while soaking.

In December 2024, Brazil’s Clara Arte Resort. Travel + Leisure It List 2025 Winners opened inside Inhotim Institute in Minas Gerais. Inhotim is Latin America’s biggest contemporary art museum. It boasts 140 acres and displays approximately 1,862 pieces by more than 280 artist, both outdoors and within galleries located in a botanical gardens.

The hotel has 46 rooms, all arranged on paved pathways. Public areas are decorated with art, and there is a free informal art discussion every evening at the piano bar. Inhotim is open to guests even when it’s closed to the public. The hotel leads guests through the forest and park to the museum.

The trend has continued in Europe as well. In Greece, the Phaea Blue Palace The partnership between the Benaki Museum Stella Lizardi, the curator of the Benaki Foundation’s lobby, created the first ever hotel partnership with the museum. Similarly, in Lisbon the Museu de Arte Contemporânea Armando Martins (MACAM) Hotel A historic palace was converted into a gallery/hotel that features carefully curated MACAM works in its 64 rooms and corridors.

Finally, in New York City there are two options. Climate Museum TowerThe project, which is scheduled to be completed by 2029 will combine exhibitions focusing on climate changes with hospitality spaces This is a longer, more reflective engagement of urgent environmental themes.

The popularity of art hotels indicates a shift within tourism. Some hotels are now aiming to provide more than aesthetic experiences. According to Skift Research’s luxury traveler report52 percent of affluent travellers cite authentic cultural immersion as the main reason for their travels.

That’s why the principles pioneered at Benesse House Museum—integration with landscape and architecture as art—will continue to remain relevant and inform hospitality developments worldwide.