Dogo Funaya

Dogo's oldest inn — Soseki and Shiki wrote haiku here — with a 1,500-tsubo firefly garden and some of Shikoku's best-rated breakfasts, in a big, modern-looking building

Funaya traces its roots to around 1627 and has one of the richest guest books in Japan: Natsume Soseki stayed in 1895 and left a haiku now carved at the entrance, Masaoka Shiki wrote one by the garden, and emperors and imperial family members have stayed repeatedly since 1950. Don't expect an old wooden inn, though — today it is a 58-room building renovated in 1993 that one blogger said looks like an apartment block from outside. Inside is where it shines. Japanese guests rate it extremely highly — 4.9 across 1,546 reviews on one major site, with a perfect 5.0 for breakfast, and 4.73 across more than 2,000 on another — for its service, its food and its 1,500-tsubo garden with a natural stream, fireflies in early summer and riverside dining from spring to autumn. Dinner is Ehime kaiseki with sea bream, Iyo beef and a sea-bream rice finale (or French if you prefer). The criticisms are about the building and consistency: ageing fittings, creaky floors, patchy Wi-Fi, a small open-air bath and water that some found chlorinated, slow in-room dining, occasional missing send-offs, and one family moved into a cramped room they'd never seen online. Rack rates run from about ¥25,300 to ¥80,300 per person with two meals.