THE HIRAMATSU ATAMI

THE LATEST ADDITION TO Francophile chef Hiroyuki Hiramatsu’s collection of suave auberge-meets- ryokan inns perches on a bamboo-shrouded hillside on Honshu’s Izu Peninsula. Built around a 40-year-old

besso, or country villa, it features just 11 rooms and two tatamimatted Japanese suites, each with a hot-spring bath fronted by sliding glass doors that open onto serene views of Sagami Bay. Like its sister properties in Okinawa, Hakone, and Kashikojima, exclusivity is a mantra here, with prices to match—the top suite, Ume-no-ma (Plum Tree Room), will set you back almost US$2,000 a night. Mind you, that comes with breakfast and dinner at the inn’s sea-facing dining room, where chef Katsuya Miura, who trained at Hiramatsu’s eponymous Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, creates classic French dishes served by stewards in tailcoats. Butter, cheese, and jams are, bien sûr, from France. Dotted throughout the property, landscape paintings by Tamako Kataoka and surrealist works by Joan Miró add to the eye candy, as does the owner’s impressive collection of antique model ships. —81-557/523-301; hiramatsu hotels.com; doubles from US$1,080, half-board