With the Style Fukuoka

Let’s be honest: the odds that our typical Western reader will just happen to breeze through Fukuoka in need of a place to stay are fairly slim. Sure, it’s Japan’s sixth-largest city, but unless you’re a traveling executive with regular stops all across Asia, that’s a bit like calling it sixth-largest town in Narnia, for all the likelihood you’ll just stumble across the place. We’re not trying to talk you out of it here; quite the opposite. The point is that if you’re going to see Fukuoka, you’re going to have to make it happen, and a hotel like the charmingly named With the Style might be just the excuse you need.

If you had to put a name to it, you’d call it a boutique resort; with just sixteen rooms it’s quite manageably small, with an intimacy that’s remarkable in a hotel with such a popular bar scene. Rooms are resortlike as well, sequestered, with private balconies or a semi-shared terrace, and sleek modern bathrooms with oversized soaking tubs. The design is by Ryu Kosaka, who’s as comfortable in these pared-down boutique interiors as he is in the luxury environment of his Mandarin Oriental Tokyo; the look is clean but never minimal, rich but never ostentatious.

There’s an outdoor jacuzzi at the rooftop spa, and the fourth-floor Penthouse is a guests-only bar and lounge with a cozy library setting. And downstairs two restaurants round out the package: the Dining restaurant is Italian, and a black wagyu beef is the charm of Steakhouse Medium Rare. Country retreat atmosphere, with a popular bar scene, seven minutes’ walk from the train station — With the Style gets it pretty much right on all counts.