We loved the location. We had an annex room and got lucky enough to get the corner one with views of the review and bridge leading down the the onsen- it was amazing! It was only a short walk down to the onsens. They provided us with the clothes to wear to the onsen and the traditional robes to wear walking down- it added to the experience. Dinner and breakfast was included in our room price and it was a traditional japanese 8 course meal. Was great we got to try new things we would not have ordered ourselves. We were there 2 nights and got different meals both nights which was also great.

Beds were a little thin for my liking, although you coudl request an extra matress and staff happily brought one.

After 8 days in Tokyo, we rented a car and started our journey through the Japanese mountains. This was our very first stop — and we absolutely loved it, from beginning to end. I want to be very precise with this review, especially because I’m Italian and, unfortunately, I noticed that many of the less positive reviews on both Booking and Google come from Italian guests. As an Italian myself… some of them are honestly quite ridiculous. 😂 Let’s start from the beginning. When you first arrive, you see this huge building and your first thought might be: “Oh my God… what is this?” 😂 But then everything changes once you step inside. Everyone working here was incredibly kind, welcoming and professional, from the reception staff to the restaurant team. Our room was absolutely wonderful. We had a beautiful river view, traditional Japanese futons, and basically everything I had always dreamed of experiencing in Japan. Is the property old? Yes. But that is exactly what makes it beautiful. It feels traditional and authentic — exactly like the Japan I imagined as a child watching anime. There are slippers everywhere: for inside the hotel, for the bathrooms and for going outside. They provide yukata and traditional clothing to wear around the onsen, and you can always go to reception to get something clean whenever you need it. In our room, we also had toothbrushes, a comb, towels, jackets for the cold, socks to wear, and hair caps. Everything you could possibly need was already there. And the ONSEN… WOW. Absolutely spectacular. The changing rooms and showers were always incredibly clean. The only thing I disliked was seeing some tourists leaving their belongings everywhere instead of keeping things tidy — but that obviously has nothing to do with the hotel itself. One of my favourite experiences was being able to use the onsen at night. It was genuinely magical and almost mystical.

One small suggestion: since you naturally get your hair quite wet when using the onsen, it might be helpful to have a few more hairdryers available, either in the rooms or in the shared bathrooms. I only found one, although it’s possible I simply didn’t see the others. 😊

Great experience and very friendly staff

Nothing

The owners have a wild adult bear in a cage. It has been there since it was a cub. Apparently the owner caught the bear as a cub and has held it in this cage for many years (possibly 9 years). Here's a photo I took of the cage.