Onsens were awesome

No hairdryer and rooms smelled a little musty.

Uminohana was a great escape from the city with beautiful views and delicious food. They pick you up in a van from the adorable Ajiro train station and take you up the hill. The staff were very nice, knowledgeable, and patient with our lack of Japanese language skills. We stayed in one of the villas that had private indoor and outdoor baths which was an incredible experience as the other baths need to be booked. If you don't book quickly you will end up with 11pm or later bath time. The terrace bath has incredible views of the bay and there are free alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks available. They are also very generous with the time you get to stay there (1.5 hours). One of us had a seafood allergy and the kitchen was GENEROUSLY accommodating. My first dinner had SO much delicious beef options that I felt bad I could not finish all of them. I messaged them to reduce the amount of food to not be wasteful and they obliged. I had one of the best steaks here that reminded me of my experience in Kobe. If you're up for it, venture down into the town. There is a Family Mart close by for some lunch-time snacks, but be prepared for the climb back up the hill. There are some cute confectionary and resale shops near the station and make sure to stop by for a snack and coffee at kabocha cafe across from Ajiro station.

Our private indoor bath stopped filling/heating at one point and the staff were able to fix it after our dinner. However, it was too hot after the fix. The mattresses felt a bit hard for our liking so we put the futons on top of them which was perfect.

private hot spring bath in our room overlooking the bay and two additional private hot spring baths on the property. the omakase dinner and breakfast was amazing and the staff were patient and kind as it was our first traditional ryokan experience. For western travellers: it’s good to know some Japanese to communicate and use a translation app if you get stuck

The place is amazing, the view is incredible and the staff is very friendly. The service and food is also great! Totally worth the price.

Everything was perfect, the only detail was one of the onsens was not clean before it was our turn, the place had drinks, bottles and wet towels from the previous couple all around the place. I believe this is not a staff problem but it's worth pointing out.

The size of the room was amazing and the view from our outdoor private bath was absolutely spectacular.

It is not the easiest place to get to (thankfully they have a shuttle bus to get you from the nearest station). The staff didn't speak much English and the in house app used for booking everything was also only in Japanese (we made do and everything was fine, but the ad did say the property was English friendly).

Staff all friendly and kindfull, room was excellent with 24 hour onsen. Also have other onsen outside it was really good.

A bit too expensive

The dining was exceptional, Kaiseki fresh from the area with emphasis on produce from the sea, as you would expect from its location in an old, from what we could see, dilapidated and forlorn but functioning fishing village. The view of the bay is fabulous, our very own constantly running hot spring baths, one inside, one on the balcony, a luxury. The privacy in our little separate finely appointed chalet was complete. The only reason that we say it wasn’t what we expected is evident in its history; it started out as a modest pension, then in 2011 added three very special chalets, an exquisite dining room ( just for the use of the three chalets) and two additional large baths with views which can be booked separately ( please note; this is in addition to the two per chalet!) It might not appeal to someone who prefers a formal, old fashioned ryokan with polished exquisite gardens and ponds; we have stayed in those too but found this one charming and the youthful and attractive staff enthusiastic and professional. It is a secret ryokan really, in a slightly out of the way place ( Ajiro is a lovely train ride from the bustle of Atami) and we loved it.

There was nothing we didn’t like.