Our room was spacious and very clean. The private onsen was large and very comfortable, looking out over the river but completely private. We had the kaiseki dinner each night which was elaborate and delicious. The town of Yamanaka is very pretty with fun row of shops specialising in lacquer wear and pottery, some cafes, the usual restaurants and a big public men's and women's bath, along with a beautiful walk in the gorge along the river. All of this is within 5-15 minutes walk of the hotel. The staff were very friendly and helpful, and even helped us send a suitcase forward to our next hotel using Yamato transport. Multiple staff members spoke only some English, which made my rudimentary Japanese quite useful. However, all the staff are so keen and helpful that even if you speak no Japanese with Google translate and some time it would be fine.