Taichou no Mori

It's out of the way, but the amenities are clean and nice. The barbecue area is spacious and reasonably priced.

The open-air bath was comfortable, and the water was just the right temperature. The large communal bath was spacious and relaxing. Day visitors can bathe until 10 p.m., while overnight guests can stay until 11 p.m. It seemed popular with day-trippers, but once they left, it got quiet and we had the baths to ourselves. The warmth really reached deep and eased my tiredness. The food at both dinner and breakfast was delicious, and the atmosphere felt warm. I learned there was such a great hot spring in Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture, and this was my second stay. I'd recommend the inn and would love to visit again.

The shower pressure was so weak that barely any water came out, and my partner said it stopped every two seconds. There were empty chairs at some of the washing stations, so it wasn't as if everyone was using them at once. The outdoor bath was disappointing too. The inn is in a quiet, deserted mountain setting, but high walls blocked the view. I came for a day trip. With prices so high these days, getting a bath for about the price of a public bath is rare. Still, there were very few changing-room lockers with locks, and I doubt they'd be enough on a crowded weekend or holiday, perhaps because overnight guests are given priority. The front desk staff were unfriendly, and the thin carpet felt hard and cold underfoot, which made me uneasy. After the changing room got busy, nobody came to clean the floor. Many people around the sinks left their hair behind after drying it, and that made the place uncomfortable. My main impression is that it was cheap, and I don't think I'll return.

I won't come back until they improve how they handle belongings. On my first visit, someone took the amenity case from my changing basket without permission, though I did find the bag when I left. I reported it at the front desk, where they told me someone had previously left wearing another guest's clothes. Even after that, they took no action. It made me feel again that their lost-property management is careless. There are far too few lockers with locks for the number of guests, including shoe lockers. They should add more, or switch to a setup where you leave the shoe-locker key at the front desk and get a locker key. They should also get rid of the changing baskets, as other hot springs do, and have guests put everything in lockers. If they fixed that, this kind of thing wouldn't happen.