Hotel Shinayoshi

I visited in winter and would like to come back in summer. The building is a little old, but it was clean and nothing about it particularly concerned me. Many of the staff were foreigners, and everyone was polite and considerate, which made for a pleasant stay. The meal was more luxurious than I expected, and I was very satisfied. Maybe we were lucky with the timing, since we had the hot springs almost to ourselves and could relax. There was one mistake, but it was dealt with right away.

The staff treated us well, but the building was in rough shape. I was there on a tour, and the place felt extremely old, with lots of areas still needing repair. The bathroom light in my room didn't work, and neither did the hair dryer in the public bath. The rooms also had poor soundproofing. Since ours was closest to the banquet hall, I could hear employees talking.

The rooftop private open-air bath is free, can be used as often as you like, and has source-fed hot spring water. If it’s occupied, you can soak in the spacious hot spring bath in your room instead. Some plans include in-room meals, which makes it easy to take your time over dinner. Depending on the plan, the food can be generous, with dishes like simmered spiny lobster, abalone, and golden eye. The foreign staff were attentive, and many spoke Japanese fluently. I also loved having bottled milk after sweating in the big public bath. The building is aging, and I did notice some cleaning issues, fine dust, and windows that didn’t line up well. Portions seem smaller than they were a few years ago, and there’s less sashimi now. For a stay focused on hot springs and seafood, though, I think it’s good value. Anyone bothered by the building’s age or small details may prefer to pay about twice as much for a newer resort.

There was a piece of persimmon-flavored pi, a dried persimmon, under the mattress on the futon in our room. We hadn't eaten any, so it seemed like it might have been left by the previous guest. That was pretty disgusting, and the toilet door wouldn't lock either. We were staying as part of a tour in a Japanese-style room for four. It had a toilet but no bath, so bathing meant using the large communal bath. The jungle bath there was so cold that we had to warm up in the tub before washing, and getting the shower water to the right temperature was difficult. The building is old and has a retro feel, as other reviews have mentioned. The food was good, especially the simmered golden-eyed snapper, and the sashimi platter was quite nice too.