Sumiya Kiho-an Ryokan

The whole ryokan was beautifully designed, and the service was superb, full of Japanese hospitality. We had a great time. Our omakase dinner and Japanese breakfast were very good, and the room and onsen were clean. Thanks for the lovely service and experience. Highly recommend.

The forest setting means a few insects may turn up in the room or open bathroom, which seems reasonable to me. The private Japanese bath and excellent meals made it easy to get some real rest. The location and layout also offer plenty of privacy for a holiday.

We left before ever reaching our room, and we’re still waiting for a refund. The hotel couldn’t provide the room we believed we had booked. At check-in, one staff member tried to mediate between us and management, who seemed uninterested and rude. They offered to keep our payment for two days and put us in an upgraded room that was empty anyway, but only for one night. It felt like management was trying to get more money out of the situation instead of working it out with us. The stay was ruined before it began. The woman who helped us was amazing, but the way management handled the problem was absurd.

The hotel is lovely and the service was excellent, but the room photos are extremely misleading, to the point that they felt like false advertising. I’ve attached two pictures of the private onsen from our room: the advertised image and what we actually got. The booking description specifically said “open air,” but our bath wasn’t open air, and the mountain view was very obstructed. That was the main reason we booked this room and paid extra, so I was really disappointed.