Mannou Seiryuan

The place we actually rented was the whole second-half room, and it was a great deal. The building right in front also serves as a dormitory, so there are different places you can stay. The area is quiet and surrounded by nature. Apparently, fireflies appear in the stream out front. I didn’t stay in the first-half building shown in the photos, but you can rent that whole building too, and it looks stunning. The garden, room design and tea room all show the owner’s lovely taste. The owner is also very intelligent and interesting to talk with, so if you get the chance, it’s worth listening.

It had the comfortable, lived-in feeling of staying at a friend or relative’s place, with lots of the owner’s personal things around. The kitchen was stocked with useful equipment, including an induction stove and a Nippon Trim hydrogen water purifier. The room was very spacious and the air conditioning worked well. We enjoyed the outdoor bath, though the kids never seemed to get comfortable around the bugs.

I tried staying here for the first time, but I don’t think I’ll return. The building shown in the whole-building rental photo looked like a decent private lodging, while the place I stayed had exposed concrete, bunk beds, cockroaches and spiders. I couldn’t relax there. I question the management’s judgment in letting people stay in a room like that. This feels like more than just a cheap place that happens to be bad. It makes me sad to think others may have the same experience, and I wonder whether they should stop offering private lodging.

I couldn’t sleep at all in the Japanese-style room. It was beside four other rooms, and the lights and voices from the guests next door kept me awake. There were also lots of flies, and I got bitten by mites. The room in the photo is the one rented as a whole building, but the Japanese-style room I was actually given looked completely different. Maybe the setup would be fine if you rented the entire building.