Minshuku Wakatake

The dinner was fantastic: heaps of fresh sashimi, cooked tuna collar, which is their speciality, and plenty of side dishes. One of the gentlemen is a certified sake service provider, and they explained everything in English. It's a small family run hotel, with art in the halls either made by the proprietors or commissioned from friends. We booked through the kumano kodo official website, and this was the best hotel we stayed at in Japan. The rooms are Japanese style, with shared bathrooms, but everything was very clean and the attention to detail was great.

I spent one night here and got a multi-course tuna meal, fresh and served both cooked and uncooked in all sorts of ways. I'd never eaten so much tuna in my life! The location is excellent, the facilities are well suited to the place, and the staff are very friendly and attentive. My room was the smallest I've had in Japan, but it did the job.

The food was five stars. The bedroom and toilet were clean, and it was nice to be able to lock the onsen bathroom too. I gave it four stars because I personally wanted a space that felt more private.

From outside, the place doesn't look like much, but that impression changes fast once you're in. The rooms are spacious, tidy, and clean, with all the basic amenities. The staff are super friendly and helpful. Their English is limited, but enough to get by. The food was the biggest bonus for us, every dish was amazing. We'd definitely recommend it.