Hotel Fukinomori

It’s a quiet, relaxing resort in the mountains, with convenient shuttles to the nearby train station and town. The public onsen were excellent, including a cold plunge pool. Both dinner and breakfast were immaculate. Our room was nice, though even with the AC on, the bedroom never got as cold as the living room.

The setting is beautiful and the common spaces are lovely, but the room felt tired and dated. It was clean, though peeling wallpaper and stained tatami made a renovation seem overdue. We also didn’t enjoy the dinner, which included horse intestine, and wished there’d been more choice. The private onsen we booked was a too-hot jacuzzi in a shed, not open air as we’d expected from the pictures. We messaged ahead about a shuttle from Nagiso. It arrived, but they didn’t confirm it beforehand, which caused avoidable stress. Staff were nice, but generally not very helpful. When we asked about forwarding luggage from Tsumago to Magome, they said it wasn’t possible, though it is, and they didn’t help much with bus questions. For the price, we expected more help. This was one of the more expensive places on our trip, but sadly the worst. We wouldn’t recommend it.

My room had a very unpleasant, unclean smell, so I could only stand to be in it for as little time as possible. That made the stay disappointing, especially as I’d hoped for a treat. The location up in the hills is lovely, and the lounge and restaurant were nice. The indoor and outdoor baths were okay, and staff were polite. Meals were set menus; they were happy to give me fish and vegetables instead of meat, though I’m not sure how vegetarians or vegans would manage. I got no reply to my email asking about the shuttle bus.

It feels authentically Japanese, but I didn’t enjoy the stay. The place is cut off from any town, the beds were very uncomfortable, the bathrooms old, and there were huge spiders around. One even walked in while we were eating. There weren’t any real places to relax, either. The room called the “living room” was no use to us. Eating wasn’t allowed, there were only a few wooden chairs, and when we tried to use the TV for something other than the random stock footage of landscapes, an older hotel employee told us to turn it off. That felt petty and unreasonable. I’d look for somewhere else, especially if you’re a foreigner in Japan.