Shima Yamaguchikan

The staff were great, our room was clean, and the food was really good. The building is older, but that didn't bother me. If you love a great bath, this retro place is a paradise. The water and the bath itself were fantastic.

There are good restaurants by the public parking area if, like us, you don't have a meal plan with Yamaguchikan. Check what's open before heading out, since it seemed that many places close on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Parking is valet. We mentioned we'd need the car for dinner, so they left it by the street for easy access. Our room looked out over the river and hills, and the setting in the mountains was beautiful. The outdoor bath also faces the river, with lovely scenery while you soak. The indoor bath and the one beside it were lukewarm, and not many people were using them. Service and staff were good. We really recommend staying here.

The staff were friendly and helpful, and I slept deeply thanks to the air conditioning. The hotel has some wear from age, though, and finding power outlets was difficult. Dinner tasted good, but the vegetables seemed a little stale. The highlight was definitely the onsen. Looking out at the river from the open-air bath was magnificent, and it was a lovely spot to unwind.

The onsen was good, but the service was poor and the price didn't feel justified. We had stomach trouble overnight and arrived 20 minutes after breakfast had ended at 9. Nobody had told us the closing time. They wouldn't serve us food, then after a long discussion gave us plain rice balls that tasted horrible. They said they'd called our room several times, but the phone never rang. A bad experience.