Yamakawa ZENZO

Dinner was a highlight: they cooked the food over hot coals on a bed of sand. I don't know what the method is called, but it was good. The dining area was really hot, though, and we wished they would turn on the AC. Breakfast came with a view over beautiful green mountains. We had a room with a private onsen, which was the best part of the ryokan. It was a good size and clean, so try to get that room type. The shared onsens didn’t seem maintained to the usual Japanese standard, with lots of cobwebs and critters, both dead and alive. We also found a centipede in our room hiding in a toiletry bag. Luckily we saw it before reaching in. With the inn in a wooded mountain area, I guess this may be common. I’d call the place average at best, and probably wouldn’t return.

A lovely spot to unwind!

This small hot spring resort is deep in the mountains, so there are few tourists and it was peaceful. The staff were polite and attentive, and the price seemed reasonable for a separate cottage with a private open-air bath. The cleanliness was awful, though. Both the cottage’s private bath and the communal open-air bath had piles of leaves and dirt in the water, leaving our feet muddy. Some leaves might suit the mountain setting, but this was too much. The showers in both the men’s and women’s communal baths had no hot water, and there were cobwebs everywhere. Even the glasses in the fridge, inside bags marked “disinfected,” were soaked with condensation. The dinner drink menu was sticky with something. The facilities also seemed poorly maintained. The tatami mats were worn and dented, and the floor creaked with every step. Breakfast and dinner were simple dishes that didn’t feel worth the price.

The staff service was excellent, and the rest came down to personal taste. I’d read plenty of harsh reviews and arrived prepared, haha. With the inn set deep in the mountains, spiderwebs and dead insects are hard to avoid. If you like camping in the mountains, it should be fine. The room felt more like a guesthouse or staying at a relative’s country home. There was an oddly shaped floor chair that turned out to be really comfortable. Dinner was served in a stylish, bar-like space, which I thought was a fun touch. I’d seen comments about the bathroom outlets being high up, so I was glad I brought an extension cord. Staying alone made it a little expensive, but nearby Kurokawa Onsen would only have offered room-only lodging for the same price, so two meals here seemed reasonable.