Kinosaki Tenboen

The sukiyaki breakfast was one of our favorite meals, and the private onsen was the best. We were grateful for the kind staff and the shuttle, and we'd highly recommend a winter visit. We had booked the stargazing room, but couldn't work out how to switch off the balcony lamp, so there was too much light to see stars. The sound of the water outside was lovely, though.

The food was the best we've had in Japan: Tajima beef Shabu Shabu, crab suki nabe, and Sukiyaki in the morning. We also loved having a private outdoor onsen at the ryokan. We stayed for two nights. The rooms were clean and big enough for eating and sleeping, and the staff were very attentive. Kinosaki's downtown area is a little farther away, but the shuttle made it easy to go onsen hopping, and walking there and back took about 15 minutes with no trouble. I'd highly recommend this ryokan for an authentic, personal experience.

One thing to know before coming: check-in only starts at 3 PM. If you arrive earlier, there won't be anyone to receive you, and you can't leave your bags there. The hotel is about a 15-minute walk from the main onsen town, so it's quieter. After dinner each night, a shuttle takes guests into town to walk around or visit the onsens, then brings them back. At check-in, we were the only foreign guests. The staff weren't very fluent in English, but they were so professional and used their phones to translate everything clearly. That's the kind of authentic ryokan I wanted, the sort Japanese people would visit. They gave us a free private onsen session, which we really appreciated. The room was very large, clean, and had everything we could need. We had kaiseki dinner in our room, which was a wonderful ryokan experience, and the sukiyaki breakfast was very good too. I can't praise the thoughtful, professional staff enough.

The private bath was lovely, and they provide flower petals to put in the water. Ask while you're there if you want a private slot. The shuttle runs between the ryokan and town, just let them know when you want to be picked up. It's a bit far from town, which is why I wouldn't give the location five stars, though it wasn't a big deal for us and might matter to some people. I hardly ever write reviews, but liked this place so much I wanted more people to hear about it. There were lots of couples staying there, of different ages. I was one of the only native English speakers in the ryokan, but that was fine. The staff did their best to communicate and used Google Translate when needed. Everyone was kind and welcoming. We had the dinner and breakfast package, and there was plenty we hadn't tried before. The staff explained the dishes and how to cook some of them at our table. I'd recommend this ryokan if you're visiting kinosaki as a couple or a women's group.