Kojinmari

Kojinmari is right in the heart of Kinosaki, with all the onsens a very short walk away. The rooms are beautifully designed, and the family who runs the place were kind and helpful throughout. You can tell they put a lot of care into it. It was a lovely stay, and I’d highly recommend it for a quieter getaway on a trip to Japan.

The room’s thoughtful, simple design was calming, and it looked even more beautiful in person. The family’s warmth made us want to stay longer, as did how warm the room itself was during our winter visit. It’s a quaint, restorative place. Kinosaki Kojinmari is a short five-minute walk from the train station and convenient to the seven onsens. We loved starting the day with a bath and then coming down for a full Japanese-style breakfast. I’d absolutely return.

The inn’s two-room size makes Kojinmari feel special, and we had a cozy, lovely stay while exploring Kinosaki. It sits right on the main street, overlooking the canal and its beautiful willow trees, in the middle of everything. We were warmly welcomed and given yukatas and onsen passes for the town’s public baths. The delicious matcha and red bean monakas were a nice touch. The interior is beautifully done, with furniture by Japanese designers, from the chairs to the sofa fabric. It felt authentic and carefully chosen. I also found a feature on the interior designer’s website, Ima ima. The exterior has an interesting, modernized Japanese look that suits the willow-lined streets. Mr Kazuyuki Kojima was very helpful over email before our trip and arranged a sushi dinner reservation for us. It was a great recommendation. Thank you!

The staff were polite, the Tajima beef was very good, and we liked the miso soup and rice. The third-floor room looked nice and had a good view, but stayed cold even with the heat on, likely because of the single-pane windows. Wind howled and banged the outside blinds loudly. My partner had to raise them, which made the room brighter and harder to rest in. There was no soap in the restroom, so washing our hands meant walking all the way across the room. A stinkbug was in the room, and my partner caught it and released it. The light controls were extensive and convenient, the plugs were convenient too, and the skincare items were good quality. The crab was very bad, though maybe it just isn’t for us. The other food I haven’t mentioned was only edible or not tasty. We asked if they could take our bags to the station. They said yes and said they understood when we checked that we were being clear. My partner even showed them her ticket with the time on it. We went to the station early to find our bags, but they weren’t there, based on the signs and our conversations with confused tourist information staff. We had to run back to the ryokan to get them. They offered an umbrella because it was raining, but that didn’t help in our situation. If there’s any doubt, I suggest not saying you understand. We’re happy to use Google Translate. This ryokan was very expensive, ¥132,860 for one night, over $900 when I booked. It was not worth the money, and the luggage mix-up was unforgivable. The souvenir shop was nice, and I think they let us buy something after hours.