Irifunesou Hotel

Good value, and the breakfast was nice.

The breakfast is great!

I was booking at the last minute and got a room on the day. The hotel was cleaner than on my previous visit, and the open space by the first-floor front desk was nice. They gave out free mini ramen and juice too, which I appreciated. The basement public bath was surprisingly spacious, and I really liked the open-air bath. The hot spring water takes 20-30 minutes to fill the bath. Upstairs was noisy, but after I told the front desk, they took care of it, which was helpful. A couple of things in the room could be better: there's an air purifier but no humidifier, and the door only locks if I pull it shut firmly first. Otherwise it won't open or close properly. The Irifuneso theme song is catchy and gets stuck in your head, lol. For the price, it's worth it, and I'd stay again.

I hope this place does well, since it's a wonderful hot spring resort, but the first thing it needs to focus on is cleanliness and the visible details guests deal with. It's an older building, though not a traditional one. Some areas have been renovated, with thoughtful woodwork and indirect lighting, but the humidity, mold, sewage smell, and hygiene problems around the bathroom and elsewhere made the stay hard. Here are some improvements that seem possible even without much spending. In the room, the round doorknob makes me uneasy about security while sleeping. A door bar would help. A partition just inside the entrance would be useful too, even a roller curtain if the original sliding doors are removed. The toilet flushes with a lever, like a public restroom, and the bathroom faucet is a twist type. There were dangerous nails that need attention. Wooden or plastic hangers would be better because the black suede fabric shows dust, and disposable slippers would be preferable. The public bath has several issues. The mirror in the changing room is too high to use while sitting. The faucet is so short my hands hit the basin when washing. There's a sewage smell in the changing room, and water beads on the bathroom ceiling keep dripping onto my hair and body after a shower, and into the large bath, spoiling the experience. Buckets by the bath would remind people to rinse before getting in, since some people didn't. Illustrations about hot spring etiquette and signs explaining the benefits would help, especially pictures for foreign visitors. Hair dryers in the rooms would be useful too, unless they're available to borrow. If baths use baskets for belongings, there should be a valuables box or lockers for keys. Small bins between shower stalls could stop people leaving shampoo and face wash packaging behind. The changing room door doesn't close properly, leaving a view straight into the hallway where men are as soon as you step out of the bath. That feels unsafe. Given the money spent on renovations, I'd like to see more attention to cleanliness and practical details from a guest's point of view. They could also provide a sheet for concerns or requests. I'm rooting for the place.