Omiya Ryokan

The lounge has drinks, chocolate, massage chairs, and views of Zao onsen. The hotel’s onsens are on the small side, but when I went outside busy hours they were empty. Guests at Omiya Ryokan can also visit the onsens at sister hotels for free. I recommend Zao Kokusai Hotel, especially its outdoor bath in winter while it’s snowing. Zao’s water is very acidic and sometimes milky. It left my skin feeling very smooth and my joints feeling great after a soak. The spring water comes straight from the mountain, untreated, with no chlorine or mixing, and it felt amazing. I’ve tried many onsens around Japan, and Zao is the best I’ve been to. The powdery snow and the ski resort and snow monsters were also perfect. Omiya Ryokan is a really authentic, traditional Japanese ryokan. The staff were all extremely kind and the service was perfect. The retro-style hotel and rooms are well maintained and cozy. The food was amazing, with lots of fresh vegetables even in winter, and the kaiseki meals were delicious. There were at least ten courses at both breakfast and dinner, though, and even with a big appetite I couldn’t finish everything. It’s a lot of food, but so good that I don’t count it as a downside. If you eat more than I do, you’ll be satisfied. I’d definitely recommend this hotel for a visit to Zao Onsen or Yamagata.

The room was nice and modern, but the onsen was really small. Service was close to nonexistent, and there weren’t self-service systems to make up for it. Things could get chaotic and confusing, especially with the shuttles: nobody seemed to know what was going on, and the instructions were limited or inaccurate. I wouldn’t stay again.

My company and I really enjoyed our Zao ski trip stay at Omiya Ryokan. I did have a problem after checkout when I realized I’d left my jacket in the room. The woman at reception wasn’t helpful and insisted nothing had been left behind. Luckily, the general manager, a bald man whose name I didn’t get, helped me and personally brought the lost jacket to my next hotel in Yamagata city. I’m very grateful to him. Thank you.

The rooms were quite large, the onsen was great, and there was a big shared area. Everything about the hotel seemed great until checkout, when I was asked to pay extra to use the onsen, even though I thought it was included in the room price. If the bath costs extra, I could have booked a cheap hotel and gone to a public onsen instead.