Yufuin Onsen Yufuin Nanairo No Kaze

The welcome and the meal ended up making this a really special stay. The staff were incredibly kind, and they served a huge meal that had clearly been carefully put together. I’m Western, but tried everything that was unfamiliar to me and loved the experience. The room was spotless, with a stunning view. At first, though, the hotel and facilities felt dated. The lights were out when we arrived, and the place seemed haunted, just like other Google reviews had said. Once we got past that first impression, we found a beautiful, unusual place with a quiet, homely atmosphere. It feels like its heyday deserves a whole book. Thanks for having us!

The meals, both breakfast and dinner, were below average, and the hotel itself was old and worn. The staff were polite, but I won’t be back. There was no hot water for showers in the onsen. Hot water was only available on request in another guest room’s public bath. I’d booked and paid far in advance, so the hotel should have told me about the problem and offered me the option to cancel. They gave no discount for the inconvenience, yet charged 500 yen per person in bathing tax. Since there was no hot water, I didn’t use the onsen or bathe there at all. My husband did go, but the spring water was only lukewarm. Very disappointing.

The public bath was clean and better than the in-room onsen, which was cold when we arrived. You have to adjust it yourself, with no instructions beyond “here’s the hot tap.” We left the hot tap running for 30 minutes, and it became boiling hot. One of us burned her foot. I’ve stayed at dozens of onsen ryokans and haven’t encountered that before. I’m still not sure how guests are meant to know what temperature is right. The room looked dated, the food was well below average, and the service was ordinary. The staff were nice, but didn’t provide the kind of Japanese service or procedures I expect at this price. Dinner was the biggest letdown: dishes kept arriving before we’d finished the previous ones, and at one point we had three courses in front of us. The whole meal was over in 45 minutes. I spent a week in the prefecture and stayed at four similarly priced ryokans. This one was easily the worst. The photos must have been taken by a very good photographer. I wouldn’t recommend it, since there are plenty of better places for the money.

The soba was the best I’ve ever had, and the portion was generous. It’s a nice atmosphere, though there were lots of tourists, myself included. Families with kids are welcome, but there’s no children’s menu. Lunch gets busy, so expect a long queue and a wait for the food. Still worth it.