Yugawara Mizunokaori

The indoor and outdoor onsens are on the small side, but the hotel is well worth a visit. The staff were really friendly, breakfast was good, and dinner was huge and delicious if you book the breakfast-and-dinner plan.

We were able to check in at 2 pm, so even though the rain on Saturday ruled out sightseeing, we spent time bathing and singing karaoke with the family. It turned into a great memory, and the reception staff made both check-in and check-out pleasant with their friendliness. The Sunday morning market at Manyo Park was lively and very good. Yumoto Street in Yugawara Onsen also had various events going on, and the town didn't feel deserted. Nearby, the sister inn Komachi no Yu is just a one-minute walk away. Its water is apparently three times more concentrated than Mizu no Kaori's, and it helped my back and knee pain. We came for our son's elementary school graduation trip. The building was renovated in March 2014 and was very clean. The rooftop bath was renovated too and was spotless. There is no sauna, but I enjoyed both the open-air bath and the indoor bath with its free-flowing hot spring water. I used them about six times. The food was delicious, and though there were several foreign guests, the cheerful, attentive staff made the meal really enjoyable.

You can dine in groups without worrying about other guests, and bath lovers can also use the baths at nearby Yumoto Komachikan. The springs seem to come from different sources, which makes it a nice option if you enjoy trying baths. I visited in early September during the double stamp campaign. Adding seared horse mackerel, hot sake, and bottled beer brought the bill to 16,751 yen, which felt like excellent value. The bath was clean and had an open-air section, though it wasn't large. I gave four stars because I couldn't get the room temperature adjusted properly. The seared horse mackerel was also the most satisfying part of dinner.

Snow shut down the buses on the day we stayed, leaving the station packed with stranded people and what must have been a taxi queue of about 100. I called the hotel, and they managed to send a car to pick us up. With the snow outside and the hot spring baths, it was a lovely bonus. The baths, food, and hospitality were all perfect. The old-fashioned room key didn't match the feel of the building, which didn't seem old. There were just the right number of guests, so neither the large communal bath nor the outdoor bath got crowded. The meals were mostly seafood, and everything we tried was delicious. There's a bus stop right in front, so the hotel doesn't have a shuttle service.