Togattaonsen Bettei Yamabuki

The food, drinks, and service all showed real care. The rooms are good quality, and some have their own private onsen area. If your trip schedule isn't too packed, it's worth staying more than one night.

A really, really good ryokan, with good people, service, and food. If you're driving, it's a great choice near Zao.

We had a fantastic stay, with delicious food and sake 🤤

The meals were the highlight for my husband and me. Everything seemed thoughtfully prepared, and since we love drinking and eat slowly, we really appreciated that the dishes came out at our pace. The all-you-can-eat obanzai, traditional Japanese side dishes, was delicious too. We stay at different inns as a couple about once a month, and this became my clear favorite after quite a while without changing our top pick. There are only a small number of rooms, the other guests were friendly, and there were no children while we were there, so it was peaceful and relaxing. We also got to use the private bath several times, which was great. The air conditioning in the large bath changing room was just right, almost warm. The towel warmer in our room was broken, but the stay was so good that it didn't bother us. We'd been a little worried because the reviews were so glowing that our expectations might be too high. The place really did live up to them. We'll definitely come back. I also heard there's an affiliated bar near Sendai Station, and I'd like to try it.