I booked this hotel due to the proximity to Iya valley. From the outside, the hotel doesn’t look very appealing, but the inside is actually very nice. The room (Japanese style) was smaller than other hotels but perfectly comfortable, especially with the futon. The rooms are indeed “Japanese style”, don’t expect the little balcony with chairs and tables you get in more luxurious ryokan.
The Onsen is very nice, especially the open air one with views on the river! Yes, there is a bridge with occasional traffic, but that didn’t prevent me from having a relaxing time.
I had the kaiseki dinner, it was really good and prepared with local ingredients. All the different plates were presented and explained in English by the staff.
The highlight of the hotel was the staff though. Although I speak a little Japanese, they could speak a good English and that really helped. I was welcomed with my name on the entrance and the flag of my country. The staff was always very friendly and attentive. I even got a goodbye with the employee waving a huge French flag at me as I was driving away, and that was really touching.

I booked one night stay at this hotel and experience their great service upon arrival. We arrived the hotel in the morning and it’s not the time for check in. We decided to drop my baggage there and start our trip first. The temperature was a bit low on that day and the staff at reception gave us a warm welcome. Acknowledged that we come from Hong Kong and arrange a mandarins speaking staff to introduce everything to us. They give us a hand warmer, bus schedule and suggested route, discount coupon and direct us to our destination with big smile. After we finished our visiting, I saw our name and home town were listed on the guest list at the entrance. It’s quite surprising to me. During dinner time, the staff serving us was also mandarine speaking and I saw HK flag on the dinning table. I felt that this hotel is very caring and they are nice to visitors from different countries. We left on the next day, the staff drive us to station and say goodbye to us by shaking HK flag. This is an interesting experience to me~