Ajisai Onsen Ryokan

“Absolutely Amazing. The bad reviews are absurd.”

I am completely astounded at the bad reviews I have read for Ajisai Onsen Ryokan. Either the Ryokan has changed a lot since those reviews, or those reviews were written by people who expected a western style hotel close to the train station when in fact they were booking an authentic ryokan 900m f… Mehr

I am completely astounded at the bad reviews I have read for Ajisai Onsen Ryokan. Either the Ryokan has changed a lot since those reviews, or those reviews were written by people who expected a western style hotel close to the train station when in fact they were booking an authentic ryokan 900m from the train station. I stayed here for two nights in April 2026 with my wife and two boys aged 8 and 10. This ryokan was the most enjoyable accomodation of our 15 day Japan holiday. We had better sleep here than the Club Med we stayed at and the hotels we stayed at in Tokyo and Osaka. To be honest I was anxious about the fold-out style of bedding as I feared it might be uncomfortable like sleeping on a mattress on the floor, but it was somehow extremely comfortable. The air-conditioner worked properly. There was a table low to the ground with authentic floor-chairs and complementary funky tea and coffee, and some Japanese biscuits. The room had a solid lockable door, and inside that there were authentic-feeling sliding doors to partition the room. The room felt authentic. The room had a toilet behind another lockable door, and separate basin area, however no showers because you book one of the 3 onsens for up to an hour, twice a day, in which you can have a shower. Each of the 3 onsens has a lockable door, then a drying room, and then a room with 4 shower heads and a hot spring. One of the onsens has an indoor hot spring and a small sauna. One of the onsens has an outdoor hot spring. One of the onsens has an indoor hot spring and an outdoor hot spring. The outdoor hot springs do not have a view but they have a nice atmosphere and small private garden. Onsen bookings commence 7am-8am but they were not locked prior to 7am and so I also went in before 7am for a quick shower which didn’t seem to bother anyone. The authentic experience continued with food: superb breakfast with choice of either western or Japanese style. Dinner was even better - 7 course authentic Japanese dinner presented better than high end restaurants in Australia. The check-in staff had very good English, and all staff were extremely helpful and polite. The Ajisai Ryokan is 900m walk from Gora train station (and mostly uphill) and so peaceful and quiet. We walked it multiple times which was pleasant but you can also get a taxi, or even get the cable car half way. This was such a wonderful place to stay.

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