Kappa No Yado Ryokan Sanjiro

“Exceeded expectations. Lovely onsen ryokan with close proximity to Mt Zao”

We stayed here for 1 night during Golden Week in Japan (this year a 2 week long run of public holidays in May joined together, is what I understand). Due to this, we had limited hotel/ryokan choices when we were planning our trip in February 2019. Ryokan Sanjiro was one that had availability for th… Mehr

We stayed here for 1 night during Golden Week in Japan (this year a 2 week long run of public holidays in May joined together, is what I understand). Due to this, we had limited hotel/ryokan choices when we were planning our trip in February 2019. Ryokan Sanjiro was one that had availability for this period. And given the last English review was from 2017, we didn’t quite know what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised though. This is a smallish onsen hotel. It felt cozy, we recognised staff and they recognised us. We were greeted by a staff member who spoke some English and tried very hard at it. She welcomed us with a personalised map of the ryokan with our room, onsen locations and meal area highlighted and written in English. With this it felt like we had personalised service. The room was lovely, we could see the Zao mountain from our room. Meals were served in a private dining room. There was a personalised welcome note. The room meant we could enjoy dinner privately. The food was great quality! We thoroughly enjoyed it. The ingredients were fresh and dishes intricately prepared. Same goes for breakfast. No coffee provided with breakfast, but we received a voucher for coffee at the lobby. It was special, with a coffee foam on top. I like a good coffee and enjoyed this one. There were a few private baths you could rent for 50 minutes. Prices ranged from high 1000 yen to low 2000 yen. I thought this was reasonable as the room rate was cheaper than most other onsen hotels. On check out again we had lovely service. I prefer smaller ryokans with personable service and good food, and ideally private onsen available for use - this place ticks all those boxes and has made it memorable for us.

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“Ein traditionelles japanisches Ryokan”

Großartig, wenn Sie wie ein traditionelles japanisches Inn, aber für ein Western Reisenden, nicht sehr praktisch in vielen respektiert. Das Personal hilfsbereit und freundlich. wie diese Inns völlig unzureichend Zimmer Badezimmer benutzen weil die meisten ihrer Die Unterhaltung richtete sich die ma… Mehr

Großartig, wenn Sie wie ein traditionelles japanisches Inn, aber für ein Western Reisenden, nicht sehr praktisch in vielen respektiert. Das Personal hilfsbereit und freundlich. wie diese Inns völlig unzureichend Zimmer Badezimmer benutzen weil die meisten ihrer Die Unterhaltung richtete sich die main Bath House. Der Mangel an ein Bett oder Nachttisch an den Eintritt in Zimmer 1 Straße Ort reisen Dinge auf, wird zu einer Schmerzen nach zu viele Nächte auf einer Tour in diese Art von Lodges. Interessant die 1 Straße Zeit, aber am besten meiden, sofern man sich wirklich an, als schliefe man auf den Boden, und nachdem wir unsere Koffer auf dem Fußboden. Das Abendessen war sehr gut mit Weinpaket lecker traditionelles Essen. Japanisches Frühstück war weniger erfreulich - ooh nur für frischen Saft, Obst und Toast.

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“An interesting experience, great baths”

This Ryoken is aimed at the leisure market, but I was there on business (attending a conference in Sendai), so I didn’t manage to explore all the facilities to their full potential. The hand painted sign on the hotel door, welcoming me by name, was a reassuring sight after the long and slightly f… Mehr

This Ryoken is aimed at the leisure market, but I was there on business (attending a conference in Sendai), so I didn’t manage to explore all the facilities to their full potential. The hand painted sign on the hotel door, welcoming me by name, was a reassuring sight after the long and slightly fraught drive from Tokyo. After removing our shoes and putting on the slippers provided, we were welcomed with green tea before being shown our room. If you don’t speak Japanese, be prepared for a lot of theatrical comedy miming to communicate – the staff are nice, but language is a barrier; one receptionist speaks a little English. Just go with the flow – your stay will be stage managed, but in the Ryoken way; there’s not much room for deviation (don’t mess with the system!) The room was large, with a separate toilet and bathroom. Futons are unrolled for sleeping at night. The lady who showed us to the room explained, through the subtle art of interpretive dance, how to wear our kimonos. It was certainly an interesting sight to see Mr Blue Lamb senior surreptitiously adjusting his sash in the corridor to avoid flashing other guests… Little origami swans, cranes and other items are placed around the room; these are carefully folded by one of the hotel’s staff. The first night of sleeping on a futon with a rice husk pillow, took some getting used to. My insomnia was aggravated by the people in the room next door toasting each other loudly until about 04:00 in the morning – not brilliant as I had to get up to work the next morning, but it was a Friday night, so I don’t feel it is fair to complain. Much. Breakfast and meals are served in your own private dining room, with hand-painted notes and menus, elaborately carved vegetables, skewered meats and fish and a host of unidentifiable accoutrements. A waiter came in and explained in Japanese about which vegetables and meats to put in the bubbling cauldron on the table. We didn’t understand, so he explained again – still in Japanese, but more loudly. I’ve often seen bemused tourists in England being treated exactly the same way. Lashings of Sake helped wash the food down, even if we had no idea what we were eating. I overslept the first morning so missed breakfast. An elaborate spread had been set out in our named dining room that morning. I suspect missing this was a mortal insult to the staff. I hope my extravagant and humble mime of apology conveyed my deep sorrow at having missed the meal, but I suspect it didn’t go far enough. Book the private bath, it’s amazing. You wash yourself thoroughly first in the bathroom, then hop into the bubbling hot volcanic-spring fed bath that faces out onto a snowy slope. This spa is addictive and became a nightly habit. The second night of sleeping on a futon with a rice husk pillow took some more getting used to. So did the third night. I don't think I would ever have got used to it. In summary, the staff are friendly, the place is clean and comfortable, and I regret that my work schedule meant I wasn’t able to take advantage of the facilities in the way they were meant to be enjoyed. Halfway through our five-hour drive back to Tokyo the hotel rang us to let us know that Mr Blue Lamb Sr had left his passport in the safe. After a hair raising and expletive ridden drive back to Zao, the empathetic mirroring dance mime that the receptionist and I performed together as she handed the document back to me will stay with me forever. Neither of us spoke a word of each other’s language, but we both managed to agree that husbands can be complete idiots.

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