Fudouguchikan

Excellent experience for those up for a traditional Japanese experience. Those expecting Western comforts and cuisine may find it challenging. The service was impeccable, from dinner served in the room, the room changed over from dining to sleeping, to the room cleared of bedding while we had breakfast in the dining area. Of course the highlight of our stay was the onsen experience. Indoor and outdoor hot baths, a well-equipped bathing area, comfortable changing room. In addition, there was a very pleasant walkable road with cherry blossoms which led to a hike with waterfalls and, about a 40 min walk away, a temple. Overall, an experience not to be missed when visiting Japan.

Only about an hour from Osaka by train. We loved our stay here. The staff were very kind. The experience of dining (feasting!) in our room was amazing. The staff took care of everything, from setting up the food, clearing the dishes when we called, to setting up the beds after dinner, and putting them away again while we were at breakfast. We reserved a room with private bath and it was just so relaxing. Never even made it to the public onsen. I didn't want to leave my room. Highly recommend. The hotel has a shuttle to/from the local train station, at a very specific time, so check with them if you need a ride. Otherwise, it was about 15 minutes by cab. Cabs were waiting outside the station.

We stayed at the room with a private onsen bath. Not sure if this is supposed to be the standard across other ryokans, but the onsen bath wasn't the cleanest of spaces. There were some algae surrounding the wood and parts of the wood were looking a bit dubious and dicoloured. Plus the bottom of the bath had some small bits of pebbles. We didnt get the room with a good view sadly. Otherwise, the rest of the room was clean! Snacks were great. The service wasn't the greatest, and some of the staff were a bit curt. They could understand English relatively well though. We weren't informed of much during check in, and was surprised when they just went into our rooms to make our beds for the night without telling us in advance. Again, not sure if that's the standard. Food wasn't the best sadly. The kaiseki dinner was mostly served cold, save for the soups. Grilled fish was really tough as well. The only redemption was that it was really aesthetic! Breakfast was decent though and it's served in a communal area. The futons were amazingly comfortable as well.