Stayed in Dec 2005 while visiting Kanazawa for the first time. Kagaya has been voted as #1 onsen hotel/ryokan in Japan for 10 years. We stayed in Setsugetsuka (雪月花) room with in-room onsen overlooking the bay, a western, a Japanese living room and a twin bedroom.
A young Okami-san who had been sent to Taiwan to learn Mandarin was assigned to look after us from the moment we checked in. We enjoyed our stay very much. She even accompanied us to the train station after checking out. Sumptuous dinner was served as expected, but having a chef to grill seafood in front of us was really a big surprise. Apart from the traditional Japanese-style, a western-style breakfast was served as per my wife’s request. There were performance after dinner.
We strolled around and noticed photos of previous stays by royal families and foreign dignitaries.
Stayed in Feb 2007. Kikuya is a historical onsen ryokan where the late Japanese novelist Natsume Soseki in Meiji-era stayed for rehabilitation and some of his artifacts were displayed.
We stayed in a modern room with twin beds with in-room onsen in the balcony. Sumptuous meals were served. Service was meticulous as usual but not intrusive.
Kikuya literally means house of Chrysanthemum.
Entrance
Artifacts used by Natsume Soseki while staying in Kikuya
Visited and stayed in Gero onsen, which is one of the three famous onsens from Edo-era. Stayed in Oct 2012, after visiting Takayama and another onsen stay in Fukuchi onsen.
Picked the new wing in Suimeikan. Instead of traditional Kaiseki dinner, we picked the French course which was very nice.
It was a surprise that the reigning Japanese Emperor and Queen had stayed in this ryokan when they were Prince and Princess in Showa era, and other royal family members.
Took about 40min by hotel shuttle bus pick up from Onomichi station. The resort has an awesome view of the Seto Inland Sea (Setonaikai), with islands and peninsula stretching into the horizon.
View from balcony
steamed Tai fish
Grilled fish – Tanago
Fried fish – Ozeko
slow-cooked Hiroshima beef
Rice baked with Anago
lounge
morning view from room
view from western restaurant during brekie
swimming pool
Barons de Rothschild Champagne for brekie
cart loaded with bread rolls
Delicious fish soup in the morning
Grilled Tai on egg benedict
own mariner pier
1st time the HK SAR flag was hoisted during our stay !
The Kaiseki dinner was very nice. Worth mentioning is the fresh fishes being served – one grilled and one fried upon their recommendation among others, were very delicious. These were local fishes which were unknown to us. The grilled Hiroshima beef was served in western style.
As to the morning breakfast, we selected the western style. The restaurant was in an open area next to a huge lawn facing the sea with a swimming pool in front. It has been many years since our stays in Amsterdam that we had Champagne again during breakfast. Equally surprising was the grilled Tai fish on top of Eggs Benedict. Selected bread rolls were sliced and heated in charcoal furnace outdoor.
Undoubtedly it was a memorable onsen stay. We would definitely return in other seasons of the year.
Picked this onsen hotel as it has rooms in modern style and a balcony with seaview. Though there was a tub, it’s not using onsen but only hot water as stated on its website (in Japanese), so we did not even bother. The public rotenburo was spacious, sea-facing and very nice, though it took a bit of walk downhill.
Kaiseki dinner was nice though whale in sashimi (“Kujira”) was served, as in most other ryokans in southern Wakayama. We deliberately did NOT touch it at all.
rotenburo in balcony but only hot water is supplied
Of all the onsen ryokans that we have stayed, this is the first one to be reached by boat from the mainland. Nakanojima literally means “in the middle of an island” and indeed the hotel was the only premise on the island.
Soaking in the rotenburo surrounded by sea was almost like soaking in the sea. It was quite an experience. Before checking out, we had a stroll around the island – good views of the coastline and also Nachisan on the mainland.
model of whaling boat
view from the island where the onsen ryokan is located
stayed for 2 nights while visiting Fuji 5-lake during peak Koyo. Picked room with balcony facing Mt Fuji. It has nice rotenburo on top floor facing Mt Fuji.
On the first night, we had buffet dinner.
On the 2nd night, we had Teppanyaki course dinner.
This was our second stay and this time we stayed for 2 nights. We like the spacious twin room with 47 sqm. On the first night we had traditional Japanese Kaiseki dinner, whereas we picked an Italian dinner course with nice wine pairing on the last evening. The staffs recognized us and we really had some good chats.
The resort has some outdoor sport facilities like golf, tennis etc. though we only joined the morning yoga session once.
stayed in a suite with wide seaview of Toba coastline. Picked a French dinner course with wine pairing options. Free shuttle bus to its nearby annexed ryokan with pearl onsen, which we stayed in our first visit in Feb 2014.
