Yutouya Ryokan♡

Lovely traditional Ryokon with gorgeous grounds

8.0

We stayed at the Yutouya Ryokan for 1 night in mid-December and had a fabulous time. Quick summary below: Positives: - Very friendly, warm staff. One particular gentleman (Junya san) had good English and was able to guide us through what we needed to know. The other staff are not as proficient, but were very warm and helpful and we always managed to get what we needed. - Gorgeous grounds, this ryokan has some lovely traditional japanese gardens. Our room was on the ground floor and we could just walk out back and enjoy this. - Room size was great, it is standard tatami style. The hotel staff will set up your bed as you have your dinner in their dining area. - Food quality was good. Their dinner consisted of a crab feast, which I believe is typical of the area. The crab was fresh, sweet and juicy. Breakfast was traditional Japanese breakfast with a few more bells and whistles. Negatives: - I took one star off the rating because the ryokan in general was quite old and in some areas, this was obvious. For example, there were a couple of small areas where there was some peeling of the wallpaper (in a corner of a room and corner of a corridor). All in all, my husband and I loved staying there and felt very well taken care of. We certainly enjoyed our time at the Yutouya Ryokan and generally in Kinosaki.

Ryokan and Onsen experience

8.0

Yutouya Ryokan ~~~ close to Kinosaki train station (8min walk or a shuttle bus), has a very friendly and helpful service (despite little English spoken). It's a traditional place with very basic and old furnishing, all is clean and well maintained. Dinner and breakfast are included - an experience of truly Japanese dishes (prepare for a sea food fiesta! Also for breakfast..) Onsen ~~~ Ryokan has small baths inside, but you will also get an access card for public baths in town, all accessible on foot! The Ryokan offered necessary accessories for an onsen experience: yukata (traditional robe), sandals, towels and a basket to carry. Baths are gender separated, you can book a private one at Ryokan for an additional fee. What more do you need? ~~~ I liked the onsen a lot, but be prepared for a very hot water (42deg!). Although we got some necessities, I can recommend packing your own face and body cream and hair conditioner (it's not available at every onsen). ~~~ Personally, I enjoyed the experience even if food was a bit disappointing for my taste. Overall, it seems a bit overpriced, but easy to book and organize with a 3 day notice only. Ryokan and onsen is a must see/do in Japan :-)

This is one Great Ryokan

10.0

This is one Great Ryokan, this place is 5 minutes from the kinosakionsen station, if you are energetic and don't have to much luggage you can walk or they will pick you up, great central location everything is walking distance, they give you a pass to go to the other onsen baths no charge and they offer private kaiseki dining for breakfast and diner and their food is superb, their service is superb, and they have their own private onsen with a view of the garden , the manager speaks English and pays extreme attention to detail , this was one of the best parts of our japan trip !!! Go here for sure it's well worth it !!!!

Comfortable Traditional Ryokan

8.0

Just stayed in yutouya ryokan , very welcoming staff, room size is good. Onsen bath available in the ryokan. Very delicious dinner with different crab cooking style. If you love crab, you should visit kinosakionsen in winter time . Traditional Japanese breakfast was good too. Everything was well prepared in room like tea, iced water after onsen, coffee after breakfast. I enjoyed my stay here.

Hard place for foreigners but clean

8.0

This is a beautiful old hotel and is nice and clean but it is hard to get by in this place as a foreigner. Even being semi fluent in Japanese and having lived in Japan for a year it was hard to learn all the extra rules here. The owners appear tired and a bit cross. My fellow traveller who had not ever been in Japan was yelled at for stepping with her indoor slippers provided to us by the hotel up the step to her room where she was expected to go barefoot. Also we were offered 4-5 small bottle soft drink "ciders"at dinner for which we were charged 4000 yen at check out never being told it was not part of the very expensive Kayseki dinner. It is as beautiful town.

Good place to try some traditional Japanese food

8.0

We felt very welcome at Yutouya. We visited Kinosaki Onsen for only one night to experience the little spa town and a stay in a traditional Japanese ryokan. This was definitely worth a trip despite the sightly higher price tag than what we spent in other places in Japan. I must admit that staff were very welcoming and communication was never really a problem. During the dinner one of the staff members did not speak English and it would have been good to be able to ask some questions about the traditional food, but this did not diminish our experience. Overall, we would go back both to this place and Kinosaki Onsen for the scenery. Rooms are basic and spartan, but this is really what brings about relaxation and joy out of the whole experience rather than being distracted by everyday normal life.