Patty L
Google
Very glad to have made a stop in this quiet onsen town and have stayed in this historical ryokan. There are very few tourists (mostly Japanese) anywhere. We managed to check in and be directed to our room as early as 10am in the morning and didn't see another guest during our stay -- although I know there should be another couple staying there that night, considering the shoes we saw at the front doorsteps. All this made our stay very personal. We could each have the entire changing room and interior communal onsen bath by ourselves. We also enjoyed our exterior private onsen bath in a rock garden setting. Note that they don't have bathrooms in any of their rooms. You may however choose to have a toilet which is very useful. The view from the room we had facing the river and the mountains during the fall foliage season was beautiful.||One could choose to have the meal served inside the room or in the communal dining area. I appreciate that they brought out some food (like tempura) at a later time during the meal, making sure that they didn't get cold or soggy.||Given this is a small town, there are not too many places that offer lunches. We took a 15-min walk to Koubou Yuzuyume cafe (香房 ゆず夢cafe) as it seems to be the only one that stayed open that day according to our hosts.||If you are coming from Hongu Taisha direction, try to come here before Nov 30 by their tourist bus that only runs up to then. Otherwise, you will have to go all the way to Tanabe and come back here again. In any case, even with the tourist bus, there is only one each day (except weekend). Remember to make seat reservations on line through Kumano Travel which I found very efficient and well run.