Kawayu-Onsen Fujiya

The room is quite spacious in comparison to other hotels. The bathroom was separated into three spaces. Everything was clean and a peaceful atmosphere was reigning all around. The views of the river from the room are very beautiful and we had the experience of a traditional Japanese dinner and breakfast wearing yukatas. There’s not much to do close to the hotel after dark falls, or places where you can buy stuff, but if you need fresh drinks you can have them at the vending machines which are inside the hotel. Even if you don’t feel having a bath in the river I recommend at least to soak your feet in it; it is very comfortable after walking long distances….

If we could give this 0 stars we would. Avoid this hotel like the plague. It is literally falling apart, it’s disgusting and filthy inside. There is mould, strange smells everywhere and we wanted to leave the second we checked in. We booked the western style room which was dusty and full of insects. Stains all over the sofa which we opted out of sitting on. There was a musty dark liquid dripping inside the fridge which clearly hadn’t been cleaned since it was installed. The bath had algae all over it and mould on the surrounding walls. The lobby is reminiscent of a Wes Anderson movie gone wrong. It’s depressing and just plain sad. The food is of a poor standard. We were told they could cater for us vegetarians but the food contained fish stock which should have been made clear. Our food was raw and uncooked and we left most of it. The staff are rude and quite frankly inhospitable. They woke us up with a telephone call we did not ask for and called us again 15 minutes before checkout to tell us to get out of the room. It’s quite clear that this hotel has had no care put into it nor any maintenance in the past couple of decades. A lick of paint and a good clean could go a long way. Maybe it was magical in the past but there was nothing magical about our stay. It’s a beautiful location spoilt by a poorly run miss sold hotel. We just wanted to get out there as soon as we could.

Stayed at this Ryokan in Mid-December. After checking out various reviews of Kawayu Onsen Fujiya on multiple booking sites, we had swayed back and forth over a span of several months as whether to cancel or stay. Here's my honest review. General Hotel Upkeep 1/5 Food 3/5 (Dinner 4/5, Breakfast 2/5) Room with Open air bath 3.5/5 Public Onsen Facilities 4/5 Overall 3.5/5 Value for money 3/5 average. This hotel has the potential to be so good if the general upkeep is improved. Understandably, the times of COVID probably had a big impact on it finances hence it's barely able to get by even now. In most cases, everything is kind of average without being too knit-picky on every last detail. My only gripe is that they don't clean the filters on their hair dryers so the air flow is weak. I personally cleaned the one in the our room, and magic, good as new. Cleaners should really improve their attention to detail.

This was one of the worst and dirtiest hotels I’ve ever stayed at. Everything was dirty, dusty, smelly - it’s like it hasn’t been cleaned for years. We stayed in one of the Western rooms which was 63,000 JPY/£330/$410. For that room you’d expect at least the very basics. But no bottled water, tea or coffee. Just a big sign saying they don’t provide amenities and everything has to be purchased from the vending machine downstairs. The room was also so dirty it made me feel nauseous and had mould in and around the private outside bath. Cobwebs and dust everywhere. They say they cater for vegetarians but it’s fish stock in the food. We also had 3 unexpected calls in the morning, 2 around 8:30am which woke us up, saying breakfast is finishing. And another one at 9:50 saying check out is at 10am. Outrageous! I’ve never stayed in a hotel that call you in the morning assuming you are not going to check out. Would stay away.

Yes this place is a little run down, but some of the one star reviews seem a bit harsh. It is expensive for what you get but you are in a remote location. The food and the service was amazing. The location amazing, the river and hot springs amazing. The japanese beds were pretty hard. My partner didnt get a good. Ight sleep, but these are japanese beds. They really accommodated our food preferences, vegetarian and no fish.

The hotel has two onsens including an open one. You could also dip in the hot springs on the riverbank in front of the hotel. Rooms, location and food were great. But what stood out was the excellent service. From the front office to the food servers, they were friendly and very hospitable.|On our last day, we would have missed our bus, but the front office person really went out of his way to drive up to the next stop. Excellent service!

This was my first stop on a Kumano Kodo hike. The hotel was really comfortable, the service was friendly and genuine. My room was comfortable and spacious. It was clean, with no issues with pillows of bathroom smells mentioned in other reviews. The food was really great with so much variety of delicious morsels. It is served in a separate dining room. The onsen was so relaxing, both the inside and outside ones. The hotel had a free shuttle up to the start of a few different Kumano hikes.I would highly recommend a stay here!

The hotel is in a great location and they provide free shuttle bus to the beginning of the Kumano trail and will also pick you up to bring you back. We stayed in the western style room with western beds and a private outdoor onsen in the room. They also have an indoor onsen and partial outdoor public onsen as well. Also on the river itself you can dig a hole for your own onsen soak. The kaiseki meals with multiple courses was very fresh and oishi which included breakfast. Overall, a nice place to stay while hiking.