Kinosaki Yamamotoya

Incredible experience. The staff is very nice. The food is well prepared & you will experience a lot of variety across all your meals. The personal bath is worth reserving. They provide you with a pass for the local hotsprings, & lend you a yukata. The only hiccup may be with the language barrier with the staff outside of checking in, but that is in no way a negative in my opinion. It felt very authentic, & we really enjoyed the host that was assigned to us. Just be prepared to use a translator app if you are not well versed in Japanese.

We went during the Danjiri festival in October and it was wonderful! The Ryokan was perfect and the room attendant was great! The food was delicious for both dinner and breakfast. I highly recommend this as your place to stay in Kinosaki as it's also in the middle of most of the onsens.

Had the most incredible stay here. The rooms are traditional ryokan style, very very cozy - loved staying in our room with a view overlooking the channel. We got the kaiseki dinner which was DELICIOUS, and included a bunch of dishes we never would’ve experienced otherwise. We paired it with the beer they brew on site - also great. But what really stood out was the incredible service. The day of checkout it was raining and they drove us to the train station, about 15min after dropping us off they showed up again with a bag of clothes we forgot in our room. We were so grateful and absolutely floored that they dropped it off with us. Back home we could’ve hoped for a phone call at best. Cannot recommend this place enough.

This was the best service I’ve ever had at a hotel! The staff were so kind and attentive. They handled our luggage for us, retrieved our shoes for us, and were always quick to help. This is a traditional ryokan where you do not wear shoes inside, they give you slippers to wear. The on site onsen was enjoyable. There are no showers/baths in the room so you must use the onsen. Breakfast and dinner were traditional Japanese food with lots of fish and other goodies. They definitely didn’t skimp on the food and we were full after each meal. They also have local beer on tap as well as cocktails to enjoy with dinner (for an added cost). I enjoyed the town of Kinosaki and I would definitely return to this hotel again.

We had such a wonderful time here during our one-night stay as a family. The staff were warm and friendly and happy to explain everything to us as we hadn't had much experience staying at a traditional inn and had never been to Kinosaki before. This was the perfect location to explore the town from and to visit many of the onsen. My son and I also enjoyed the smaller on-site onsen while the rest of the family was resting in the room. (The outdoor wooden tub was a very nice touch!) The wonderful dinner served in the room was perhaps the highlight of our trip. I definitely recommend Yamamoto-ya to other travelers, whether you are just a couple or brining your children along.

Our first experience of traditional Japanese Ryokan and it was truly special. The service and kindness from all the staff was incredible. We felt honoured to be welcomed to stay. The room was perfect with the Tatami floors and a great view over the river. The hot spring bath was also wonderful and again our first experience of Onsen baths. Our Kaiseki meal was an amazing experience giving us chance to try a whole host of new tastes and dishes. Kinosaki was a perfect change from our visits to Kyoto and Tokyo and wandering through the town in our Yukata and Clogs to sample the public baths was wonderful. I hope to come back one day and visit the hosts at Yamamotoya once more. Thanks you all so much

The staff are very friendly. It was an amazing experience from onsen, public bath, dinner, breakfast to wearing yakata! The room, the crab, the beef! Goodness! The best!

This place was pretty incredible and the highlight of our trip so far. The staff are amazing and the meals were delicious. The onsite onsen was very peaceful to nice to have as an option.