Nishimuraya Hotel Shogetsutei

This hotel truly exceeded our expectations. The staff were very welcoming and the service was top-notch. We stayed in a room with a private bathroom designed in a charming traditional style, which added to the overall experience. The traditional dinner was absolutely delicious — highly recommended. Upon checkout, the hotel arranged for our luggage to be delivered to the station, giving us the freedom to enjoy the city before our departure. We would definitely return on our next visit!

The room was lovely, we had a room with an outdoor bath. The ambiance for the bath was very soothing. We chose to have dinner in our rooms. Our room attendant was spectacular. She worked very hard to bring us our dinner and set up our beds. This place is situated a bit far away from the town, making the hot spring hopping harder to do. We booked the private hot spring with a sauna, and it was truly lovely. The town itself is quite out of the way, being a 2.5 hour train ride from Kyoto, but it's worth it to visit.

We stayed at the Nishimuraya Hotel in Kinosaki, and it was an amazing experience. The hotel is very impressive and beautiful, with top-notch service. The staff are extremely professional. The rooms, which are traditional ryokan style, looked fantastic. Room service was excellent, everything was very comfortable, and the view was beautiful. We got to the hotel using the free shuttle they provided. The hotel also arranged traditional Japanese kaiseki dinners, which were simply amazing. It was a true feast for the eyes as well as the palate. Kinosaki is known for its onsen, and we visited all of them, but we liked the one at our hotel the most. It was spacious, had a beautiful courtyard view, and even a sauna, which you won't find in other onsens. The staff were incredibly helpful, providing us with extra clothing because it was cold, and they even allowed a late checkout so we could enjoy the hotel's facilities after checking out. Overall, it was a wonderful two days, and we felt like we were in paradise. Everything was very relaxing, meditative, beautiful, and of the highest quality.

Mixed feelings on this one, especially given this is a high end property charging ~$700 a night for a family of 3.||Rooms- ||The rooms are very spacious and traditional Japanese style, which give you good vibe especially if you are coming from Tokyo/ Osaka where hotel rooms are extremely small. We got a room facing the hills which was a beautiful sight. Quick caveat for those arriving after a day long travel/ overnight travel. You will get rooms around 2 but the futon beds only get set up by 6, so not helpful if you want to lie down for a quick nap/ relax in the afternoon. You can however request not to pick up the futons next morning (else they will be removed while you are having breakfast.||Breakfast - ||Most disappointing part of our stay. While the hotel asked us via email (post reservation) about our dietary preferences - where we clearly stated no beef / no pork and 1 person allergic to egg, don’t think these were addressed at all. The breakfast was mainly beef and pork items, with some raw seafood and eggs. Furthermore, the egg section was mainly sunny side up, Japanese omelette (cold) and soft boiled eggs in some seafood based / miso broth. ||On requesting if we could get some omelette/ hard boiled eggs for our child, the restaurant staff checked with the chef and said it wasn’t possible. Didn’t get the denial especially for hard boiled eggs as they were anyway boiling them for soft boiled ones. ||As a result only 1 of us had an egg based breakfast and other 2 had to take bread butter/ some boiled sweet potatoes. I’m unsure what the use of asking dietary requirements if you mean to do nothing about it. I would suggest them to provide a breakfast free option while booking or fix these issues to accommodate people with dietary restrictions.||Onsen- ||We didn’t use the public ones, but booked 2 private ones a which come with a separate charge. Mixed feelings about this. They have 3 private onsens - Japanese, Chinese and Balinese styles. The onsen themselves are very similar, with just the shape of the tub changing. However the hot stone baths are different. So not sure if choosing one over the other makes a lot of difference. The beauty is that the bath tubs are in open areas facing the hill, with walls on left and right, so you feel the chill in the winters while bathing in warm water.||For some reason, we felt the Balinese one was a slightly better experience. The water felt warmer plus maybe the fact we were tired after a day of travel when we did that. We did the Japanese one the next morning at 7:30 and experienced was strictly ok, maybe because we had just woken. ||I must admit we found the Sapporo private onsen to be better, as the water here felt like just plain water, with no hint of smell expected from spring water. It maybe due to the type of spring/ filtration they do, but in our view we had a better experience near Sapporo. ||The hotel provides complimentary shuttle to the other ryokans and kinosaki station which is great as there is no uber/ limited taxis in the area. Also their dinner reservations run out (we didn’t get any at their hotel - when we booked the hotel ~1 month in advance, and they advised to reserve dinner at their sister property, which we declined. This I realised was a tricky decision later as most of the non ryokan restaurants close around 6 pm. Luckily Colin from their team guided us to book a nearby restaurant that crossed at 8 pm and we used the shuttle to and from which was a 6 min ride one way. ||Overall it may be a good 1 time visit, but believe not being able to have breakfast after paying such a premium is not something anyone would like.

My wife and I had the most relaxing and amazing experience here, the onsen we felt was the most beautiful one out of the whole town. The breakfast , dinner and snacks we get in our rooms was amazing. Even if is a bit far from the train station they had a shuttle bus to take us to the hotel and back. All the staff were very professional, friendly and helpful. My wife didn’t want to leave on the 3rd day before check out and we ended up staying for 3nights 4days instead of 2nights 3days which I recommend at least 3nights is good.

The location is at the furthest end of town. There is a great onsen onsite and another directly across the street (canal). The rooms are gorgeous and the staff amazingly on point ready to assist. I was disappointed that the pool was closed and allowed to go green during the hot season when it would be most likely to be used. Excellent meal options.

Probably one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever stayed at. I was so happy with the hospitality there and impressed with the hotel facilities and our beautiful Japanese style room with the mountain view. The private onsen we booked was a dream but even the public one was very nice. I wish I would’ve booked more nights because it was a paradise. Only downside was the fact that we could hear our neighbors a lot the second day there, so the room was not as soundproof as I was hoping. But other than that I would definitely go back!

I had an amazing time at Nishimuraya Hotel Shogetsutei—every minute was a true pleasure. The stay includes free access to all 7 public onsens in Kinosaki, which made the experience even more special. The breakfast and dinner were exceptional, with beautifully prepared meals that highlighted local flavors. What truly stood out was the outstanding hospitality. Every staff member was incredibly attentive, kind, and knowledgeable, making me feel genuinely cared for. I especially appreciated the serene natural setting and the private onsen options, which offered peaceful moments of relaxation. The spa massage was wonderful, and the shuttle service to and from the train station made everything so convenient. I felt blessed, rejuvenated, and completely at ease during my stay. I’m already looking forward to returning.