Resort Pension Yamanoue

We spent two nights here exploring Daisetsuzan national park. The place is rather simple. The room is small and the lavatory is down the corridor to share with the other guests. The bathroom is the next door onsen: Sounkyo hot spring. You can go as many times as you want. The dinner is quite special. The first night we got all kind of small dishes and the second night the owner prepared a genuine Japanese BBQ. Both tasted great. Breakfast was simple with eggs. The owner and his son are very friendly and make you feel at home. They are what makes this hotel very special and an unique experience. Highly recommended!!!

We stayed in the pension for 2 nights. The owner was very friendly but with no english, whereas his young employee (?) had more english and was exceptionally courteous, patient with us, and helpful. ||||The location of the pension is great - in the main street of the village - very quiet - well away from those looming resort hotels and the main road - and a short walk to the Kurodake ropeway.||||We had two excellent breakfasts and a Japanese dinner here. For our second dinner, the owner guided us to the nearby italian restaurant Bear Grill Canyon, where we had fantastic western food. The bill for this second dinner went on our hotel tab.||||There is no bath in the pension, but we were given vouchers each night to use the excellent Kurodake onsen next door. A really great arrangement given the quality of the onsen. ||||There were a few downsides which didn't bother us too much but prevents me from giving 5 bullets. First, there was a whiff of cigarette smoke among the bedding - I think smoking is allowed in limited parts of the pension. Second, the dining room is a bit bland - like some 1950s milk bar. And third, the free wifi was pretty patchy. I think these issues could be easily addressed by the owner - he could create non-smoking only bedrooms and get advice on how to make his dining room more interesting. ||||When we got the bill I couldn't believe how cheap it was given the onsen (worth 600 yen each), and the meals were included. Also the patience of the young employee with our need to send some packs to Furano by takiban really was something. ||||I would definitely come here again and would recommend others do too.

Wonderful, charming, homely and super friendly, I would recommend this Ryokan to anyone visiting the stunning Sounkyo Gorge. Surrounded by majestic mountains, in a little enclave of onsen resorts, with the very complete and modern information center just 100 meters away, it was a pleasure to stay here. The rooms are tatami, one makes one's own bed, the food is included, diverse and delicious, and the onsen is accessible from a walkway in the back. Can't go wrong, we were made to feel right at home!

We stayed in this hotel recently in Sep 2013. It is a very good hotel to stay in with an Onsen connected to the property. They serve delicious meals that includes a scrumptious dinner and hearty breakfast. Will stay there again on my next visit to Sounkyo.||||Immediately after checking in, they serve you a big pot of tea which you can drink and relax in your room. The rooms are Japanese Tatami mat rooms that are big and spacious.||||They provide almost everything with a coupon for the Onsen, Yukatas, tea etc.||||An really relaxing stay with polite staff.Very generous owner who is proud of his property and takes care to keep the place clean and relaxing.||||Very near to the Sounkyo bus station, it is within walking distance.

Pension Yamanoue was a pleasant stop-over in Sounkyo Onsen on our summer driving trip around Hokkaido. It is a small family-run accommodation in the traditional Japanese style, with tatami mat rooms, and they serve a delicious multi-course home-cooked Japanese dinner and breakfast. It is shared bathrooms (which is typical for most accommodations in Japan outside the major cities) but provides free access to the public onsen in Sounkyo Onsen. The staff have limited (but sufficient) English, but they have an English section on their website and the booking process (in English) through their website is quite simple and straightforward.

We stayed in this hotel in August 2008. The staff were kind and helped with recommending places to visit with their limited English. It was raining that day but we decided to hike up Kurodake anyway. The owner of the ryokan was nice enough to lend us his umbrellas and gave us advice on ascending the mountain. We came back drenched, but thankfully, there were washing machines and dryers in the hotel which we could use for free. Dinner was great. There was a huge variety of food and was definitely very filling. The rock melon was so sweet that we got addicted to it immediately. We left early the next morning, so we didn't make it for breakfast. The staff prepared a bento for us and left it in the fridge so that we could have something in the morning before we left. The thought was nice, though the rice balls contained some sour vegetables which were too strong in our opinion. We left the hotel happy and refreshed though, ready to explore our following destination.

Great location to stay as a base for skiing Kurodake and nearby peaks. Located in the main street (that is very quiet in winter), the owner is fantastically helpful and courteous. He doesn't speak any english whatsoever but will bend over backwards to assist you. The younger employee is also extremely helpful and speaks good english. ||||Accomodation is small rooms with tatami mats, common bathrooms. Free entry to the neighbouring public onsen. Ask about any deals on offer for lift passes at Kurodake.||||I've now visited Sounkyo many times and this is where I will continue to stay as the value for money is unrivalled in town.

Sounkyo Pension Yamanoue is a nice, well situated guest house. Takashi-san, the manager, is kind and friendly. He is not proficient in English and so knowledge of Japanese or easy translation is important, although he has pre-made cards that include common questions in English and Japanese. My tatami mat room was well maintained and cozy. You can set the temperature in the room with the large heater and it warms up very fast. The futons are aesthetically pleasing and incredibly comfortable. I had one of my best nights of sleep in the cozy, tranquil setting of Yamanoue guest house. The connected Onsen is luxurious and wonderful. However, it is the only location to bathe because the guest house itself does not have a shower. I have unlimited access to me Onsen for one day and I used the night before not realizing that would mean not being able to shower the morning I left. That being said, it's more common in Japan to shower the night before, but I prefer morning showers. The bathroom is large and beautiful with many sinks for morning rituals. Overall I had a very nice day at a well situated and comfortable guesthouse very close to all the sites I wanted to see. It was a two to three minute walk to the Hyoubaku Matsuri and less than that to the Kurodake mountain ropeway.