Takumi no Yado Miyama Ouan

It was an amazing experience from start to finish. We were warmly greeted by the staffs and offering any assistance they could. The room was very spacious and well equipped. We spent a night here but wasn’t keen of leaving the hotel at all. The public bath is a great spot to enjoy the view. They also offer private baths, both indoors and outdoors. The lounge offer complimentary sake and it was quite a cool new experience for us and even the Japanese guests alike. We opted for the premium lounge for the extended free flow into the evening. It was of great value. The hotel also offer a terrace with bonfire overlooking the pond. Dinner and breakfast were alright, nothing special. Staffs were kind and attentive.

Room 808. OMG !!! I don't know which room we had initially booked, a cheaper one for sure, but at check-in we were offered this room for an additional 10k yen and we decided 'why not'. The room, or shall I say apartment, was fantastic. Huge. There's an indoor sitting area with zaisu chairs and heated blanket/table and floor to ceiling windows opening onto your private patio. I can only imagine how amazing this would be in winter with snow. The patio has its own hot onsen bathtub; as well as a hot foot bath. The entire apartment was beautifully made out of wood, was brand new, and smelled wonderful. The hotel also has public onsen and sauna. Gender separated. And there are also two (four?) private outdoor stone-basin hot onsens that are free to use for 45 minutes when available. (No bookings.) The entire hotel is shoes-free. You lock your shoes at the entrance and wear slippers in the hotel. They also give you some yakutas to change into and wear. More clothes and pj's available in the room. The whole day there are free non-alcoholic drinks and snacks. In the afternoon there is free hot sake with grilled fishtail. Interesting, not bad, but not something I would drink often. In the evening there is free-flow whiskey/etc for a very reasonable 1,100 yen. Dinner is served at two times. We chose the late one. My wife is allergic to shellfish, so she got a customized menu. I just took the regular sushi menu. I don't really like sushi, but this was quite excellent. The 'yellow tail' was fantastic. The presentation and detail were amazing. Also, at this point, a heartfelt thank you !!! to Ms.Miho who served our dinner and was most pleasant and helpful in explaining. At dinner, the booking time for breakfast is made. Breakfast was very good, if you enjoy a traditional Japanese breakfast. I did. A lot. But TBH, I still would have preferred a Western version. (Or maybe just been offered a coffee.) Here my only complaint: when booking breakfast, why weren't we offered a table with a view? We were not !!! happy being seated in a booth when many tables right at the window, with great views, were available. Insisting politely, we asked to be moved to a window table. (And, yes, many other tables at the window were available while we ate, so we didn't steal anyone's table.) Very quick and efficient pick-up at the bus terminal and then drop-off. Check-in was the most detailed and lengthy process ever. (Not complaining.) The staff use Japanese-English translation devices for every sentence. It makes things very easy to understand. There is also a hot foot bath in front of the hotel. (Public? Semi-public? For the driver who doesn't stay here? I'm not sure.) I also had to post a picture of the hairdryer. It is by far the best I ever used. Later I found them for sale at BicCamera for well over 30k yen. (Or was it over 60k yen? I can't remember.) More expensive than Dyson. Not a cheap hotel to stay. But I am confident that we will come back. Looking at the hotel layout, there is an overwhelming variety of rooms to choose from. I think the 302 and 401 series rooms would be a cheaper but still very nice alternative. They have indoor onsen baths with large windows, as the reception explained.

Visited in Nov 2024. Was checked into room 208(?) if I remember correctly. It was the room that was enveloping the lift. The room was dank and toilet reeked of a pink mould smell. Something about the room felt very wrong, and gave me a terrible feeling. Immediately decided to request for a change of room which they acceded to, but the new room was very small. Further, upon checking my booking recently, I realised that I was not even given the room I had booked! The food was buffet style. Breakfast and dinner were both good with decent quality food. There’s also free ramen during supper. I thought the onsen was very enjoyable, especially the outdoor one. In all, I had a bad experience due to the room. Price was also pretty high tbh. For the price point I think better alternatives can be found.