ホテル山水館 — Attraction in Beppu

I was so amazed by the beautiful, modern lobby when we arrived. There are a couple of souvenir shops in the lobby as well which is handy. And there’s a 7-11 and a bus terminal about 5 minutes’ walk away as well. We caught a taxi here from the Beppu JR Station which cost about ¥1,800. This is also within walking distance to 6 of the 8 “Hells”. I’m not sure about the other 2 because we didn’t visit them.||||So after the lobby, we were taken to our room – which had an amazing view of Beppu! You could see the water, as well as a castle perched upon a hill (not sure what this castle was), and steam coming from random onsen dotted around the area. Really lovely! But on the way to the room, you could tell it was quite an old hotel, and it was just the lobby that had been renovated. However, the room itself felt quite new and comfortable, and was well-sized for us. When the futons were laid out, it took up the whole tatami area. And the futons were sooo warm and comfortable! After I had gone down for breakfast and returned, the futon under my blanket was still warm! Awesome!||||Dining – We had both dinner and breakfast included in our stay. When we arrived for dinner, we were amazed by how much food was on the table! And it was all quite tasty. I wasn’t as big a fan of breakfast though. I’m not a fan of cold, grilled salmon. They do offer buffet style fruits, salad, rice and bread though. And all-you-can-drink coffee, tea and juice as well.||||Onsens – There are two onsens – one on level 1, and another on level 6. We tried the onsen on level 6 first – there’s a large indoor one, and then three outdoor baths, which were like small barrels. We managed to fit 4 of us in there quite comfortably. We later went to the onsen on level 1 around 11:30pm (they close at midnight), and we were the only ones there. This was the large outdoor onsen that you see in the photos, with large stones around the edges. It was really beautiful! And the water temperature was so lovely! I really enjoyed this one.||||There's no in-room wifi, but there is wifi...

I was so amazed by the beautiful, modern lobby when we arrived. There are a couple of souvenir shops in the lobby as well which is handy. And there’s a 7-11 and a bus terminal about 5 minutes’ walk away as well. We caught a taxi here from the Beppu JR Station which cost about ¥1,800. This is also within walking distance to 6 of the 8 “Hells”. I’m not sure about the other 2 because we didn’t visit them.||||So after the lobby, we were taken to our room – which had an amazing view of Beppu! You could see the water, as well as a castle perched upon a hill (not sure what this castle was), and steam coming from random onsen dotted around the area. Really lovely! But on the way to the room, you could tell it was quite an old hotel, and it was just the lobby that had been renovated. However, the room itself felt quite new and comfortable, and was well-sized for us. When the futons were laid out, it took up the whole tatami area. And the futons were sooo warm and comfortable! After I had gone down for breakfast and returned, the futon under my blanket was still warm! Awesome!||||Dining – We had both dinner and breakfast included in our stay. When we arrived for dinner, we were amazed by how much food was on the table! And it was all quite tasty. I wasn’t as big a fan of breakfast though. I’m not a fan of cold, grilled salmon. They do offer buffet style fruits, salad, rice and bread though. And all-you-can-drink coffee, tea and juice as well.||||Onsens – There are two onsens – one on level 1, and another on level 6. We tried the onsen on level 6 first – there’s a large indoor one, and then three outdoor baths, which were like small barrels. We managed to fit 4 of us in there quite comfortably. We later went to the onsen on level 1 around 11:30pm (they close at midnight), and we were the only ones there. This was the large outdoor onsen that you see in the photos, with large stones around the edges. It was really beautiful! And the water temperature was so lovely! I really enjoyed this one.||||There's no in-room wifi, but there is wifi...

Hotel is within walking distance of 6 hells and the amazing 'restaurant' where you buy your food,hire pots and steam cook your food using the local hot springs. What an experience! From the station it is a good 10 min drive / 1900 yen ride. There is a bus stop next to the hotel to take you downtown. Ask the hotel staff and they ll tell you.||Staff was always really helpful although with varying understanding of English. One male staff has particularly good English . The younger ones struggled surprisingly! Not an issue at all anyway.||Breakfast was ok. They expect you tell them what time you want breakfast the next day. As we were not prepared to plan in advance they re fine when you tell them you ring them in the morning to let them know. Food was ok.||They have a restaurant on site but they do not do walk ins. You have to book in advance. However 10 min down the road you have an excellent local seafood restaurant preparing excellent sashimi, chicken nuggets and escabeche goujons. It is a no frills restaurant with no English menu but they understand basic words .use google translate and you re sorted! They were soooo pleased to welcome tourists and the bill came cheap! UOTOYO Sushi Japan, 〒874-0844 Ōita-ken, Beppu-shi, Honome, 大分県別府市火売4. Worth a try!||Now hotel rooms are showing their age. Non smoking rooms are floors 1-4 but no nice view of either back of the hotel nor ocean view - in the distance-. We opted for a smoking room dreading the ciggie smell but it was super clean and tobacco free smell. The view over Beppu was nice with castle perched on the hill,ocean in the distance and park on the right. ||Stayed one night. If you plan to stay longer in Beppu book downtown though and hop on the bus to tour the hells as this can be done...