HOTEL Jogakura — Hotel in Aomori

Perfectly acceptable, and likely the better option in the area, but it does not live up to the standard of a hotel in its price range. If the hotel refurbished its bathrooms and public baths, I think it'd be a very special experience. As it stands, it does not have any particularly "excellent" features that other hotels of its range don't offer better.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend staying here unless you book one of the suites with a private bath.

Pros: Stunning scenery. Nestled in a dense, beautiful forest about an hour outside of Aomori. Snowy wonderland during the winter.

Beautiful decor. This is a tastefully decorated resort. We enjoyed the furniture and the paintings. Lovely hardwood floors. The whole resort is decorated in a cozy, Swiss alpine lodge aesthetic. Elegant and kitschy but not over the top.

Convenient shuttle service. We appreciated the train station pickup.

Beds were tempurpedic type. Comfortable!

Cons:

The standard-room bathrooms are the all-in-one, prefab types that typically get installed in cheap business hotels. These were from, perhaps, the mid-90's to early 2000's. Tiny, old, gross. The doors do not align with the frames, so the bathroom door is two inches above the floor of the room.

The men's outdoor onsen is shallow and cold. Not at all as grand as you see in the pictures. It was extremely cold outside, so heat evaporation was an issue, but a lot of hotels with outdoor baths know how to deal with this issue. The water was just barely lukewarm. Heating not strong enough.

The indoor baths are aging and in poor condition. There was was mold and rust spots all over the ceiling and mirrors. Tiles are yellowing. There was calcium scum all over the floors. Sitting in the cold bath (mizuburo), I could smell mold in the water; mold is probably growing underneath the tiles. The sauna is a steam-type (which is great!) but no one was wiping down the wet wooden benches. They were covered in noticeable patches of human hair. I left the Onsen after about ten minutes because it was so gross. I told the manager, who seemed only mildly concerned.

In terms of its facilities, the hotel is similar to others I've seen in Japan that probably got refurbished in the early 2000's and are about five years past due for another refurbishment. The workout equipment, massage chairs, banquet dining chairs, etc. are a bit old and no longer fashionable.

So-so:

Food is fine. We really liked the fish. Breakfast buffet is tasty, not excellent.

Service...

It is hard for me to write this review. On the one hand, there were some very nice features of the hotel, and there was nothing wrong with it, but on the other hand, the hotel was very expensive for what it offered. The positives were that the room was comfortable with an upstairs bedroom and a small living room and bathroom downstairs. We had quite a few stink beetles in the room although it was gauzed and probably only a seasonal problem. The building where we stayed was probably built in the 1970’s and the furniture was newer than this but certainly a bit dated. The food was adequate and the staff were very nice. The location was beautiful as we were in the middle of koyo and the trees were at peak autumn colour. The inside and outside onsens were top notch with clean, hot mineralized water and a nice view. The downsides of the hotel were that the meals although adequate, were not as fine or as sophisticated as they have been for some hotels where we paid half the amount. For example at Jozenkei, we stayed in a beautiful hotel for about half the rate and the menu contained 11 courses for dinner with each one looking like a painting. At Jogakura, we always had sufficient, but the tableware was not as beautiful and the offerings neither as attractive nor as sophisticated as at Jozenkei. I also drew the line at sashimi horse meat! The breakfast was buffet and there were many Japanese offerings including scallops, salmon roe, natto, curry sauce and fish as well as several kinds of vegetables and pickles, rice and miso soup. In the Western section there was one cereal –probably puffed rice with some other ingredients, as well as fruit, and salad vegetables, croissants and a couple of other things. As commented above, the staff were very friendly, but no-one spoke much English and it was hard to communicate. There seemed to be a number of tour groups visiting at the same time as us. Would I stay there again? Yes I would if the price was good but for $A2,200 for four nights, it was not the luxury...

summary poor location middle of nowhere rooms old below par kaiseki dinner quite good very good wagyu service so so breakfast outstanding luxurious very good

check into hotel jogakura on 29.10.2023

this the most expensive ryokan by far this trip, 60% more than furofushi onsen

can’t see why?

location in the middle of nowhere

room old not quite furofushi standard & no views.

waiting to see kaiseki dinner & breakfast

kaiseki dinner

zensai poor c/w furofushi standard, 2 rings below

sashimi moriawase presentation was great 👍🏻

ingredients quality quantity wise just average - 2kanpachi 2 amaebi & super thin slices 3 maguro (I think 2 pieces chutoro), 3 sake..all fresh & sweet..not furofushi standard..

the matsu ?(pine) smoked scallops prawn bacon cheese gratin was very good 👍🏻

& the 2 different aomori sirloin total 4 thick pieces maybe 120g? were simply sublime, the best thus far 👍🏻

goes downhill after this😃

the osuimono dish was average

the gohan unagi was good quality & soup very good nothing much else

dessert apple sorbet was good

the 4 sake were good

server came by 3 times without filling my water glass until I finally asked

furofushi had a miso matodai dish and kaisen tobanyaki both large dishes & the zensai plus side dishes much more..

a really luxurious breakfast this morning @ jogakura

best breakfast we had this trip

so many items and all good standard

I even have a chirashidon with loads of ikura, maguro, salmon and ika 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

tako was tough though tasty meatball ok I can do without scallops with eggs on shell very good potato gratin ok thick bacon, fish fritter, roe, tamago all good

overall very satisfying breakfast

we didn’t...