Furuya Ryokan — Hotel in Atami

This was the first Onsen experience I have ever had, so I wanted it to be special. The Furuya Ryokan was beyond exceptional! Just amazing!!! ||||Upon arriving we were greeted by the friendliest staff. We do not speak much Japanese, and none of the staff upon our arrival spoke much English, but we were able to communicate enough through hand signals and short phrases in Japanese and English. I would definitely recommend this place to westerners (as long as you are willing to learn a few words in Japanese before coming! It helps!)||||I got a room with a private onsen. The bath looked just as beautiful in person as it did in the photos. We were greeted by a lovely woman in a kimono. She brought us tea and snacks, and showed us around the room. She was incredibly helpful. She didn't speak any English at all, but I didn't mind. She was one of my favourite people that I met in all of Japan! She brought us pamphlets in English and even a newspaper in English. The room was immaculate! For how old it is, it has obviously been well cared for. ||||The meals were FANTASTIC! It was far too much food for me to eat, I wish I could have devoured it all, but we stayed for 2 days and had 11 course meals for breakfast and dinner, so we were quite well fed during our stay there. The woman who was tending to us during our stay would show me all the little details about our food which we should appreciate. Everything from the presentation of the dishes, to the dishes themselves. Each meal setting used artisan plates, cups and bowls, each had such intricate details to be admired. The food was all presented with such care. The food was cooked right at our table, and I was taught how to cook and eat each item properly. It was a wonderful lesson in culture, manners, and rituals for me.||||And the Onsen!!! It was unimaginably soothing!!! The water made your skin feel smooth and clean. I was expecting the onsen to smell like sulfur, but it didn't! The water was so pure and clean and full of minerals. I fell in love with Onsens right then and there!!||||The staff was wonderful at communicating with us (even though they only spoke in Japanese). They planned out our times for breakfast, tea, housekeeping, and dinner. It was all carefully timed and wonderfully planned. ||||Any time we decided to come or go from the ryokan, we were greeted by at least 3 staff members. They were all very helpful. ||||As for local attractions, we went to Atami Castle up on the hill. You take a cable car to get up there. There is a trick art museum and a sex museum up there as well. The trick art museum is great for taking photos, the sex museum was quite entertaining to walk through. Atami castle had some interesting artifacts and a wonderful view of the city. Closer to the onsen, there is a nice beach. It was cold and cloudy on the days we were visiting, so we didn't make much use of the beach, but it was soft and sandy and probably would be wonderful on a sunny day. We walked around the city and enjoyed the ocean view instead. ||||I would definitely spend the money to visit this ryokan again!!! The in room bath was amazing. The food was incredible. The staff was superior to any other hotel staff I have ever met before. I wish I could have hugged the woman who tended to us during our stay. She was really a wonderful person who definitely appreciated us trying to immerse ourselves into her culture. I will recommend the Furuya Ryokan to everyone I know who will visit Japan, because it was such a unique and...

I can’t say enough good things about my stay at Furuya Ryokan. I originally booked the hotel because of its location and the fact that the room included a private onsen— I didn’t fully understand what a ryokan experience entailed at the time. But from the moment I arrived, the staff (especially my host Reina) made me feel completely welcome.

Reina personally showed me around the room, explained how everything worked, and helped me understand the traditions of staying at a ryokan, all while patiently working through a language barrier (I don’t speak any Japanese). She mentioned she would be preparing and serving both dinner and breakfast in the room, which was a surprise to me as I hadn’t realized meals were included when I booked.

Although I don’t eat fish and I failed to communicate that in advance, Reina brought a beautiful, traditional multi-course dinner that was clearly made with care. I felt bad that I couldn’t eat much of it, and when I explained why, she went out of her way to make things right, even after I told her not to worry about it. A short while later, she returned with an entirely new meal featuring wagyu steak instead of seafood. I was honestly blown away by her kindness and how far she went to make sure I was happy.

The room itself was spacious, clean, and very comfortable. The private onsen was amazing after all the traveling, and the location couldn’t have been better. It's just a few min walk to the beach and surrounded by shops and restaurants.

This was my first ryokan experience, and thanks to Reina, it was a great one. I highly recommend staying here—just be sure to communicate any dietary restrictions ahead of time. They truly care about making your...

Our family of four adults stayed in one of Furuya Ryokan's rooms that has an outside bath. The personalized hospitality, multi-course in-room kaiseki dinner, and washoku breakfast were all stunningly good, and it was so enjoyable to learn about their storied history since 1806, not to mention getting to see their treasures, like the wonderful RCA Radiola from 1925 (one of the first 5 radios to be imported to Japan), their Remington 5 typewriter, or the Takeda Yakata Gate used in Kurosawa's "Kagemusha". The ryokan utilizes the "seizaemon" spring, of the 7 hot springs of Atami, and it made for several relaxing soaks.

We went by car from Yokohama, and the entrance road is narrow and easy to miss, so I suggest studying Google Maps ahead of time if you drive there. The ryokan is situated on the steep hill from JR Atami station down to the beach, which made for a couple of nice strolls around the area (it's probably about 10 min from Atami station, 5 min from the beach). The rooms have all the expected amenities, including a yukata you can wear for dinner or around the ryokan going to and from the bath, internet access via wifi, shampoo and conditioner, toothbrush and paste, shaving set, a mini-fridge with water, juice (the "dai dai" juice was light and refreshing) or beer.

Our kind room attendant even quietly substituted my yukata for a "cho-toku-dai" extra large one, and the front desk manager quickly brought me extra large slippers when he saw me not fitting into the usual ones they have laid out. :-)

All in all, a great experience which would be our pleasure...