森の雫 RIN（旧：大雪山白金観光ホテル） — Hotel in Biei

We visited the hotel for two nights as a break for a couple of days while back country ski touring. The hotel is well placed very close to the waterfalls and they provide daily service to the blue pond.

The dinner provided is fantastic with a nice selection of traditonal food and reasonably priced drinks. Breakfast similar (perhaps not quite as good as dinner but still great).

Onsen is great with multiple temperature pools and inside and outside baths. Perfect for relaxing weary skiing muscles! The pools could possibly do with an extra scrub, as the bottom was quite slippery and I saw two people slip as entering.

The rooms are well sized by japanese standards with traditional tatami matts and futons for sleeping. No smell of smoke in the room we stayed in, but looking at other reviews your mileage my vary. The only issue for western folks might be the pillows... Tiny sacks of buckwheat. Suggest using your jacket instead or spare clothes :) In additon suggest using the onsen as primary washroom as the ensuite is miniscule and if your taller than 6.2 youll not fit in there.

The only let down was the attitude of the daytime front desk manager who clearly has an issue with foreigners (and didnt realise our group could speak fluent japanese) who was super rude. Vacuming up while we were sitting in the foyer giving us death stares and then muttering about foreigners... Not a a good look and incredibly...

The hotel is located almost next to the Shirahige Waterfall. The hotel is not new but the lobby is clean and orderly, staff were veryfriendly. The room we had was on tatami (floor of straw mats) and spacious. Futons were laid for us when we were at dinner. The hotel room was divided into two parts - at the entrance where we took off our shoes was also the very compact bathroom, then the second section was the actual room itself. The very compact bathroom has a toilet bowl, a small basin and a small bathtub. But there are no shampoo etc. Bathing is meant to be done at the traditional onsen area on the ground floor. We tried that despite the initial concerns of going into the onsen naked. We found out from online reviews that a kaiseki dinner can be added to the room for a small price. We called ahead and added that. It was a good choice - the dinner was delicious. The only negative feedback was the noisy aircon in the room, supposedly due to the age. My family slept through but I wore an ear piece to get to sleep. ||||Overall, good stay. The onsen and the Japanese dinner completed the Japan experience in...

The outdoor bath is beautiful. The water is of excellent quality. The sauna is a plus that will make you get out with looking 10 years less.

But.

The hotel has in all hallways and elevator a very strong urine smell. Even in the rooms, less strong. The carpet has big stains in the hallways.

Only one of the reception personnel speak some words of English and the do not possess a portable translator.

Rooms are smelly because the windows cannot open. (I understood it's because of the insect and very ancient installations making it not possible to change it to a new system). Beds are old and not comfortable.

The buffet is basic and will bring nothing interesting.

They are somewhat kind but the Japanese culture makes it hard to facilitate thing as they must follow some restricted guidelines and are lost out of them.

The local area is amazing and I definitely recommend visiting and staying in a onsen. But I cannot recommend the RIN hotel in its current state.

I really hope they will close for maintenance of their building. If they do it can become a must visit place...