Gero Onsen Tsurutsuru no Yu Minorisou — Hotel in Gero

It's located very close to JR Gero station (approx. 200m), but is situated on a hill, so you have to climb up (although the road up the hill is covered with asphalt, it's very steep!), so it would be better if you'd ask the hotel to send you a pick-up car (it's free of charge) when placing your reservation.||||The people are very nice and helpful, but they don't speak any english - none! At least no-one did when we were there. So when I wanted to confirm the private onsen, they asked a person from the Annex building (ArmeriA) to speak to me (on the phone). He spoke very good english, which was a saviour.||||So as in almost all of the hotels in Gero, it's also an onsen hotel. We took private onsen (for the two of us), although it offers male (only) and female (only) onsen also. There's not much of romance when taking the private onsen. It's more like a little room with a small-small pool, with hot water in it (water is coming from a tap from the wall) and it feels like you're taking a bath. The rooms are kind of worn-out and look like from the beginning of the 90s, but are clean - don't worry - no germs.||||Stayed there for only one night, so can't talk much more. The (bed)room was quite big (8 tatami mats, plus balcony) and japanese style (you're going to sleep on the mattress, as in every ryokan or japanese style accommodation), with toilet only (and a sink with cold water). Has a fridge and a boiler, TV (local japanese channels), (old-school) safe. Hotel itself has a little japanese shop, vending machines (drinks), massage-chairs. It probably had a little restaurant for the breakfast also, but we left early and didn't take the breakfast and never saw the restaurant.||||So, in conclusion, stay there if you want to have a cheap hotel with good location in Gero, with onsen facilities. But you could find a better place to have your onsen experience. Even in terms of the...

I don't know if it was a special deal we reserved, but we stayed here for a little under 7000 yen per person including breakfast and dinner for a japanese style room (however, our room did not have a toilet). We found this an unbelievably good price for a ryokan. Unlike many hot springs (onsen), the hot springs here are not recirculated and are directly from the hot springs source. This is a very high quality onsen. The water really does make your skin feel slippery and smooth. We enjoyed the 5th floor bath more than the large 3rd floor bath. According to lodge personnel, even the showers of the 5th floor bath are hot spring water. The breakfast and dinner were both excellent with plenty of food. Our room was spacious and clean with a great view of Gero. ||||The shuttle picked us up and dropped us off at the Gero station which was very nice since the lodge is up a steep hill. There is also a service that can take you to partner onsen/hotels at designated times during the day. We took the shuttle to the outside "observation deck" bath at ArmeriA (?) in the evening. This is a nice service but we found the hot springs at Minoriso superior in quality. ||||I would absolutely stay here again for the reasonable price, great bath, great food, and good room. ||||Note: I traveled with a Japanese friend so I did not have any trouble communicating. I do not know whether or not English is understood here. Also, breakfast is Japanese style (rice, miso soup, grilled fish etc). I personally love Japanese breakfast, but I know that is not the...

This was the priciest ryokan we stayed in Japan (around 9000 yen per night) and we didn't really feel that it was worth the extra money. It was a nice stay, though. The place was quiet and the staff very hospitable despite knowing zero English. They picked us up and dropped us off from the JR station (while only 300m from the station, it would have been a long uphill climb). The dinner was plentiful and I feel that is where the majority of the extra cost went. It was bountiful, so many things to eat that I couldn't finish them all. Since I wasn't familiar with the food, all I knew is that it was edible since they could show us how to eat it but not tell us what it was! The onsen were a bit disappointing as the windows were foggy and hard to enjoy the night mountain view. If I had stayed longer, I think I would have liked to visit the sister resort because they may have an...