Bourou Noguchi Hakodate Ryokan — Hotel in Hakodate

It's going to be hard to summarize how amazing this hotel is but I'll do my best! In short, if you are looking for a luxurious ryokan experience and can afford to stay, or you get a deal like I did, it is so worth staying here for a night or two.

From the second you walk into the lobby, you know you are in for a special experience. It is so fancy and luxurious. You are greeted with local desserts and hot tea. The tea room/cafe is spacious, comfortable and has free coffee and tea. There is a library area with books you could read or just where you can bring your own book to read. There's a billiards table as well. The long, spacious bar has excellent drinks, including a seasonal menu when I was there, and is a great place to relax at night. All of this overlooks a beautiful zen garden, and the water features in the lobby give the appearance that all of these spaces are floating.

The room is equally impressive as well. My wife and I stayed in the Suite Type A, and I couldn't believe how nice it was. The bathroom upstairs has two sinks, as well as the beautiful private onsen that you can access at any time. This was really convenient, and really lovely to relax in. Down the stairs brings you to the two beds, a tatami mat room, the toilet and a living room area. The mini-fridge is stocked with complementary drinks and snacks, and there's a coffee machine and tea pot to make drinks in your room if you would like. The two types of lounge wear (yukata and the "monk's clothes") were really comfortable. It is a great place to rest, unwind and relax. On the top floor, you can access the Sky Salon, which overlooks the town and has comfortable seats and massage chairs for you to relax in. You can also get complimentary drinks, snacks and ice cream up here. This is also where you can access the open-air onsen, the communal indoor onsens, and the sauna. My wife and I have tattoos so we were not allowed to use these facilities, but I did not mind since we had the one in our suite to use as well. But it is important to note if that is a dealbreaker for you.

The service is also top notch, especially when it comes to the dining here. Definitely make sure to eat at this ryokan, it is an incredible 6-course dinner with high-quality ingredients, thoughtful dishes and absolutely delicious food. The breakfast is just as elegant and high quality. And the private dining rooms you get to eat in are absolutely gorgeous. These meals were one of the main highlights of our stay here. The service at Bourou Noguchi, both at dinner and outside of the meals, were top notch. The staff is so wonderful and friendly, very helpful and willing to help with whatever you may need. There's also a complementary taxi service. They picked us up from the airport, and drove us to the train station in the morning.

In short, definitely make this hotel a priority if you are coming to Hakodate. You will...

Yunokawa onsen is the west-most location. It's not centrally located and there's a time cost to staying there. Getting to Hakodate's main attractions will take at least half an hour. ||||That said, this is by far the best hotel experience I've had. I arrived late in the evening and they accommodated me and even delayed my dinner so I could take a shower first which I greatly appreciated as it was really thoughtful. ||||The rooms were extremely spacious for a single room in Japan. Decorated with wood and muted earth tones it was a clean design that was masculine and I personally loved it. Not much of a view from the room though since it's located in the neighbourhood and facing the street. But not a big deal.||||Onsen was small by most standards but I did enjoy the morning views in the outside bath. You can see Mount Hakodate in the distance. And I especially love that they have a massage chair just outside to help relax after a refreshing dip. || ||The kaiseki dinner was the star of the show here. To be honest, I almost felt like it was a 5-star restaurant that offered a free room with the meal! You get your own personal room at dinner. And the service was prompt and the servers always cheerful and hardworking. They also take care to be mindful of your meal preferences. My one gripe is that they don't speak much English and the menu is in Japanese only. So I had to depend on Google Translate very heavily. That aside, the quality of the food itself was mind-blowing. The preparation was meticulous down to the angles and placement of the food served as well as the colours employed in each course. Such beautiful plating! They served what seemed like Japanese fusion for a majority of the meal. And the chef's cooking truly shines when he applied more western techniques to the Japanese ingredients which was a welcome and refreshing change after having had so much traditional Japanese food during my holiday. That said, you still get traditional Japanese food as well like sashimi. Sometimes simple is the best. The appetizers were inspired, mains phenomenal, and deserts divine. I had no idea what I was eating half the time but I literally loved everything that was served. The dinner here is truly an event (taking up to 2 hours!) that I look forward to at the end of each tiring day! ||||In summary, I'd highly recommend this hotel for solo travelers (and couples) despite the distance from the main areas of interest. This place is more than a hotel, it's...

Been to Hokkaido many times but first time in Hakodate. Bourou Noguchi is one of the most expensive hotels in Yunokawa area.||||The Noguchi Group of hotels operates quite a few hotels in the Donan area (southern Hokkaido). Seems most, if not all, of the room are fitted with private onsen. We have a duplex room with living room and bedroom on the lower floor, and bath room on the upper floor. The room size is enormous by any Japan standard. With a premium price you pay, you get almost everything you need in a room, coffee beans and maker, free mini bar drinks, Loccitane toiletries, private in-room onsen, an empty Japanese style living room with no furniture where you can do yoga, two TVs. The room has windows on two sides facing east and west. The hotel as a whole takes a western style of decoration rather than a traditional style.||||I guess since most of the rooms has its own onsen, as a result the public bath on the top floor is not very outstanding, however, there are free drinks and ice cream on the lounge next to the onsen entrance. And the lounge has a nice view on Hakodate city and Mount Hakodate.||||Every room has its designated dining room in the restaurant for dinner and breakfast. Both meals serve Japanese and western style dishes. My personal opinion is that Japanese dishes is better. Service in restaurant and front desk is as good as you will find in a Japanese hotel.||||On the ground floor there is a library, and a bar opens until late.||||There is not much in the surrounding area except onsen hotels, however, there are noodle shop, sushi restaurant and drug...