Bettei Senjyuan — Hotel in Honshu

We loved our stay here. Bettei Senjuan was established in 1997 as an annex of Ryokan Tanigawa in the Tanigawa Onsen area, and not far from the larger Minakami Onsen. Ryokan Tanigawa is a large, standard ryokan whereas Bettei Senjuan was created with luxury and bespoke experiences in mind. It has 18 rooms, and all of them have in-room onsen hot springs.||Despite the ryokan being 26 years old, it is very well maintained, and is stylishly constructed, adorned and furnished. The main corridor connecting the common area and the rooms have floor-to-ceiling glass windows on one side, allowing for incredible view of the Southern Alps range and the well manicured property grounds. The overall architecture is impressive - every wall, beam and counter has elaborate carvings or artwork on them. And in every nook and cranny, there are small but precious adornments, from a flower/vase to a traditional string instrument to a mini display of tress with colored maple leaves on the ground to signify the fall foliage season. You can spend many hours exploring the glorious attention to detail in every corner of Senjuan.||We booked the "Special Room SP" room category, which is the top suite in the ryokan. It has a living room, bedroom, a tea room, a (very) mini inner garden, an open-air bath with a view of the river, forest and the Alps, and is stylish beyond belief while still being traditional in general design and layout. Everything from the ceiling artwork and carvings to the decorations on the sliding doors have amazing detail, and really gives it a sense of place. One thing to note - this Suite is almost completely tatami-matted, meaning you sit on a floor (on top of a sitting pillow, mind you) and you'll sleep on futons rather than a Western style bed. If this isn't up your alley, I believe there are other room categories that offer more "foreigner-friendly" accommodations.||Bettei Senjuan takes care of every amenity you could ask for - their toiletries consist of Molton Brown and De Medici (never heard of the latter, however) branded items, and offer every item that anyone can possibly need when living in their own home. Additionally, there were two separate bathrooms and dual sinks/vanities, which Mrs. KI-NRT always appreciates.||The in-room, open-air Onsen bath gets its hot springs straight from the source, is continually free-flowing and never recirculated. That said, we found the temperature to be a bit on the lukewarm side - most Westerners prefer it that way, but I can't help but think that Japanese visitors (including ourselves) would prefer it to be a few degrees higher.||Although dining is not in-room, we had our meals served in a Koshitsu (private dining room), which was good enough for us. The kaiseki meal was definitely a highlight - it was 11 courses in total (which is typical of an elaborate luxury ryokan kaiseki meal) and many of the dishes focused on local ingredients, which is one of the reasons to visit ryokans in regional locations. That said, the most memorable offering was a savory, souffle-like custard with grilled Conger Eel, Red King Crab, Japanese Taro, Lily Bulb and Yuba (Tofu Skin.) Very original and simply sublime.||Bettei Senjuan offers a unique experience as an off-the-beaten path yet luxurious destination ryokan. While Japan is full of amazing ryokans and we still have many places we'd like to try out during our lifetime, if circumstances have us visiting the area in the future, we would not hesitate to stay...

We loved our stay here. Bettei Senjuan was established in 1997 as an annex of Ryokan Tanigawa in the Tanigawa Onsen area, and not far from the larger Minakami Onsen. Ryokan Tanigawa is a large, standard ryokan whereas Bettei Senjuan was created with luxury and bespoke experiences in mind. It has 18 rooms, and all of them have in-room onsen hot springs.||Despite the ryokan being 26 years old, it is very well maintained, and is stylishly constructed, adorned and furnished. The main corridor connecting the common area and the rooms have floor-to-ceiling glass windows on one side, allowing for incredible view of the Southern Alps range and the well manicured property grounds. The overall architecture is impressive - every wall, beam and counter has elaborate carvings or artwork on them. And in every nook and cranny, there are small but precious adornments, from a flower/vase to a traditional string instrument to a mini display of tress with colored maple leaves on the ground to signify the fall foliage season. You can spend many hours exploring the glorious attention to detail in every corner of Senjuan.||We booked the "Special Room SP" room category, which is the top suite in the ryokan. It has a living room, bedroom, a tea room, a (very) mini inner garden, an open-air bath with a view of the river, forest and the Alps, and is stylish beyond belief while still being traditional in general design and layout. Everything from the ceiling artwork and carvings to the decorations on the sliding doors have amazing detail, and really gives it a sense of place. One thing to note - this Suite is almost completely tatami-matted, meaning you sit on a floor (on top of a sitting pillow, mind you) and you'll sleep on futons rather than a Western style bed. If this isn't up your alley, I believe there are other room categories that offer more "foreigner-friendly" accommodations.||Bettei Senjuan takes care of every amenity you could ask for - their toiletries consist of Molton Brown and De Medici (never heard of the latter, however) branded items, and offer every item that anyone can possibly need when living in their own home. Additionally, there were two separate bathrooms and dual sinks/vanities, which Mrs. KI-NRT always appreciates.||The in-room, open-air Onsen bath gets its hot springs straight from the source, is continually free-flowing and never recirculated. That said, we found the temperature to be a bit on the lukewarm side - most Westerners prefer it that way, but I can't help but think that Japanese visitors (including ourselves) would prefer it to be a few degrees higher.||Although dining is not in-room, we had our meals served in a Koshitsu (private dining room), which was good enough for us. The kaiseki meal was definitely a highlight - it was 11 courses in total (which is typical of an elaborate luxury ryokan kaiseki meal) and many of the dishes focused on local ingredients, which is one of the reasons to visit ryokans in regional locations. That said, the most memorable offering was a savory, souffle-like custard with grilled Conger Eel, Red King Crab, Japanese Taro, Lily Bulb and Yuba (Tofu Skin.) Very original and simply sublime.||Bettei Senjuan offers a unique experience as an off-the-beaten path yet luxurious destination ryokan. While Japan is full of amazing ryokans and we still have many places we'd like to try out during our lifetime, if circumstances have us visiting the area in the future, we would not hesitate to stay...

We were lucky enough to stay for 2 nights, 25 and 26/12 - it was a wonderful experience from beginning to end. The building is amazing architecture and the outlook is the river and mountains in the distance, the hotel is set in a quiet area about 5 minutes from the small township, so very private.||Attention to detail is the norm here; the service is caring and exceptional.||We had a Japanese style room with outdoor onsen (think all the rooms have their own onsen) - everything was very clean, plenty of towels, drinking water on hand, snacks in the room after dinner and during the day.||We're a difficult group to accommodate food wise, I often go to bed hungry in Japan because I don't like fish/seafood or red meat.||Bettei Senjuan sent us several emails checking on this and that...and the 3 of us thoroughly enjoyed our meals - each dining space is private, it's a real feast, course after course, so much care is taken with each dish. (and some stunning porcelain)||We had the irori in the centre, we were seated around it on cushions with a well for our legs - very comfortable. The wine list is also, very good too, and well priced.||||We were all so relaxed...there are some nice walks too, in the grounds or into the small town of Minakami. ||We also loved the library in the grounds, relaxing chairs, open fire and help yourself to tea or coffee.||Beautiful...||Do yourself a favour - stay for at least 2 nights, it's 2.5 hours from Tokyo with one change of train, the complimentary pick up from Minakami station was convenient too. The hotel contacted us and warned us about delays on one train line and suggested we take another line, we did, and it worked out well. (that's amazing service)||No snow, except high up on the mountains.||We'll visit again next year...||||Negatives: none really, but note - if you want lunch, you have to order it just after breakfast or you'll need to head into town, it's only 5 or so minutes away so no big deal.||If you find futons hard on the back, I think you can opt for a western room. The yakata is a challenge initially, but you get used to it very quickly, nice to just wander about in your yakata without a care...