Akazawa Geihinkan — Hotel in Ito

My daughter and I stayed in the modern wing so I'm not sure it's the 'ryokan' referred to by earlier reviewers. There was a choice of onsen in the annex which I assume is the traditional wing and in order to use that, we had to go down a long flight of stairs and go up again to reach that part of the hotel. It saved us having to go out of the hotel building and crossing the road, but the stairs may be hard on the knees of seniors! The other facility offered, the Olympic-size swimming pool, was grand, and heated on top of it, but located a few minutes away so we had to use the shuttle bus. The staff is very obliging though, and willing to pick up after the swim, and the receptionist at the Poolhouse called for us. ||There is another part of the whole complex where you can buy DHC products, and at a 10 per cent discount, which was good; once again, you have to wait for the shuttle or call them in order to get back to the hotel.||If you don't want the kaiseki which is at the restaurant downstairs, you need to go the older annex where there is a satisfactory restaurant for meals, reasonably-priced from 1050 yen for a tempura set, for example. As it's in the same area as the onsen, you need to take off your slippers and put them in a numbered box which works using an intriguing wooden block, most interesting!||All in all, we had a jolly good time especially as the breakfast buffet was lavish, with both Japanese and Western options. Minor gripes include the lack of body moisturiser in the bathroom both at the onsen and the bedroom, and the uncertainty of the pick up from the railway station. We arrived at 3.45 in the afternoon when there was supposed to be a shuttle bus to take us to the hotel, but there was no sign of the bus until much later.||That said, the bedroom was large and...

My daughter and I stayed in the modern wing so I'm not sure it's the 'ryokan' referred to by earlier reviewers. There was a choice of onsen in the annex which I assume is the traditional wing and in order to use that, we had to go down a long flight of stairs and go up again to reach that part of the hotel. It saved us having to go out of the hotel building and crossing the road, but the stairs may be hard on the knees of seniors! The other facility offered, the Olympic-size swimming pool, was grand, and heated on top of it, but located a few minutes away so we had to use the shuttle bus. The staff is very obliging though, and willing to pick up after the swim, and the receptionist at the Poolhouse called for us. ||There is another part of the whole complex where you can buy DHC products, and at a 10 per cent discount, which was good; once again, you have to wait for the shuttle or call them in order to get back to the hotel.||If you don't want the kaiseki which is at the restaurant downstairs, you need to go the older annex where there is a satisfactory restaurant for meals, reasonably-priced from 1050 yen for a tempura set, for example. As it's in the same area as the onsen, you need to take off your slippers and put them in a numbered box which works using an intriguing wooden block, most interesting!||All in all, we had a jolly good time especially as the breakfast buffet was lavish, with both Japanese and Western options. Minor gripes include the lack of body moisturiser in the bathroom both at the onsen and the bedroom, and the uncertainty of the pick up from the railway station. We arrived at 3.45 in the afternoon when there was supposed to be a shuttle bus to take us to the hotel, but there was no sign of the bus until much later.||That said, the bedroom was large and...

Night and day difference with the other Akazawa properties in terms of service and facilities.

The service here was overall pleasant. I had two members of staff waiting for me when I got off the bus. The rooms and all the interior were pristine and elegant. There were many places to sit and relax. I was pleasantly surprised at the good value.

At check-in, I was mistaken that there were private sea view baths for me to use at the cheaper Akazawa onsen hotel. I went there to ask and the attitude was awful. All of their staff were foreign and very rude. The facilities were needless to say awful and crippling old. The famous Akazawa spa was underwhelming. I had only visited but felt no need to use it. Most of their staff were also foreign and some not very pleasant.

The common bathhouse in the Geihinkan was amazing. Very peaceful and serene. The hotel was very good at combining western comfort with Japanese sensibilities. They had an open kitchen in the lobby area which was special. Along the main highway, for about a 10 minute walk, there is a spectacular shoreline where some locals come to fish. It was empty and very relaxing.

The dinner was one of the best Ryokan dinners I’ve ever had, and I’ve stayed at hundreds of Ryokans all over the country. So props to them! I hardly ever get excited by Kaiseki anymore since I am so used to it, but this one was very special indeed. The waitress was from overseas but she was very polite. But the breakfast was terrible, especially for the tuna sashimi which was cold and fishy and left me very hungry

If you come here to stay, skip all the other facilities in the compound and just relax in the...