Ochiairo — Hotel in Izu

Incredible stay with a perfect blend of history with modern conveniences. |My husband and I absolutely adored this place. This is my eighth trip to the Japan and his fifth and we’ve been lucky to stay in many ryokan. |The service at this place was absolutely impeccable, even by Japanese standards. ||The grounds were lovely beautiful with a suspension bridge and garden surrounding the ryokan. Although there have been multiple expansions to this place, it never felt crowded and I think we only saw a few other guests while we were here, but that may have been due to the time of year.||From the time you arrive, there is a warm and welcoming lounge with a wood-burning fireplace that they keep going when anyone is in there. At one point, my husband and I showed up early in the morning and somebody was starting the fire not even a minute later. A cool feature of this place is that they have complementary beer, wine and ice cream in the lounge which guests can access at anytime. We’ve never seen this before and any other ryokan even though sometimes they will stock your fridge with a few free beverages. ||They have a tour in Japanese that will take you to the different historical highlights of the buildings and surroundings and kindly gave us a print out in English going over the same spots which were noted on a map so we could go look at them ourselves. I really appreciated this.||There is a gorgeous private on that you can reserve and they make it very easy to do that as they ask you what time you’d like to reserve when you check in. Even though we had a private on in our room, ( Ukifune) we took advantage and tried it out after running out there in our spa wear. This was a new thing as we have only ever utilized yukatas in these instances. It was a lovely, huge Stone bath and I’m glad we did it.||The Ukifune suite was huge and the western futon beds were very comfortable. It was January so we definitely left the heat on in every room while we were there and it could get slightly chilly if you didn’t do that. We loved being cozy in our yukatas after dinner and bath watching Grand Sumo tournament.||The kaiseki dinner was served in a private dining room and sometimes these can be a little bit more challenging for me my husband and I ate more at this one. I think then we ever have at any other ryokan dinner. It was very good. ||They did accommodate our request for no squid or octopus. Note that I generally request Western breakfast for my husband and I don’t believe that they have this available here but I’m not sure. Maybe I just forgot to order it for him this time. lol||We never got bored and there is a fun game room downstairs with ping-pong, foosball, and even air hockey. ||I absolutely love this place and it’s one of my favorite ryokan that I visited. I highly recommend this...

We've stayed at a few ryokan in Hakone, spanning from modern to more traditional and nothing has held a candle to Ochiairo. It's historically significant while being modern, renovated, and comfortable. To start, we booked months in advance (as soon as bookings were available for that date I wanted...I think it was ~7 months out) and stayed in Ukifune and also booked the package to include transportation to and from Shuzenji station. First off, the car ride was timely and luxurious. Upon arrival, we were seated in the gathering area with a drink and small sweet while dinner preferences were collected. I should also mention that there was an expert level English speaker on staff to assist us this entire time. We got a tour of the facilities, recommendations for the public onsen, and then shown to the room.||Ukifune is a large room and my favorite part was the sitting area. It's very quiet in the ryokan and the hallways smelled of incense and wood. Ukifune has what's advertised as an open air bath but it is closed on three sides by bamboo shades, connected to the shower. The fridge was well stocked with free drinks and snacks, including water, juices, and a hot water kettle for in room tea and coffee. You can also bring back the free snacks from the common area(s) to your room.||The common areas were thoughtful and had a little bit for everyone. Downstairs leading out tot he bridge, sauna, and cold plunge, there was an arcade with two retro game machines and also video game system. The upstairs had a manga library with mostly older series. The larger gathering area was very nice with free snacks, drinks, and alcoholic options. The fire crackling gave it a cozy cabin vibe. While I did not visit the public onsens, from what I could see in the email that Ochiairo sends prior to your check in, they look amazing and the women- and men- only onsens do switch during the day so you can experience both. There is also a mixed gender onsen that can be used with a bathing suit. If you did not bring a bathing suit, you can borrow one from Ochiairo! Also, tattoos are allowed in all public baths, affirmed by the Ochiairo staff! ||The kaiseki dinner has been the best I've had so far in a ryokan. The portions were appropriate, and I didn't feel tuckered out halfway through, which has happened with other meal service. I can't speak highly enough of the staff, especially a very kind Vietnamese team member that assisted us throughout most of the meal service. Dinner and Japanese breakfast (no Western option) is served in their dining room. ||Getting to Ochiairo from central Tokyo took a few train transfers but it's worth the journey. The ryokan is unforgettable. It maintains 150+ years of tradition while modernizing in both facilities, furnishings, and service. I hope to be able to come back...

Stayed January 2025

My husband and I absolutely adored this place. This is my eighth trip to the Japan and his fifth and we’ve been lucky to stay in many ryokan. The service at this place was absolutely impeccable, even by Japanese standards.

The grounds were lovely beautiful with a suspension bridge and garden surrounding the ryokan. Although there have been multiple expansions to this place, it never felt crowded and I think we only saw a few other guests while we were here, but that may have been due to the time of year.

From the time you arrive, there is a warm and welcoming lounge with a wood-burning fireplace that they keep going when anyone is in there. At one point, my husband and I showed up early in the morning and somebody was starting the fire not even a minute later. A cool feature of this place is that they have complementary beer, wine and ice cream in the lounge which guests can access at anytime. We’ve never seen this before and any other ryokan even though sometimes they will stock your fridge with a few free beverages.

They have a tour in Japanese that will take you to the different historical highlights of the buildings and surroundings and kindly gave us a print out in English going over the same spots which were noted on a map so we could go look at them ourselves. I really appreciated this.

There is a gorgeous private on that you can reserve and they make it very easy to do that as they ask you what time you’d like to reserve when you check in. Even though we had a private on in our room, ( Ukifune) we took advantage and tried it out after running out there in our spa wear. This was a new thing as we have only ever utilized yukatas in these instances. It was a lovely, huge Stone bath and I’m glad we did it.

The Ukifune suite was huge and the western futon beds were very comfortable. It was January so we definitely left the heat on in every room while we were there and it could get slightly chilly if you didn’t do that. We loved being cozy in our yukatas after dinner and bath watching Grand Sumo tournament.

The kaiseki dinner was served in a private dining room and sometimes these can be a little bit more challenging for me my husband and I ate more at this one. I think then we ever have at any other ryokan dinner. It was very good.

They did accommodate our request for no squid or octopus. Note that I generally request Western breakfast for my husband and I don’t believe that they have this available here but I’m not sure. Maybe I just forgot to order it for him this time. lol

We never got bored and there is a fun game room downstairs with ping-pong, foosball, and even air hockey.

I absolutely love this place and it’s one of my favorite ryokan that I visited. I highly recommend this...