Tofuya Resort & Spa Izu — Hotel in Izu

We stayed here as a family and it was our first experience at a Japanese Ryokan. Our room/suite was very large with its own private onsen, an upstairs bedroom/living room, and a lower floor seating area with a central table. The room was definitely old Japan as I would imagine it but with modern amenities. It was very clean and comfortable. It was finished mostly in natural dark woods.||||We were warmly greeted by the hosts and taken to a very nice reception area where we were served welcome drinks. Next, we were shown our room and introduced to the art of wearing Japanese robes (which were later required for dinner).||||Dinner was quite the affair for us and was a very traditional multi-course Japanese meal. We donned our robes and took the short walk to the very comfortable dining room. To be honest, it was scary and we couldn't recognize most of the things brought to the table (apart from little tiny squids). Our host realized this group of struggling Westerners were not having a great meal experience and brought out cooked steak and chicken (off the menu and not by request). Amazing service!! ||||The grounds are very peaceful and pleasing. There is a bakery just a short walk up the trail that served delicious pastries and coffee. The bakery is adjacent to a large granite counter where you sit with your feet soaking in a hot onsen bath while enjoying your food and a beautiful view. It was a truly marvelous experience for all of us.||||One of us tried the public onsen and found it to be a wonderful and sublime experience. We also tried the private onsen in our room which we couldn't get hot enough until we used the shower head to help fill the tub (it disperses onsen water too). It was cold outside and this may have affected the water trickling from the natural stone faucet into the tub. Still, it worked out great and was a rejuvenating experience.||||This was an experience all of us will remember for a very long time and highly recommend...

We stayed here as a family and it was our first experience at a Japanese Ryokan. Our room/suite was very large with its own private onsen, an upstairs bedroom/living room, and a lower floor seating area with a central table. The room was definitely old Japan as I would imagine it but with modern amenities. It was very clean and comfortable. It was finished mostly in natural dark woods.||||We were warmly greeted by the hosts and taken to a very nice reception area where we were served welcome drinks. Next, we were shown our room and introduced to the art of wearing Japanese robes (which were later required for dinner).||||Dinner was quite the affair for us and was a very traditional multi-course Japanese meal. We donned our robes and took the short walk to the very comfortable dining room. To be honest, it was scary and we couldn't recognize most of the things brought to the table (apart from little tiny squids). Our host realized this group of struggling Westerners were not having a great meal experience and brought out cooked steak and chicken (off the menu and not by request). Amazing service!! ||||The grounds are very peaceful and pleasing. There is a bakery just a short walk up the trail that served delicious pastries and coffee. The bakery is adjacent to a large granite counter where you sit with your feet soaking in a hot onsen bath while enjoying your food and a beautiful view. It was a truly marvelous experience for all of us.||||One of us tried the public onsen and found it to be a wonderful and sublime experience. We also tried the private onsen in our room which we couldn't get hot enough until we used the shower head to help fill the tub (it disperses onsen water too). It was cold outside and this may have affected the water trickling from the natural stone faucet into the tub. Still, it worked out great and was a rejuvenating experience.||||This was an experience all of us will remember for a very long time and highly recommend...

I have a bit of a different point of view than most reviewers, as I have been going to "Tofuya" for the last 30 years. The original Inn went out of business 5 years ago. It used to be a traditional Japanese Inn, but has been purchased by a development company which now styles it a "resort".||||Resort in Japan means that it offers spa services to women. There are no other facilities that one might associate with the title of resort. The facilities are basically the old inn buildings and rooms updated by the addition of beds, coffee machines, and private baths.||The rooms are basically comfortable and clean, but very "hotel" like.||||The public baths haven't changed, and that is a good thing as their main outside bath is my favorite in all of Japan, and that means in comparison to the 100 or so other hot springs I have visited over the years.||||Food is the recently popular "fusion" French/Japanese and is very good if not quite excellent. Portions were on the small side. Taste was very good, but a bit stingy on the meats and fish items. Breakfast was "Spartan" compared to typical hot spring hotels.||||Staff were efficient and generally friendly but the kimonos are gone, and the staff wear typical hotel type uniforms.||||To be honest I liked the old Inn better, but it would be unfair to penalize this location for that, so my review is based on this experience only.||||In is NOT easy to get to this location. From Tokyo you can take the train to Shuzenji station and then take a bus to the Yoshina onsen stop and then call the hotel to send their shuttle bus to pick you up. Of course you could use the taxi, but I would guess that would cost close to $100.||||This would be a "safe" choice for someone a bit nervous with going full on Japanese Inn, sleep on the floor, bathe with everyone type of experience. It gives the feeling of a Japanese Inn without the "inconvenient" part.||||I do...