Ikoi Ryokan — Hotel in Minamioguni

We stayed here for two nights.||||Please note this review relates to 'Enishi' which is at the top end of accommodation options at Ikoi Inn. ||||We had an excellent stay. The room was large with two large single beds side by side as is often the custom in traditional Japanese accommodation. They were full height beds, not futons on the floor. There is a separate small entrance area and the room is comfortably enough furnished to relax in. ||||The lovely thing about 'Enishi' is that you have your own private toilet and shower and your own thermal spa bath which is large. The spa is something very special. The shower is in the spa room (see picture attached).||||Note that Enishi is not part of the main Spa Ikoi complex. It is a separate building about 200m back up the road (there is another unit attached to Enishi). The road between Enishi and the main building, where you have meals, is reasonably steep and while we walked up and down each time the owner (whose name is Honda), or one of his staff willingly transfer you to and from in a small mini bus. This is just part of their standard service.||||If you are arriving at Kurokawa by highway bus Honda also meets you at the bus stop to transfer you to your accommodation.||||The room has tea and coffee making facilities, it has a safe and has free WiFi (while Honda said the WiFi was slow it worked well although it only allows you to connect one device at a time).||||Kurokawa is a small place, although quite busy with tourists within day. There are limited options to eat in town (there are some) and we decided, in advance to have both dinners and breakfasts at Ikoi. These are traditional Japanese meals with multiple small dishes. Staff have adequate English to explain the dishes to you and advise on what goes with what (this was a help). The food was wonderful quality and there was so much quantity (more than I felt like managing at times). I have attached a picture of a breakfast and one from a dinner. In each case the pictures show only part of what was served.||||There are a couple of areas in which meals are served and seating is regular height seating although there is one small area with traditional on-the-floor seating for those who choose it.||||Service was excellent throughout our stay. Generally staff speak enough English to allow those who are not proficient in Japanese, to get along perfectly well.||||We paid 41,340 Yen per night for accommodation and meals. Alcohol beer, sake, etc is available at an extra charge if you wish. The evening meal was served with a complimentary small glass of sake or choya (or equivalent). I considered this good value for money for all we received.||||Highly...

If you don't stay here and only come for the onsen give this a miss.||They clearly don't want your business as you are only spending a few hundred yen and you are more than a hindrance and hassle than it is worth to them. Well that is how we felt treated anyway.||There is absolutely no parking and if you arrive after dark at about 6 pm the road is pretty much unlit.|You will have to park on the other side of the facility and the walk back is about 1km and it's also pretty steep as well.||I don't know why this onsen , remember not the ryokan part as we did not stay here is highly regarded. We've been to nearly a hundred onsen's over the last few years and I won't even put this one in my top eighty.||The facilities are absolutely rubbish. There are only three shower booths in the men's and is as basic as can be but that is even better than the ladies bit as that doesn't have any shower facilities at all. Ladies you just have to use the ladle and use the water from the onsen.||The pools are small and has nothing going for it.|One word crap.|||In fact the next night we went to a small local one in kirishima that is not in any guide books or on the web , a local person took us there after us asking where the nearest onsen is and that was ten times better . The service was exceptional and the water was way warmer as the one in ikon isn't even lukewarm and that only cost us 300 yen. So it doesn't cost a lot of money for good service|||I don't think I have ever written a scathing review before but this one is worth it.||Oh and if you want to ask where the best onsens are. imo they're mostly situated around the...

If you don't stay here and only come for the onsen give this a miss.||They clearly don't want your business as you are only spending a few hundred yen and you are more than a hindrance and hassle than it is worth to them. Well that is how we felt treated anyway.||There is absolutely no parking and if you arrive after dark at about 6 pm the road is pretty much unlit.|You will have to park on the other side of the facility and the walk back is about 1km and it's also pretty steep as well.||I don't know why this onsen , remember not the ryokan part as we did not stay here is highly regarded. We've been to nearly a hundred onsen's over the last few years and I won't even put this one in my top eighty.||The facilities are absolutely rubbish. There are only three shower booths in the men's and is as basic as can be but that is even better than the ladies bit as that doesn't have any shower facilities at all. Ladies you just have to use the ladle and use the water from the onsen.||The pools are small and has nothing going for it.|One word crap.|||In fact the next night we went to a small local one in kirishima that is not in any guide books or on the web , a local person took us there after us asking where the nearest onsen is and that was ten times better . The service was exceptional and the water was way warmer as the one in ikon isn't even lukewarm and that only cost us 300 yen. So it doesn't cost a lot of money for good service|||I don't think I have ever written a scathing review before but this one is worth it.||Oh and if you want to ask where the best onsens are. imo they're mostly situated around the...