Okyakuya Ryokan — Hotel in Minamioguni

My husband and I stayed at this property for two nights and it was fantastic. Book your room now. What a gem. This is my fourth time in Japan and my third stay at a traditional Japanese Inn (ryokan). Before this visit, I had never been to Kurokawa onsen town. We've been to other onsen towns in Japan, but this was our favorite onsen town hands-down. ||||Here's why I would select this particular ryokan.||||1. It's traditional and beautiful.||2. The staff speak really good English. You could get by with pointing and gesturing, but having the staff speak to us in English made our visit more pleasurable.||3. The food is simply amazing. I was blown away by both breakfast and dinner. Dinner and breakfast is served in a communal space, but everyone has a private dining room within that space. This is different from other ryokans where meals are often served in-room. I could tell that the chef put a lot of thought into the menu. We decided we didn't want to eat the local specialty (horse meat) so they substituted other foods for us. I really loved the sashimi! And they gave A LOT of thought to their plating which I appreciated. This is common in traditional Japanese dinners, but I think they went the extra mile and I noticed.||||We got upgraded to a family room since the inn was not fully booked and it was very spacious and incredibly beautiful. The room was well appointed and it had everything we needed. But it did not have a river view (only a partial view). As mentioned in an prior review, I loved the fact that the property used burning tea leaves as room incense. Really nice touch.||||There are a few additional things I feel I should point out to help manage expectations:|| ||1. The property is old. It's not modern and it's not fancy. If you want a fancy ryokan experience, this probably isn't the best place to stay. The service and food felt like a high-end experience (think the Four Seasons or Ritz) but the facility does not have a modern feel. Everything is old and traditional. If you want a fancy ryokan, you may need to look at another place. Also, our room had a sink and toilet but no private shower. Some rooms have only a shared bathroom. At this particular property, all showers are communal and are on on another floor. If you want a private shower, or your own bathtub, this is not a good place for you to stay.||2. Overall their onsen baths are only average. I found their shared private baths to be really lacking. But during your stay, you can purchase a ryokan onsen pass that allows you to visit three other onsen baths so you'll get a chance to see other properties and try out their onsen. The baths were clean and well-maintained, but nothing special. That being said, I still enjoyed them.||||Final thoughts:||Before you stay at a ryokan, you might want to consider doing an "onsen trial run" in a day onsen wherever you are staying. It's a bit intimidating to onsen for the first time in an onsen town where so little English is spoken. At the minimum, I would watch a few online onsen videos and read some articles about onsen culture in advance of this trip. ||||I've visited a lot of onsen in Japan and I still found the Kurokawa onsen culture a tiny bit intimidating. You'd be well served to take a practice run so you know what to expect in advance and the internet provides great resources. ||||Also, I want to put in a plug for staying two nights instead of one if you can afford it. I know it's pricey but I think you'll come away fully rested and happy you did it. ||||Finally, make sure you drink some local sake, eat some local soba (the water makes the noodles taste unbelievable) and relax. You'll love this onsen town. It's simply magical. Great onsen town, great staff,...

My husband and I stayed at this property for two nights and it was fantastic. Book your room now. What a gem. This is my fourth time in Japan and my third stay at a traditional Japanese Inn (ryokan). Before this visit, I had never been to Kurokawa onsen town. We've been to other onsen towns in Japan, but this was our favorite onsen town hands-down. ||||Here's why I would select this particular ryokan.||||1. It's traditional and beautiful.||2. The staff speak really good English. You could get by with pointing and gesturing, but having the staff speak to us in English made our visit more pleasurable.||3. The food is simply amazing. I was blown away by both breakfast and dinner. Dinner and breakfast is served in a communal space, but everyone has a private dining room within that space. This is different from other ryokans where meals are often served in-room. I could tell that the chef put a lot of thought into the menu. We decided we didn't want to eat the local specialty (horse meat) so they substituted other foods for us. I really loved the sashimi! And they gave A LOT of thought to their plating which I appreciated. This is common in traditional Japanese dinners, but I think they went the extra mile and I noticed.||||We got upgraded to a family room since the inn was not fully booked and it was very spacious and incredibly beautiful. The room was well appointed and it had everything we needed. But it did not have a river view (only a partial view). As mentioned in an prior review, I loved the fact that the property used burning tea leaves as room incense. Really nice touch.||||There are a few additional things I feel I should point out to help manage expectations:|| ||1. The property is old. It's not modern and it's not fancy. If you want a fancy ryokan experience, this probably isn't the best place to stay. The service and food felt like a high-end experience (think the Four Seasons or Ritz) but the facility does not have a modern feel. Everything is old and traditional. If you want a fancy ryokan, you may need to look at another place. Also, our room had a sink and toilet but no private shower. Some rooms have only a shared bathroom. At this particular property, all showers are communal and are on on another floor. If you want a private shower, or your own bathtub, this is not a good place for you to stay.||2. Overall their onsen baths are only average. I found their shared private baths to be really lacking. But during your stay, you can purchase a ryokan onsen pass that allows you to visit three other onsen baths so you'll get a chance to see other properties and try out their onsen. The baths were clean and well-maintained, but nothing special. That being said, I still enjoyed them.||||Final thoughts:||Before you stay at a ryokan, you might want to consider doing an "onsen trial run" in a day onsen wherever you are staying. It's a bit intimidating to onsen for the first time in an onsen town where so little English is spoken. At the minimum, I would watch a few online onsen videos and read some articles about onsen culture in advance of this trip. ||||I've visited a lot of onsen in Japan and I still found the Kurokawa onsen culture a tiny bit intimidating. You'd be well served to take a practice run so you know what to expect in advance and the internet provides great resources. ||||Also, I want to put in a plug for staying two nights instead of one if you can afford it. I know it's pricey but I think you'll come away fully rested and happy you did it. ||||Finally, make sure you drink some local sake, eat some local soba (the water makes the noodles taste unbelievable) and relax. You'll love this onsen town. It's simply magical. Great onsen town, great staff,...

Our stay at Okyakuya was so much better than we expected! We already expected it to be really nice & welcoming but it was so much more. I'd stay here again & would recommend it to others.||||Okyakuya is a little smaller than some of the other ryokans in the region with only 13 rooms. I really love this as it wasn't so crowded and was very zen. We booked a 8-tatami mat room and it was definitely a lot more room than 2 people needed. The room included a toilet but the baths are all downstairs. They have both indoor & outdoor baths, 3 are private to guests only and another 3 baths are for the public. It made me feel better than I wouldn't have to fight for a bath with non-guests. We visited during low season so basically had the public baths to ourselves at night (after 7pm) and in the morning (around 8am). It's worth checking out both baths as they were gorgeous & relaxing. It's nice to be here before the crowds & tour groups.||||Location of the ryokan is in the main part of town so it's easy to walk to other onsens if you have the onsen hopping pass. We drove to kurokawa onsen and the roads are super tight. If you're catching the bus, its a nice walk down to Okyakuya.||||Service is amazing - from check-in to check out, the staff were friendly & helpful to make the whole experience perfect. Food was also amazing - was delicious and I liked that they served horse sashimi, the local delicacy. I loved the in-room dinner experience and the breakfast was served in their dining room. ||||Can't wait...