Kozankaku — Hotel in Obanazawa

Overall it was an below average (except the fact the room was 4.5 / 5) stay experience. We booked 4 months in advanced which makes it even more disappointing - as we were so looking forward to this stay. P.S: We have stayed at a handful of old fashioned Ryokans by now in Japan and have some idea of the general format - ie service, food and onsen.

Room - the only impressive part about this stay, we booked the new rooms which is in the building next to Kozankaku called Clanouva. It was spacious, clean, the interior design was atheistically pleasing + really liked the high ceiling (floor 3)! There is no shower facilities in the room which we are fine about as stated during reservation - you can go to the public bath area to shower which was 100% okay with us.

Service - Clanouva’s check in service was good The lady was pretty nice. But at check out (young man) the service was absolutely appalling to the stage where I would class it to be “rude”. During check out, the staff told us Cash Only but we remember fully when we reserved the room at the reservation page we could pay with card / cash. He eventually allowed us to pay by card the fact the card machine was right next to the counter 😡. As soon as we paid he turned away from us and didn’t even bother to say thank you or bye etc until I said “Thank you”. He literally refused to look at us.

Dinner - we had dinner at 18:30 and arrived at 18:38, the table was already set up with Sashimi, starters and pickled vegetables. The lady serving dinner told us about the self-service tea and water and quickly went to get the rest of our meal (all the hot dishes + rice) As Ryokans normally have a Kaiseki style dinner, there are many dishes from starter to dessert (at least 10). It has only been 8 mins and the lady bought all of our kaiseki hot food to our table and just dumped on the table and mumbled “gohan or nimono etc”. We didn’t get introduced to what we are eating (my bf understands Japanese + in general would like to be explained what the 13 dish kaiseki meal was), what each dish was made up of and just left us to work it out ourselves. She checked if our onsen beef was ready or not and realised it was still a bit uncooked so closed the steaming lid, but she never came back either. Luckily we used our napkins to open the lid ourselves so we won’t be eating over cooked Wagyu. As everything came all at once by the time we got to the hot dishes they were all cold. It might be because of covid they don’t have many staff working but we would appreciate an explanation at the beginning of the meal over dumping all the kaiseki dishes on us 8mins into dinner. Also, the other couple finished their food before us and the waitress came up starting to tidy up their table really loudly which was a bit annoying. There was no elegance / finesse to the waitress’s service vs all the other ryokans we have been to.

• the food itself tasted amazing + there was a variety of Yamagata dishes we got to try.* Food 5/5, service 1/5

Breakfast - it was okay, we finally got to see all the other guests staying at the Ryokan as dinner service we were in a room with only one other table. Typical Japanese breakfast and it was fun that you get to grill your own fish. The variety was far less than other breakfasts I have had in Japanese Ryokans - 3.5 / 5

Onsen - there is the public bath + 2 private baths. We had the opportunity to bath in the 1st floor private bath, it was really good with a big changing space and a sizeable onsen. There is a small passage way to get from Calnouva to Kozankaku which was...

I have visited with my English friend and teenagers. I wanted to come to Ginzan for ages, I adore town's Taisyo era style (of 1920's). This place is so secluded and small, if you had 1 day or 2, you can enjoy town to to bottom. ||Caution: NO WIFI in town, but only in the tourist info hut. Even my mobile wifi didn't work in this town. Tourist info lady speaks good English and has English literature of town guide and maps. Here you just have to enjoy the analogue life! ||Although you have TV in your room at least. ||||Kozankaku's decor is no modern, has 1st class family run service and facilities. Walking along to admire town's other hotels, this one is the most prettiest and old fashioned! It's so authentic! It's like stepped back in time and is just lovely. ||||We had local precious beef cooked in hotpot as well as all sort of mini dishes like any other ryokan dinner, all served in your room floor level on tray with legs. ||Breakfast was quite early like 7am-ish, and served in dining room but again, lot's of yummy traditional mini dishes as well as delicious baked fish on grill. I think breakfast time finish by 8am... This is quite normal for busy Japanese tourists anyway! NO lie-in, the day will finish unless you start early. ||Two lovely hot spring tubs upstairs can be used as many times as you want, as private if not occupied by others already, and big public bath downstairs. ||You have own toilet in your room. (Don't wear toilet slippers in room!) ||After dinner, room service will come in to make your futon beds for you. ||||Lovely restaurant just opposite also, walking along with Inn's own yukata-haori kimono with Japanese sandals, is just a bliss. They lend you a warm rain-proof coat /umbrella for guests outing. ||||Ginzan has lovely walking foot path along the river up to the mountain, where the silver mine was. ||||One down side is that I have found no email address on its website. ||You have to phone in to book if you can't book through Japanese travel booking site. They only take cash, no cards. No deposit taken. They wants to be in touch for your confirmation of your stay by phone, about week before. If you don't have contact, then you can phone...

I have visited with my English friend and teenagers. I wanted to come to Ginzan for ages, I adore town's Taisyo era style (of 1920's). This place is so secluded and small, if you had 1 day or 2, you can enjoy town to to bottom. ||Caution: NO WIFI in town, but only in the tourist info hut. Even my mobile wifi didn't work in this town. Tourist info lady speaks good English and has English literature of town guide and maps. Here you just have to enjoy the analogue life! ||Although you have TV in your room at least. ||||Kozankaku's decor is no modern, has 1st class family run service and facilities. Walking along to admire town's other hotels, this one is the most prettiest and old fashioned! It's so authentic! It's like stepped back in time and is just lovely. ||||We had local precious beef cooked in hotpot as well as all sort of mini dishes like any other ryokan dinner, all served in your room floor level on tray with legs. ||Breakfast was quite early like 7am-ish, and served in dining room but again, lot's of yummy traditional mini dishes as well as delicious baked fish on grill. I think breakfast time finish by 8am... This is quite normal for busy Japanese tourists anyway! NO lie-in, the day will finish unless you start early. ||Two lovely hot spring tubs upstairs can be used as many times as you want, as private if not occupied by others already, and big public bath downstairs. ||You have own toilet in your room. (Don't wear toilet slippers in room!) ||After dinner, room service will come in to make your futon beds for you. ||||Lovely restaurant just opposite also, walking along with Inn's own yukata-haori kimono with Japanese sandals, is just a bliss. They lend you a warm rain-proof coat /umbrella for guests outing. ||||Ginzan has lovely walking foot path along the river up to the mountain, where the silver mine was. ||||One down side is that I have found no email address on its website. ||You have to phone in to book if you can't book through Japanese travel booking site. They only take cash, no cards. No deposit taken. They wants to be in touch for your confirmation of your stay by phone, about week before. If you don't have contact, then you can phone...