Ganiba Onsen — Hotel in Semboku

My wife and I very much enjoyed our stay here. It's a traditional, family-owned establishment in the rural mom & pop tradition. The excellent service and welcoming staff earned the hotel the fifth star. For what it is, it offers a restful, homey experience. Baths were clean, well-maintained and featured some of the purest onsen water we've ever experienced. Rooms are simple, quaint and tidy, with shared bathroom and toilets in the hallway. As long as you're looking for a country-style aesthetic, you'll find them cozy and refreshing. Dinner and breakfast service is creative and top-class - our compliments to the chefs! We enjoyed the local sake collection as well.

Outdoor baths: the hotel offers two naturally-heated outdoor onsen. One is set in a spacious wooden tub immediately outside the hotel's East wing, and caters primarily to women (reserved hours for men). It offers a lovely, uninterrupted view of the local forest. The other is a fifty meter walk to the hotel's West, and is set in a picturesque mountain grove. Historic, stunning and majestic (and for couples, romantic!). We visited at the height of winter and the water was still hot and pleasant amidst the snow. The hotel offered us boots to walk along the outdoor path. Note: this is a mixed-gender bath. My wife and I felt it was spacious enough to avoid any undue exposure or embarrassment. The changing room offers two separate paths from the men/women's sides.

Indoor baths: the hotel offers two smaller-size and two larger-size baths, separated by gender. These are also the real deal - piping hot naturally-heated onsen water.

Note: the hotel only accepts cash payment. This caught us by surprise, but the hotel staff not only assisted us in driving us to an ATM, they took us all the way back to the train station, refusing payment for the service! Thanks to Nabe san, the driver, for his impromptu tour of some local sites and excellent customer service.

We'd recommend bringing some snacks with you prior to your stay. The onsen is deep in the mountains and there are no accessible convenience stores or restaurants of you're feeling hungry late at night.

Ganiba offers an affordable onsen pass so that guests can also experience historic outdoor baths at...

Upon arrival, our first impression of Ganiba Onsen hotel was not great. With weeds growing everywhere and a subtle air of faded grandeur, we weren’t sure that it was still open. But inside, everything looked respectable. We were quickly checked in a given a quick rundown on the hotel on onsen with the staff speaking very basic English. Our Japanese style room was quite small, very little room left over after laying out the futons, however it was clean and comfortable with 2 large windows. The toilet/basin area was tiny and there was no shower/bath in the room (you must use the communal onsens). The room was severely lacking in hooks and other places to dry towels and clothes. We had a mini-fridge, TV, AC, but no coffee making facilities and the Wifi seemed to work OK. The traditional Japanese meals, included in the price, were OK but nothing to write home about. We were dismayed to see that you actually had to pay extra if you wanted drinks, such as coffee or juice, with your breakfast – seemed pretty tight! The outdoor onsen was beautiful, set down in a small forested valley about 50m from the hotel. Magical setting and the water was divine at 41C. This is a mixed gender onsen but I only ever saw men there. There is another outdoor onsen for women and also a couple of indoor ones as well. They change them around at certain times so women can use the nice forest onsen. Access to the hotel is fairly easy as it is the last stop/first stop on the bus coming to/from Tazawa-ko, about a 40min ride from the lake. There are a few interesting trails in the immediate area if you like to explore. Overall, a bit of a mixed experience, but overall well worth the stay, even just to use the...

Upon arrival, our first impression of Ganiba Onsen hotel was not great. With weeds growing everywhere and a subtle air of faded grandeur, we weren’t sure that it was still open. But inside, everything looked respectable. We were quickly checked in a given a quick rundown on the hotel on onsen with the staff speaking very basic English. Our Japanese style room was quite small, very little room left over after laying out the futons, however it was clean and comfortable with 2 large windows. The toilet/basin area was tiny and there was no shower/bath in the room (you must use the communal onsens). The room was severely lacking in hooks and other places to dry towels and clothes. We had a mini-fridge, TV, AC, but no coffee making facilities and the Wifi seemed to work OK. The traditional Japanese meals, included in the price, were OK but nothing to write home about. We were dismayed to see that you actually had to pay extra if you wanted drinks, such as coffee or juice, with your breakfast – seemed pretty tight! The outdoor onsen was beautiful, set down in a small forested valley about 50m from the hotel. Magical setting and the water was divine at 41C. This is a mixed gender onsen but I only ever saw men there. There is another outdoor onsen for women and also a couple of indoor ones as well. They change them around at certain times so women can use the nice forest onsen. Access to the hotel is fairly easy as it is the last stop/first stop on the bus coming to/from Tazawa-ko, about a 40min ride from the lake. There are a few interesting trails in the immediate area if you like to explore. Overall, a bit of a mixed experience, but overall well worth the stay, even just to use the...