Takata Green Land (Kumotori Onsen) — Hotel in Shingu

We booked Takata green land via Kumano travel website for our Kumano Kodo trek. We trekked from Ukegawa to Koguchi and at Koguchi a shuttle bus from the inn picked us up to Takata green land. Although this accommodation was not our first choice, we were really pleasantly surprised and glad that we wound up at this onsen inn! It is a quaint refurbished inn from a previous Japanese school, and many features of a school are still present, which adds to the quaint-ness of this inn!||||The hospitality was one of the best we have encountered in our trip, the staff (especially a very smiley elderly gentleman) at the inn felt like family. They were very thoughtful and genuine in making you feel right at home. Although language barrier in communication was present, the staff tried their best in looking out for you!||||Facilities wise, there were many pleasant surprises too: free laundry machines and dryers were available , which was great as we were drenched through the day itself and was getting worried about the lack of clean clothes for the remainder of our trip. Also there are massage chairs to give our weary bodies a much needed good massage. There were 2 indoor onsens, one of them with jaccuzi facilities and an outdoor onsen too. Soaking in a comfortable onsen, hearing sounds from the surrounding forest and rustling of leaves from the cedar trees was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. ||||The environment was peaceful and tranquil, the inn is just next to a stream and misty mountains surrounded the area too. We ventured out to explore the surroundings of the inn in the late afternoon. The smiley elderly gentleman provided us with suggestions of a route to walk around the inn, and even threw in a torchlight for us to carry in case it gets dark before we were back!||||Will definitely be thinking of going back to Takata Green land, should I need a couple of days to unwind in an oasis of calm...

Spent my first 2 nights in Japan at Takada. Here are my reflections;||1. Takada is about 10km from Shingu so a bit isolated, I would suggest you get to Shingu no later than 5pm or so to be picked up by their shuttle bus and lovely driver. My understanding is that the bus usually drives to Shingu once in the morning and once in the evening to pick up guests - to be arranged with the hotel. When we were trying to inform Takada of our arrival time we were told by the agency we booked it through that they would not give out the hotel's email address. The only way to get in touch (unless you speak Japanese and can phone them) is to fax them and give your email address: they got back to my by email then! ||2. I personally enjoyed the peace and quiet of the location, the beautiful large room, the spotlessy clean shared facilities. At the time we visited (Nov. 2016), perhaps low season, no meals were provided so you will have to buy your own before going back to the hotel in the evening. They sell simple snacks, pot noodles etc and there's a microwave.||3. The highlight of Takada is no doubt the WONDERFUL onsen: 3 pools (1 outdoor) with natual hot spring water - I could not get enough of it and in my opinion it is worth staying at Takada just for this - can't describe how wonderful it was!!||4. A point to remember, if you are into parties and night life, then perhaps this is not the place for you: the common area was very quite and reception closed by 10pm but that may be because there were very few guests, perhaps things are different with a bigger crowd.||5. Staff were all incredibly kind and helpful though the language barrier limited our conversations. ||6. I would definitely go back to Takada if I were lucky enough to come back...

AVOID this place, especially if you're a Kumano Kodo hiker. It is not on the trail and their shuttle bus is unreliable. After you arrive at Koguchi, you need to call for the shuttle, which can come earliest at 3pm. We waited for ours until past 4pm after they said on the phone there would be a shuttle at 3. No-one informed about the delay, no-one apologized! (and this is Japan folks, where everything runs on time and people are the most polite you'll ever meet) They advertise having an onsen, but it's closed, supposedly "under renovation". In reality it's just empty, no signs of repairs being done. They can take you to another onsen, but it's another hour in a bus there and back. Their rooms and public areas should have been refurbished probably a decade ago, very run down and out of date. Also, the management philosophy seems one of cost savings. This is the first hotel in my life where COFFEE IS NOT INCLUDED IN BREAKFAST. You can BUY coffee, but no sugar or milk is available. They accept vegetarian guests (pre-ordered meals), but the food was sub standard in quality and without any taste. The staff is panicky, but means well trying to fill all the holes with their service, but it's just not enough when the basic service concept and infrastructure to create a decent customer experience are lacking. There is not one reason to stay...