梅ヶ島温泉 おもいでの宿 湯の島館 — Hotel in Shizuoka

Our Japanese colleague who lives in Shizuoka recommended that we all stay at this ryokan, as he liked both the variety of onsen and the caring reception he received when he called to make inquiries. This ryokan is quite remote, but its location is historically and culturally important as Umegashima is the origin of Japan's first cultivated crops of wasabi. How cool is that! We were assured that fresh, local wasabi would be part of the (mostly) traditional dinner served that evening.||||Yunoshimakan is a beautiful building, and privacy is of great importance. There is a limited amount of rooms, and the four onsen are private, so reservations in one-hour increments are made for each party. The attendant was so very polite, pleasant, and caring. We were very fortunate that our friend was Japanese, because little-to-no English was spoken or written on the rooms or menus or onsen instructions (but I'm sure we could have muddled along just fine). There was a family with a young child, and several young couples as well as an older couple.||||We were served an incredible multi-course meal, and ground our fresh wasabi on a shark-skin wooden grater. The wasabi frothed up in a soft foam, and tasted fresh, complex, and hot but not sharp or bitter like the wasabi normally served at your local kaiten sushi place. It was incredible with the sashimi course, and we used the wasabi through-out our meal (which included oden, which later became the base for the ramen course, a yakitori selection, a salmon/potato/cheese gratin, rice ball course, miso soup, fruit and gelatin dessert ... There was more but you get the idea this was a 2-hour minimum experience). My husband and our friend even had fresh wasabi in their shochu, but I opted for the citrus wine instead. ||||There were 4 onsen, 3 of which were the wooden type you'd expect, but the 4th was the most unusual, a man-made rock cave outside of the building called "yama" onsen. It was so unique and interesting! It was fairly small, rock-based, and only fitting a maximum of 2 people, and the water was much shallower. It was a bit claustrophobic for me, so luckily another onsen was available, the "rin" onsen (tree) with the wooden tubs. We also got to try a different onsen for the morning bath, so that was very neat.||||We had an incredible experience, and I would highly recommend this place. We would definitely stay here again! ||||The only thing that made me sad was that their little store was out of their packaged tea canisters, which had a line drawing of the hotel on it, so I couldn't purchase some for myself and for omiyage gifts. I also did not know that I could have kept the bath towel imprinted with their logo but that is minor compared to the wonderful experience and memories we have of...

Our Japanese colleague who lives in Shizuoka recommended that we all stay at this ryokan, as he liked both the variety of onsen and the caring reception he received when he called to make inquiries. This ryokan is quite remote, but its location is historically and culturally important as Umegashima is the origin of Japan's first cultivated crops of wasabi. How cool is that! We were assured that fresh, local wasabi would be part of the (mostly) traditional dinner served that evening.||||Yunoshimakan is a beautiful building, and privacy is of great importance. There is a limited amount of rooms, and the four onsen are private, so reservations in one-hour increments are made for each party. The attendant was so very polite, pleasant, and caring. We were very fortunate that our friend was Japanese, because little-to-no English was spoken or written on the rooms or menus or onsen instructions (but I'm sure we could have muddled along just fine). There was a family with a young child, and several young couples as well as an older couple.||||We were served an incredible multi-course meal, and ground our fresh wasabi on a shark-skin wooden grater. The wasabi frothed up in a soft foam, and tasted fresh, complex, and hot but not sharp or bitter like the wasabi normally served at your local kaiten sushi place. It was incredible with the sashimi course, and we used the wasabi through-out our meal (which included oden, which later became the base for the ramen course, a yakitori selection, a salmon/potato/cheese gratin, rice ball course, miso soup, fruit and gelatin dessert ... There was more but you get the idea this was a 2-hour minimum experience). My husband and our friend even had fresh wasabi in their shochu, but I opted for the citrus wine instead. ||||There were 4 onsen, 3 of which were the wooden type you'd expect, but the 4th was the most unusual, a man-made rock cave outside of the building called "yama" onsen. It was so unique and interesting! It was fairly small, rock-based, and only fitting a maximum of 2 people, and the water was much shallower. It was a bit claustrophobic for me, so luckily another onsen was available, the "rin" onsen (tree) with the wooden tubs. We also got to try a different onsen for the morning bath, so that was very neat.||||We had an incredible experience, and I would highly recommend this place. We would definitely stay here again! ||||The only thing that made me sad was that their little store was out of their packaged tea canisters, which had a line drawing of the hotel on it, so I couldn't purchase some for myself and for omiyage gifts. I also did not know that I could have kept the bath towel imprinted with their logo but that is minor compared to the wonderful experience and memories we have of...

【道中】||新静岡ICから約50分。途中10ヶ所くらい道が細く対向車とすれ違えない部分があるが、待避所が細かく設けられている。宿泊時は往復の間に1回だけ20ｍほどバックが必要だった。コンビニはIC降りてすぐのローソンと、2km程先のファミマのみ。||||【部屋】||建物はやや年季が入っているが周囲の風景と調和している。館内はよく手入れされ、清潔に管理されている。||昭和モダンという雰囲気の本館３階葵の間に宿泊。部屋菓子の草餅は手作りで、近頃は味わえない蓬の風味濃厚なもの。部屋の洗面、トイレは新しくなっている。トイレは17,000円程の宿泊費では驚きのツインタイプ。幅広タイプのタオル掛け、壁付のペーパータオルまで完備と、この辺は至れり尽くせり。||逆にアメニティは最小限。フェイスタオル、バスタオル1枚ずつ。館内着は浴衣とぺらぺらのちゃんちゃんこのみ、冬期は羽織や丹前の方が適当だろう。シャワーキャップなし。||宿泊時は夕方小雪が舞い、翌朝の外気温は－10℃！（by...