Nanki Susami Onsen Hotel Bellvedere — Hotel in Susami

Hopped into this onsen hotel because of a cheaper (not cheapest) deal with a private onsen pool outside our room. We arrived late luckily after getting a bit lost from the new freeway. 2 happy staff, who knew some English, welcomed us and processed the procedure. We were guided to our room, which was just on the ground floor. ||||Hotel rooms with individual onsen are usually very expensive (and check to make sure it's onsen water not just hot water - we were fooled once), but I think if you don't want the clumsy procedures of hopping into public one (i.e. getting the towels from room, walking out, undressing, washing, before finally hopping in, and reverse the procedure when heading out) it's a good choice. So we entered the traditional room with tatami. Beddings were already prepared for us and tables moved on the side because it's late. It's quite spacious with individual toilets and small shower room, just near the balcony. Fridge is conveniently placed near there with cold glasses inside so you could grab a cold drink during / after the onsen.||||The key to rent this room was the onsen. We quickly got showered and hopped into the wooden 24-hr onsen as soon as we liked and as often as we liked - which felt amazing. Since we were at the ground floor, I immediately had the worry of having lots of insects flying around (with the lights on, otherwise it's plain darkness out there). But maybe because of the hotness there weren't a lot of insects around but only 2 small frogs which bravely tried to hop around when we headed out. In the morning one could see the mountain of greens and a sea further - great view! The temperature of the water was great at a cooler summer time which is about 39-41C I felt - not too hot that you can soak for at least 10 minutes w/o the rush to move back to the room. Having a private onsen also makes a family easier to experience it for first time, esp. for little ones.||||We had a good sleep and awaited for a great breakfast which was at the restaurant on the other side of the hotel building. There were a lot of different varieties but most were purely Japanese food - Oden, cold pickled vegetables / meat / fish, onsen eggs, rice, etc. Juice drink / tea / coffee / milk were offered as standard. The only western style item I can remember would be pancakes. While I think Japanese people would find it awesome we were just alright about it - and would kindly skip the breakfast offer if possible.||||I didn't use the public onsen facility as I felt the private one was good enough and the view would be similar.||||Overall I think this is a great place if you have a car rental and don't mind to go further south to this mountain-top resort. It's not the very typical onsen hotel you expect but at the same time the price is friendlier. The reason I gave it a 4 star instead of 5 is that I don't see why would they charge 2500yen / day for a 1-3 year old children who doesn't need any extra facility / food besides the onsen clothing which my kid didn't use anyway. Just be careful of such charge if you are about to bring your little...

The Bellevedere is set high on a hill with a fine view of mountains and sea, an easy drive along the coast from Nachi Taisha. It also turns out to be a very family-friendly resort, welcoming guests of all ages. We had a great time playing miniature golf on the hotel's 18-hole course. This is not US type miniature golf, by the way, but something wholly different - no gimmicks other than the distracting view of the sea, and the holes are about 40 to 50 meters long. The main restaurant is Japanese, and specializes in super fresh seafood in super abundance. A nearby, very popular terrace adjunct serves only "barbecue" (i.e., hibachi) where you cook your own food right at the table while admiring the amazing view. All but two rooms are Japanese style - but those two rooms (with beds) also have spacious private enclosed terrace gardens featuring good-sized outdoor ofuro (hot tubs) and the beautiful view. One staff member speaks excellent English, and with his occasional assistance, it's possible to get by very comfortably. One very nice feature of this place is a small coin-operated laundry on the second floor, where we did a week's worth of washing for only 600 yen. An easy day trip less than an hour east takes you to a peninsula/park with a lighthouse (Shionomisaki) and small, quiet shrine, and a spectacular curlicue bridge to the neighboring island of Kii Oshima. The latter includes, in addition to another lighthouse, a museum honoring the friendship between Japan and Turkey, and two Turkish souvenir shops where you can buy a small rug...

The Bellevedere is set high on a hill with a fine view of mountains and sea, an easy drive along the coast from Nachi Taisha. It also turns out to be a very family-friendly resort, welcoming guests of all ages. We had a great time playing miniature golf on the hotel's 18-hole course. This is not US type miniature golf, by the way, but something wholly different - no gimmicks other than the distracting view of the sea, and the holes are about 40 to 50 meters long. The main restaurant is Japanese, and specializes in super fresh seafood in super abundance. A nearby, very popular terrace adjunct serves only "barbecue" (i.e., hibachi) where you cook your own food right at the table while admiring the amazing view. All but two rooms are Japanese style - but those two rooms (with beds) also have spacious private enclosed terrace gardens featuring good-sized outdoor ofuro (hot tubs) and the beautiful view. One staff member speaks excellent English, and with his occasional assistance, it's possible to get by very comfortably. One very nice feature of this place is a small coin-operated laundry on the second floor, where we did a week's worth of washing for only 600 yen. An easy day trip less than an hour east takes you to a peninsula/park with a lighthouse (Shionomisaki) and small, quiet shrine, and a spectacular curlicue bridge to the neighboring island of Kii Oshima. The latter includes, in addition to another lighthouse, a museum honoring the friendship between Japan and Turkey, and two Turkish souvenir shops where you can buy a small rug...