Nonohana Yakeyamaso — Hotel in Towada

The small ryokan has 22 rooms with tatami mats throughout the building for barefoot walking. ||The size of the room was adequate but there was no attached toilet. Hence, several rooms on each floor shared a common toilet (with 2 cubicles) on each floor. I also used the shower/bath in the hot spring rooms. Next to the common toilet, there were 3 wash-basins with hot and cold water. ||Wifi was accessible from the room.||I took a package of room + breakfast even though i would hv preferred that a package of room, breakfast + dinner if this was offered. There's no restaurant in the tiny onsen village that was opened for dinners in Oct 2023. Fortunately, the hotel management forewarned me a few days earlier and i brought along some instant noodles. As it was the last week of Oct, there's an annual fiesta held at the carpark ( 50 meters from hotel) where I was also able to get burgers and pizzas before 4.30 PM.||Breakfast was barely adequate and below my expectation / experience with other ryokans. I thought hotel could and should provide a more generous and filling meal for the price that was charged.||The onsen pools (indoor and outdoor) were good. With the limited number of hotel guests, I was able to have the pools for myself on the two occasions that i used them.||Staff was friendly even though they hardly speak English and I couldn't speak Japanese.||Overall, my experience was average even though the accommodation price was a litte on the high side. ||If i am to visit Oirase Stream again, i will seriously consider staying at the larger/more populous Towada lakeside town even though the town is further away from Oirase Stream. There is a regular shuttle bus service (~ twice/hour) between Towada-Oirase Onsen carpark and as the local authority is promoting the use of shuttle bus service instead of private cars, i expect the shuttle bus frequency to...

We stayed here for three nights in August 2018 with a cost of approximately US$600. To me, that seems overpriced when I consider the quality of service and compare it to service I've received at other onsen hotels in Japan.||Staff cannot speak English and are clearly uncomfortable with non-Japanese guests. I know how to say, "I'm sorry, I can't speak Japanese," but even after I said that, the staff members would become visibly agitated and continue to speak Japanese. The hotel should switch to a Japanese-guests-only policy. Japanese guests received a free drink at check-in, but we did not.||Despite staff's bad attitude, there are many situations in which guests must interact with staff. To leave the hotel, you have to find a staff member and ask for your shoes. When you park your car, parking attendants hover around you. An employee takes your yogurt order at breakfast. None of these interactions may be conducted in English.||The only internet access in the hotel is wifi in the lobby, so at night the lobby takes on a youth hostel vibe, with kids playing video games on tablets with the volume turned all the way up. Unpleasant.||Breakfast every day consisted of many variations on daikon radish, raw squid, an overcooked piece of fish, the leftovers from the previous night's dinner, and some yogurt. I don't recommend it.||Our guest room was clean, as were the onsen baths. However, cleanliness isn't the only thing I value in a hotel, particularly one at this...

At first glance, this seemed like a nice, typical mid-range ryokan. However, certain aspects of our stay made it less enjoyable. The room for 2 was quite small and cramped. While there was a small table and 2 floor style chairs, you felt like you were shoved into a corner. If you have rolling bags, forget about having any space to do anything. Also, there is no wi-fi in the rooms, only in the lobby. So in the evenings, everyone is congregated there, kids watching cartoons, etc. It was like staying at the world's most expensive youth hostel. The staff were not proficient in English, which is not something I would hold against them if it weren't for certain staff members behavior, acting exasperated when I couldn't respond to their long strings of Japanese sentences. The breakfast was average at best. The only saving grace were the three baths, which were very nice and the location, which was quite close to Oirase Gorge. But for over $200/per night, it did not...