Hotel Lucent Takamiya — Hotel in Yamagata

This hotel is ideal if you want a Japanese experience. Most staff don’t speak English but at reception a small amount of English is spoken and they certainly make an effort to ensure accurate communication. The highlight of the hotel is its onsen. The highly acidic sulphur water from Zao’s springs are renowned in Japan for their curative powers. Both male and female onsens have three separate pools with the third being outside, partly covered. You sit in the hot steamy pool with the snow falling just near you. There are a variety of room types and the best prices are standard Japanese in tatami matting. These are big rooms. Our Oriental Club room was designed more for Westerners who prefer the bed slightly raised from the floor with more western style mattresses. The rooms were warm and clean and all had ensuites. The ensuite is small but many Japanese style hotels do not even have them and assume you will just use the onsen. Like all traditional Japanese rooms,there is very little storage space, but it is sufficient. We chose to have two meals in the hotel when we booked. The meal was Kaiser style with its many small courses. It was enjoyable but maybe one night would have been enough. Breakfast is a buffet of Japanese food. Little would be considered western other than the fruit and yoghurt. A good selection of all sorts of Japanese food. I particularly enjoyed the noodles and the pork dumplings. The hotel is just six minutes walk from the bus stop and the hotel will pick you up or drop you there if you ask. The hotel is just across from the Zao Chuo Ropeway which we found to be the best access to the mountain. Food mart Lawson’s is close by. The non smoking restaurants we tried were good; Oto chaya, interesting mix of Japanese and Western food, Pizza and Craft Beer Quantum, Tuoen- very good home cooking, Robata-genghis khan style. If you are looking for a Japanese cultural experience in a ryokan style hotel with a good onsen, ensuites, enough English to get by, then this is a very good choice. It is not five star but it makes up for it with the authentic...

This hotel is ideal if you want a Japanese experience. Most staff don’t speak English but at reception a small amount of English is spoken and they certainly make an effort to ensure accurate communication. The highlight of the hotel is its onsen. The highly acidic sulphur water from Zao’s springs are renowned in Japan for their curative powers. Both male and female onsens have three separate pools with the third being outside, partly covered. You sit in the hot steamy pool with the snow falling just near you. There are a variety of room types and the best prices are standard Japanese in tatami matting. These are big rooms. Our Oriental Club room was designed more for Westerners who prefer the bed slightly raised from the floor with more western style mattresses. The rooms were warm and clean and all had ensuites. The ensuite is small but many Japanese style hotels do not even have them and assume you will just use the onsen. Like all traditional Japanese rooms,there is very little storage space, but it is sufficient. We chose to have two meals in the hotel when we booked. The meal was Kaiser style with its many small courses. It was enjoyable but maybe one night would have been enough. Breakfast is a buffet of Japanese food. Little would be considered western other than the fruit and yoghurt. A good selection of all sorts of Japanese food. I particularly enjoyed the noodles and the pork dumplings. The hotel is just six minutes walk from the bus stop and the hotel will pick you up or drop you there if you ask. The hotel is just across from the Zao Chuo Ropeway which we found to be the best access to the mountain. Food mart Lawson’s is close by. The non smoking restaurants we tried were good; Oto chaya, interesting mix of Japanese and Western food, Pizza and Craft Beer Quantum, Tuoen- very good home cooking, Robata-genghis khan style. If you are looking for a Japanese cultural experience in a ryokan style hotel with a good onsen, ensuites, enough English to get by, then this is a very good choice. It is not five star but it makes up for it with the authentic...

The service was excellent. Although there was no elevator, the staff kindly helped carry our luggage upstairs. They also offered a shuttle service to the bus station, so we didn’t have to walk with our bags. While the front desk staff didn’t speak much English, they made a great effort to communicate with us. During our stay, the ropeway was under maintenance, but we wanted to visit the Okama Crater at Mount Zao. The staff was very helpful and assisted us in arranging transportation.

There are four hot spring baths, all very relaxing. The bathing facilities and amenities were well-prepared and complete. Soaking in the onsen in the cool weather was truly wonderful!

The location is quite convenient too！there’s a convenience store just a short walk away. If you don’t order meals from the hotel, you can easily grab something to eat from the store.

Oh, and a funny thing, we spent quite a while looking for water to boil, only to realize they had already provided both hot and cold water in the hot water kettle and pitcher! They even included tea and a tea set, which was a...