Jigokudani Hot Spring Korakukan — Hotel in Yamanouchi

I think I had high expectations for this place based on the high price tag (paid almost $300 usd for two people for one night including an extra $50 for vegetarian meal request.) and relatively excellent reviews. It was just not a comfortable place to stay.||The good and the reasons I gave 3 stars rather than 1:|Absolutely beautiful location!|Snow monkeys all around the inn.|Food was excellent.||The bad:|The bathrooms; No shower. I repeat: no shower. Just buckets to wash yourself prior to going into onsen. |No hot water, other than onsen.|Shared bathrooms all had urinals. I am accustomed to occasionally using shared bathrooms in hotels and knew in advance they were shared, but was not expecting this. I am a woman and don’t like to go into a stall thinking I might come out to a man urinating. Usually hotels with shared bathrooms are either private individual stalls or gender segregated dorm style. I don’t want to be walked in on by a man. No trash cans in bathrooms which women occasionally need. 1/3 of them smelled like urine. Sinks to wash up were literally in the hallways. I don’t want to brush my teeth in a hallway. ||No sheets on my bedding. This was how bed was set up: mat, mat, sheet, blanket, sheet, blanket, comforter covered in sheet. So, there was no place to sleep in between two sheets. I would have asked about it, but didn’t realize until I went to sleep as one of the blankets had a “faux” sheet at the top of it. I am pretty sure I spent the night in unwashed blankets. ||There is no place to sit inside and enjoy the beautiful views. It’s a gorgeous location and you can’t enjoy it while inside. I had a beautiful view from my room, yet I could only see it if I stood by the window. It’s a waste of the location. Dining room does have view.||There’s junk everywhere. Both inside the inn and on the grounds. It’s just not being maintained or looking nice. I was honestly a bit shocked by it considering how stylish and clean most of Japan is. Actual room was clean and not junky at all.||If you are not accustomed to traditional ryokans, just be warned that when you read “futon,” it’s not a futon like you may be thinking, but rather two thin mats on the floor. You don’t even get a real pillow, but a pillow that is about 1/6 the size of a regular one. If you’re accustomed, this may not be necessary to warn you, but I read about staying in ryokans prior to staying here, and I was still unprepared for how thin...

I think I had high expectations for this place based on the high price tag (paid almost $300 usd for two people for one night including an extra $50 for vegetarian meal request.) and relatively excellent reviews. It was just not a comfortable place to stay.||The good and the reasons I gave 3 stars rather than 1:|Absolutely beautiful location!|Snow monkeys all around the inn.|Food was excellent.||The bad:|The bathrooms; No shower. I repeat: no shower. Just buckets to wash yourself prior to going into onsen. |No hot water, other than onsen.|Shared bathrooms all had urinals. I am accustomed to occasionally using shared bathrooms in hotels and knew in advance they were shared, but was not expecting this. I am a woman and don’t like to go into a stall thinking I might come out to a man urinating. Usually hotels with shared bathrooms are either private individual stalls or gender segregated dorm style. I don’t want to be walked in on by a man. No trash cans in bathrooms which women occasionally need. 1/3 of them smelled like urine. Sinks to wash up were literally in the hallways. I don’t want to brush my teeth in a hallway. ||No sheets on my bedding. This was how bed was set up: mat, mat, sheet, blanket, sheet, blanket, comforter covered in sheet. So, there was no place to sleep in between two sheets. I would have asked about it, but didn’t realize until I went to sleep as one of the blankets had a “faux” sheet at the top of it. I am pretty sure I spent the night in unwashed blankets. ||There is no place to sit inside and enjoy the beautiful views. It’s a gorgeous location and you can’t enjoy it while inside. I had a beautiful view from my room, yet I could only see it if I stood by the window. It’s a waste of the location. Dining room does have view.||There’s junk everywhere. Both inside the inn and on the grounds. It’s just not being maintained or looking nice. I was honestly a bit shocked by it considering how stylish and clean most of Japan is. Actual room was clean and not junky at all.||If you are not accustomed to traditional ryokans, just be warned that when you read “futon,” it’s not a futon like you may be thinking, but rather two thin mats on the floor. You don’t even get a real pillow, but a pillow that is about 1/6 the size of a regular one. If you’re accustomed, this may not be necessary to warn you, but I read about staying in ryokans prior to staying here, and I was still unprepared for how thin...

We were in two minds when booking Korakukan Onsen as it is a fair bit more expensive than other accommodation in the area, but we are so glad we did. This stay was far and away the highlight of our trip and a beautiful experience from start to finish. The ryokan is very worth the extra you pay for the experience. ||After a wonderful time in the Snow Monkey Park we checked in to the ryokan and were shown to our room, which is in the traditional Japanese style with futons and rice paper screens separating the sleeping area from a small sitting room. It’s not luxurious, but more comfortable than it looks and unbeatable for the authenticity of the experience. ||A delicious dinner was included in the price - hotpot, fresh fish cooked beautifully, sashimi and even crickets, which were surprisingly tasty. After dinner we signed up to learn the ancient Japanese game of Go. The hostess was absolutely lovely, teaching us the rules of the game and checking in with us to see how we were going, offering pointers on our game. Afterwards we were presented with a Go board with pictures of the snow monkeys. A really great experience all round. ||Of course the highlight of Koranukan is the onsen, where you can bathe with the monkeys. There are separate indoor onsen for men and women, and one outdoor onsen which is mixed much of the time but reserved for just men or just women at certain times. The outdoor onsen is visible from the walkway up to the Park, so overly modest guests may not like it, but the experience of sitting waist deep in hot spring water while the snow fell on our upper bodies in sub zero temperatures with monkeys bathing nearby was simply amazing and unlike any other experience we’ve had. The cold of the air and the heat of the onsen conspire to make it quite comfortable to sit outside even when it is very cold, so don’t fear trying out the onsen even if you think it is too chilly. We found there were more monkeys around in the morning after breakfast so try to go then. ||Overall we highly recommend this beautiful ancient ryokan with its lovely hosts and surrounds. An experience not to be missed and well worth the price. Even the walk to the park/ryokan was beautiful with the snow falling gently on the...