山荘 四季庵 — Hotel in Yufu

We spend two nights in this ryokan and it was a great experience. |Reserving the room was already a small challenge but I've added the website of Shikian in the description, if you send a mail in short sentences with date you want to stay you get a reply in english. Because nobody speaks English, you get a reply that is translated by GoogleTranslate, but it works perfectly fine. When we arrived they were expecting us! |To go there, it is handy to have a car at your disposal, because it is really far away from Yufuin (5km). I do not know if they will pick you up if you ask for it, you can always try of course☺.|If you book, book it including dinner and breakfast, because that is half of the fun! You will also find a yakata (kind of short kimono with pants, socks and flipflops) in your room to wear. Do so, because it is fun and everybody else does so. The food will be bbq-ed at your table, so the yakata will also keep your own clothes wearable the next day ☺.|We fully enjoyed the private onsen bath, because the public outdoor bath is separated for men and women, and we do not speak Japanese, this was for us a more social choice. The water is great!|We stayed for two nights and the first night had the food you see on all the pictures: among which were a starter of local dishes, fish of the season, "do it yourself" bbq with meat (beef, chicken, pork), soup with noodles and green tea with icecream as dessert. The next night we had a delicious seafood meal: again with some starters, tempura, sashimi and a lot of fish that you had to cook yourself in hot bouillon. Staff is very friendly.|The room was not smoke free, there had been smokers but it was bearable and we are very critical. But I do not know what the policy is in this hotel: there was an ashtray and a lighter on the terrace of our room, but not inside. There were no signs inside that you were not allowed to smoke. So if you are really allergic to smoke smells, do...

It's public holiday in Japan, very difficult to find a decent hot spring hotel. Been Yufuin many times but we never tried 四季庵. To be frank it's a bit inaccessible but well, I must say I had a really nice experience and was really pleased with their service. First of all, the room is HUGE. There is a nice coffee machine and splendid green tea. The bed is really comfy, the TV is ginormous, and the private onsen is just impeccable. Talking about food, the dinner was excellent. Veggie is fresh, wagyu is fatty and delicate, both rice and noodles are nicely made, and the side dishes are all excellent. It's new year, so the staff specifically prepared a small box of traditional Japanese food, they are good and nicely presented. Then it comes to the breakfast. It's a buffet type, there is plenty of choice and they are mostly TRADITIONAL Japanese food! Very yummy. I particularly like the BBQ fish, very very fresh. Talking about service, when I arrived I found the wifi in my room not working, so I called the staff, they responded fast and a small team was deployed to check everything. You can tell they are really professional, I mean they really wanna solve the problem you experience and ensure you have a lovely stay. Overall speaking, the whole environment of the hotel is peaceful and tranquil, staff are professional, food is brilliant. If I were really to comment one drawback, that is the lack of heat in the toilet, well, it's freezing cold like 3 degree last night. Anyway, I give them a five star for they...

As a Japan-loving foreigner, I found Shikian a wonderful experience. Accommodation wise, it was the highlight of my Kyushu tour, though it was quite a challenge to find (don't even try without car-nav system...), especially at night. The building is a 200 years old Shirakawa farmhouse that has been dismantled and rebuilt in its current location a dozen years ago. It houses the reception, restaurant, buffet breakfast and kitchen. The 2nd floor, under the hight straw roof, is a museum open to all, from 10h00 to 22h00. Because we did not book our dinner, only the cheaper, "smaller" menus were available, but that happen to be more than enough, as the portions were huge. The next morning, the breakfast buffet was even more impressive: grilled fish, oden, fresh tofu, omelet, but also fruit salad, yoghurt, tea and coffee etc..., I wished I had two stomachs so good it was! The dozen or so rooms are situated a few minutes walk from the main building; each cottage being an "en-suite" room, containing a 6 tatamis room, toilets, a large terrace and a bathroom with a gorgeous stone bath!! That was appealing enough, but we chose to dip in the beautiful rotemburo instead...In all, a truly unique, gorgeous and great value for money establishment, which will require some Japanese skills to book...