御宿 由布乃庄 — Hotel in Yufu

This is a interesting little ryokan in the middle of the mountain, around 20-30 mins drive from central Yufuin. The structure is fairly new and the design is mostly contemporary (although the interior of room is Japanese-style). You must be able to self-drive to reach this place. The food is very well done for such a small ryokan. We ordered the kyushu local steak summer special for dinner. The beef was very high quality and we grilled it on a personal robata stove. Yummy! This ryokan only has 8 rooms with 4 private onsens. None of them are shared facilities. You do not need to pay extra to book them. They are open from morning all the way until midnight and you can go in and use the onsen at anytime, as long as no one else is using it. You are advised to keep your use under 30 minute so all guests have a chance to use the facilities. But in reality we never had to wait for a free onsen. We had fun experiencing 3 of the 4 onsen facilities on property. Surprisingly, the reception staff spoke a bit of English and we had no problem communicating with him. One negative - this ryokan caters to Japanese guests who are looking to just relax and is not representative of a typical ryokan experience (i.e. shared baths, Japanese gardens on site), so I cannot recommend it if you are a first time...

The staff members were all very friendly and welcoming. The hotel overall was very cozy, particularly the onsens. Although all the four onsens were opened for all guests at the hotel, you can use one of them as long as you want because guests are instructed to hang a sign on the onsen to show that it is currently occupied. This is a great way for the guests to enjoy privacy to themselves, although it is opened publicly. Dinner and breakfast was included in the package so we did not have to worry about finding nearby restaurants. The food was delicious here! Would definitely recommend if you enjoy traditional Japanese meals to get the full experience. We had a private barbecue for dinner, and it was truly immaculate! However, there was smoke all over the hotel lobby coming from the barbecue so it would have been better if they kept the windows opened. It was also indoors so it was slightly overwhelming with all the smoke everywhere in the restaurant. But everything else was on point and breakfast was...

This is a lovely ryokan with your own private hot spring bath in your room. You need a car to get there - although if you get to the town of Yufuin by public transit, you could probably take a taxi to the ryokan. Just when you think your GPS has directed you wrong drive a little past it and you will see a sign for it. Beautiful buildings, so relaxing and peaceful. We enjoyed using the private bath that came with our room and also the outdoor ones. My husband and I stayed with our adult daughter, our room easily would have fit 4 adults on futon beds. We booked room with dinner/breakfast included - beautifully prepared and excellent! Bar is closed on Tuesday's, but no problem getting the drinks we wanted. Service excellent and thoughtful. Once you get out into the smaller towns in Japan, it always helps to speak a little Japanese. Also, knowing onsen etiquette helpful, shower/cleanse before you get in so you don't leave any residue behind when you get in the hot spring baths. Would return here in...