楓の小舎 — Hotel in Yufu

My wife and I had a wonderful time here. The hotel is located up the mountain, about a 10 minute drive away from Yufuin train station. The owner came to pick us up so that was no problem. Also, there is much to see up the mountain in that area, but I'll get to that later. We had probably the cheapest room out of the five, Hiiragi. However, it is a very large room with a sliding door to separate it into two rooms. The room has two furo (bath), a wood one indoor and a rock one outside, under the sky. The inside one is warm, but the outside one is very hot. At first, it seems too hot, but you soon get used to it and look forward to the heat in the cold December. We used the baths at least five times in our one-night/two-day stay there. In fact, we found no need to use the rental bath (I say rental, but it's free. It's another outdoor bath that you can borrow time in, and that anyone can use). There's also a stone sauna in the room where you lay on it with a wet towel. We enjoyed the baths too much to use that however. There's a TV, washlet toilet, dryer, refrigerator and yukata included in the room. Check-in/check-out and all meals are taken care of in the room. After dinner, they will lay out your futon for you. The meals were wonderful. They happily accommodated my wife's gluten allergy for both meals. Most of my wife's and my course items were the same, but where there were noodles or fried dishes, they made just as good or better substitutions. It was a lot of food to me, but I've been to other ryokan where they definitely want to bust your gut. Ryokan are great for food. Onsen just add the relaxation portion. We used the baggage delivery service in the morning to send our luggage on ahead of us to a depot across from the train station. This allowed us to walk up the mountain and find a wonderful cafe and chocolate shop associated with the Sansou Murata ryokan, The Theo and Theo Murata Chocalatier, respectively. We enjoyed tea and bought some chocolates there. I recommend the green tea chocolates and bitter chocolate almonds. They also have some wonderful cookies, but my wife can't eat them so someone else will have to. From there, we walked down to the lake, about 15 minutes. The town is small so everything is in walking distance. Since this review is about the ryokan, I'll leave off here and just say that I truly recommend this place. It's a great deal for the quality and service. The baths are large and food great. A great...

My family spent two nights in this onsen ryokan. The GPS of my car could accurately locate it. It was situated on a quiet hillside and surrounded by trees. The air was really fresh. It took about 2 minutes of driving to the Yufuin shopping area. The staff warmly welcomed us at the entrance. At least one of them spoke good English. All were very helpful and courteous. We had used the momiji and kozue rooms, both were nicely decorated in old Japanese style and really spacious and well-quipped with modern facilities. ||Both rooms equipped with private hot bath. A part of the pool was outdoor, and the other part was enclosed in the building. The water was really hot to me. Tap water was available to cool down the pool. The size of the pool of momiji room was rather large, and it might accommodate several people’s bathing simultaneously. The pool area of momiji room was fully fenced and privacy was hence guaranteed. ||As observed, there was a building next to the open space (where a part of the bathing pool locates) of the kozue room. The privacy of bathing in outdoor pool can be a concern there. ||The rate included Japanese breakfast and dinner and they were served in the rooms. Both contained numerous small and nicely displayed local specialty dishes and the staff introduced and served them one by one. We got full and satisfied. ||Frog (that seemed to live at a small pond at the front yard) and water (running hot spring) sounds lasted throughout the night in the momiji room. Their sounds were natural and very mild and not disturbing to me but my wife. The kozue room, as my parents commented, was very quiet at night.||We had tatami bedding and my children (age 2 and 4) loved them very much. They were very clean and comfortable. Staff set them neatly in momiji lounge while we were having dinner at the kozue room. ||I enjoyed the stay in this ryokan. The Japanese style settings, local food, hot bath, and services were impressive. The ryokan really gave us peaceful and...

My friend and I always want to find a ryokan which gives us a warm and cosy feel. We are glad that we finally found it.|| ||Kaede is located up the mountain and they have free pickup service from the Yufuin station. It only has 6 suites and are in traditional Japanese style. We stayed at Kozue suite. Do not expect to be modern or high class but we think that ryokan should be in traditional style. || ||The size of the suite is reasonable. It is separated from other suites, therefore it is quiet and we cannot hear any sound from outside.|| ||Dinner and breakfast are served in the room. There is no reception area therefore checkout is also attended in the room.|| ||The suite was great with private onsen. The food was great serving refined dishes. But if you have a big appetite, it is better to arrange some midnight snack for yourself.|| ||The Japanese girl who served us spoke English well and she was really helpful in answering our questions. || ||They had a service that they could help us to transfer our luggage to another ryokan for 500yen.|| ||We enjoyed staying here very much. We liked it that it gave us a 'home' feeling.|| ||No doubt we want to visit Kaede again next time when we...