Buaisou — Hotel in Yufu

The experience was such a farce, I'm not even sure where to start or end, for that matter. The quick summary is that it felt like a mediocre three-star hotel's best imitation of a five-star experience. Just to set this up, we were three people: myself (Japanese living in U.S.), my American husband (5 years experience living in Japan with me), and our Japanese friend from Tokyo. We have each been to dozens and dozens of onsen inns at all price levels. ||||I think the best way to describe it is to just list the specifics: ||||- The room: We reserved one of their best rooms with an onsen tub in the unit and four beds, a king size in the open loft and two doubles on the main level. The first shocker was that our view was the bath, which was not only indoors, but to provide privacy, there was a fence outside (so no view). For context, typically in such rooms, you get a sitting room with a beautiful view and, these days, the bath is outdoors in a more private but nice setting. Privacy is achieved by closing metal blinds (the kind you might see in rental apartments). At night, we realized that there was some sort of drain connecting the outdoors with the room under one of the blinds, so when there was a strong gust outside, the metal blinds rattled and the ceiling lights swayed. Also, the electricity is powered by putting the key in a slot at the door (which you only see in low to mid-level hotels in Japan). This meant that the air con turned off every time you left the room. The decor overall was mediocre and you can see cheap/old finishings everywhere.||||- The yukata, lounge wear and slippers: In traditional ryokan, it's customary for the inn to provide a yukata, lounge wear and slippers that you can wear on their property. The sizes, however were ridiculously small. My friend and I (both roughly size 8s in the U.S.) needed the large size which to be honest barely fit us, and they had no option for my 6-foot-1 husband. Not only are some Japanese people taller and larger than stereotypes, we have never been at an inn anywhere in the country where they did not have a size for him. The chart in the rooms said that XL was for everyone over 180cm (5 foot 9). The obi they provided were shorter than standard too and I could barely use it to make a knot. I saw a tiny woman barely able to make a bow later. (I took kimono classes when I was living in Tokyo, so I have some knowledge). Finally the slippers, we were told, was just one size for each gender. We insisted that they find something for my husband, so they turned up a pair for staff. ||||- Service overall: Was across the board so bad that it was clear there was a training and morale problem. The man showing us our room didn't explain where anything was until we prodded him a little. Same during our meals, there was rarely any explanation (more on that next). ||||- Meals: The meals were uninspired and service during the meals was beyond embarrassing. The waitstaff left each dish without explaining any of it (unless asked). When we asked if a certain sake from their very small sake was local, the waiter had to ask someone else first. Appetizers included a piece of sushi that was clearly made in a mold. For the rice at the end, inexplicably, only the white rice came with miso soup, which we were surprised by. We were even more shocked when the waiter came by to tell us, "We have some soup left over, so we can give you some if you like." (That kind of language is completely unheard of in Japanese culture). For breakfast, we wanted to leave a little early and have breakfast as early as possible, but they wouldn't budge about starting breakfast earlier than 8:30am. ||||- Baths: In addition to the baths in the room, the hotel also had outdoor public baths. These were beautiful, but my friend was immediately concerned that there was a house not that far away, so if someone there could see us while we were standing. It was also disconcerting that the outside door to the women's bath got stuck, so you couldn't close it for privacy in the changing room. The first time we went there, it also looked like they had nowhere to wash. We discovered the next day that there were washing stations in a narrow closed off area through obscure and unmarked sliding doors. It felt claustrophobic and the roofs were cheap add ons that rattled terribly whenever there was wind. In front of each station, they had bath products you could use, but each of them had signs saying that you could buy them too, which I found to be crass (We see this in mid-level inns often, but first time we saw it in a place at this price level). Finally, in the morning on the second day, we arrived to see insulation stuffing from the walls on the ground because the wind was blowing it from exposed parts of the structure. ||||Throughout our stay, we never saw anyone who looked like a manager or an owner, which was also a first.||||What perplexed us was who they were targeting. It felt like only people who aren't familiar with a typical onsen experience would sign on to a place like this, but there was not enough foreign signage to indicate that. ||||I imagine that many people end up here for the same reason as us: we booked too late during a big holiday week and there was literally no other option in the area. ||||We should have known better particularly given that there is barely any reviews about this place, but I strongly strongly discourage you from choosing this inn even as a...

The experience was such a farce, I'm not even sure where to start or end, for that matter. The quick summary is that it felt like a mediocre three-star hotel's best imitation of a five-star experience. Just to set this up, we were three people: myself (Japanese living in U.S.), my American husband (5 years experience living in Japan with me), and our Japanese friend from Tokyo. We have each been to dozens and dozens of onsen inns at all price levels. ||||I think the best way to describe it is to just list the specifics: ||||- The room: We reserved one of their best rooms with an onsen tub in the unit and four beds, a king size in the open loft and two doubles on the main level. The first shocker was that our view was the bath, which was not only indoors, but to provide privacy, there was a fence outside (so no view). For context, typically in such rooms, you get a sitting room with a beautiful view and, these days, the bath is outdoors in a more private but nice setting. Privacy is achieved by closing metal blinds (the kind you might see in rental apartments). At night, we realized that there was some sort of drain connecting the outdoors with the room under one of the blinds, so when there was a strong gust outside, the metal blinds rattled and the ceiling lights swayed. Also, the electricity is powered by putting the key in a slot at the door (which you only see in low to mid-level hotels in Japan). This meant that the air con turned off every time you left the room. The decor overall was mediocre and you can see cheap/old finishings everywhere.||||- The yukata, lounge wear and slippers: In traditional ryokan, it's customary for the inn to provide a yukata, lounge wear and slippers that you can wear on their property. The sizes, however were ridiculously small. My friend and I (both roughly size 8s in the U.S.) needed the large size which to be honest barely fit us, and they had no option for my 6-foot-1 husband. Not only are some Japanese people taller and larger than stereotypes, we have never been at an inn anywhere in the country where they did not have a size for him. The chart in the rooms said that XL was for everyone over 180cm (5 foot 9). The obi they provided were shorter than standard too and I could barely use it to make a knot. I saw a tiny woman barely able to make a bow later. (I took kimono classes when I was living in Tokyo, so I have some knowledge). Finally the slippers, we were told, was just one size for each gender. We insisted that they find something for my husband, so they turned up a pair for staff. ||||- Service overall: Was across the board so bad that it was clear there was a training and morale problem. The man showing us our room didn't explain where anything was until we prodded him a little. Same during our meals, there was rarely any explanation (more on that next). ||||- Meals: The meals were uninspired and service during the meals was beyond embarrassing. The waitstaff left each dish without explaining any of it (unless asked). When we asked if a certain sake from their very small sake was local, the waiter had to ask someone else first. Appetizers included a piece of sushi that was clearly made in a mold. For the rice at the end, inexplicably, only the white rice came with miso soup, which we were surprised by. We were even more shocked when the waiter came by to tell us, "We have some soup left over, so we can give you some if you like." (That kind of language is completely unheard of in Japanese culture). For breakfast, we wanted to leave a little early and have breakfast as early as possible, but they wouldn't budge about starting breakfast earlier than 8:30am. ||||- Baths: In addition to the baths in the room, the hotel also had outdoor public baths. These were beautiful, but my friend was immediately concerned that there was a house not that far away, so if someone there could see us while we were standing. It was also disconcerting that the outside door to the women's bath got stuck, so you couldn't close it for privacy in the changing room. The first time we went there, it also looked like they had nowhere to wash. We discovered the next day that there were washing stations in a narrow closed off area through obscure and unmarked sliding doors. It felt claustrophobic and the roofs were cheap add ons that rattled terribly whenever there was wind. In front of each station, they had bath products you could use, but each of them had signs saying that you could buy them too, which I found to be crass (We see this in mid-level inns often, but first time we saw it in a place at this price level). Finally, in the morning on the second day, we arrived to see insulation stuffing from the walls on the ground because the wind was blowing it from exposed parts of the structure. ||||Throughout our stay, we never saw anyone who looked like a manager or an owner, which was also a first.||||What perplexed us was who they were targeting. It felt like only people who aren't familiar with a typical onsen experience would sign on to a place like this, but there was not enough foreign signage to indicate that. ||||I imagine that many people end up here for the same reason as us: we booked too late during a big holiday week and there was literally no other option in the area. ||||We should have known better particularly given that there is barely any reviews about this place, but I strongly strongly discourage you from choosing this inn even as a...

Stayed as a couple for two nights in early December.||||We drove to Buaiso directly from Fukuoka Airport. It took about 70 minutes by car in the late afternoon. The hotel offers complimentary parking. The complex is basically a combination of a hotel (Buaiso), and a restaurant (Tankuma). There's also a spa attached to the public springs.||||We stayed in the Kashi room, which is a part of the "Hanare" series of smaller free standing villas situated on a slightly elevated portion of the hotel. These rooms featured western beds, heated tatami, and an outdoor verandah hot spring pool overlooking the rest of the hotel and some mountains I think futons can be brought out if you have more than two persons in your party. Room amenities include a Nespresso, humidifier, complimentary minibar, wifi, and more. You can control the private spring from an electronic control panel inside the room (particularly useful when its freezing).||||The couple things I would highlight about Buaiso (good or bad depending on your tastes):||1) The service is extremely passive--they'll pretty much never check on you other than to set mealtimes if at the hotel.||2) The ryokan meals take place in the restaurant (Tankuma) and not the in rooms||3) The hot springs--most hotel documents seem to indicate it is a natural hot spring so I won't challenge this, however, it is crystal clear water without any odor or evident minerality. Coupled with the modern setup in some ways it is more reminiscient of a jacuzzi or giant bath tub. The in room private springs also need to be refilled every day manually.||4) The location of Buaiso is not in Yufuin and actually fairly far out of town. I would describe the location as really between Yufuin City (20 mins by car) and Beppu City (25 mins by car). ||5) English--some of the staff have very good English, the rest don't really speak at all. The first day we had a young lady with great English, but second day she was off and had to whip out my elementary Japanese||6) The public baths -- maybe it was a low season but the ladies half of the public baths were never open when we were there. I used the public baths but was always the only one. Three baths but otherwise pretty typical.||||The real highlight of Buaiso is the location. If you are looking for a beautiful mountain backdrop for your hot spring experience, Buaiso has got it. It is on a mountain slope and you have a postcard backdrop of Oita's mountains while you bathe--great scenery to relax in and take photos. The hotel is quite isolated, a reasonable distance from any major tourist town, allowing you to rest and relax ||||We stayed for two nights. Buaiso is a bit unique for a ryokan in that you may opt to include meals or exclude (extra cost). Between the two nights, the course structure of the menu remained the same, basically revolving around the grill featured on all the restaurant tables, but the exact ingredients changed. One night was good, featuring local beef and chicken, while the second night was less impressive with a seafood themed menu. ||||Overall, if you're looking for a scenic and rural locale in the Oita area, Buaiso isn't a bad choice. My only personal qualm would be there are other onsen ryokan that offer better service and facilities for this price point--not to mention a far more unique experience--but some may prefer...