Yufuin Yawaragi-no-sato YADOYA — Hotel in Yufu

Overwhelmingly positive experience. The staff were super friendly and bent over backwards to accommodate us. It felt like a five star experience from start to finish, and was one of the highlights of our three weeks in Japan. We opted for a western-style room with twin beds (as it was cheaper than the other options!), and we were upgraded on our arrival to a larger room – each bed was larger than some of the doubles we’d been used to during the rest of our trip in Japan! Everything was spotlessly clean as you would expect, and the rooms were quiet, with considerably more floorspace than anywhere else we stayed. Our package included breakfast, which was exceptionally high quality, served in a room overlooking the mountains, with incredible sweeping views. The shared onsen facilities were very quiet – I only spotted one other lady using the facilities whilst I was there. Something that isn’t stressed enough in the listing is that you get free use of one of three private onsens twice a day during your stay – and 2 / 3 have incredible views across the mountain! This really made our stay and was an incredible plus. Lots of added little extras such as free use of three full body massage chairs, and choice of yukata robes to wear during your stay. We also received lovely gifts on our arrival! Yufuin as an area is simply stunning, and a beautiful spot to relax for a few days. The location is spot-on within the town – within five minutes walking distance of the main strip, but sufficiently removed so that you feel completely relaxed. It’s a sleepy area and people dine very early – I would recommend dining at the ryokan yourselves, as we were too late to book on for this. I couldn’t recommend this place highly enough. If you’re lucky enough to be able to afford a night there, I wouldn’t...

Our 1 night stay at Yadoya was outstanding! You definitely get a taste of a traditional onsen property, that’s perfect in size. It’s definitely not a large hotel setting where you run into other guests. Every employee was gracious and welcoming and really made our stay enjoyable. Now let’s talk about the food! The meals were FABULOUS! We had the wagyu beef sukiyaki as our main entrée which just melted in our mouth but props to the beautifully presented “appetizers”. Every morsel of food was perfectly seasoned. Being from Hawaii, our tastebuds are more in line with Kyushu flavor bomb cuisine. Here at Yadoya, we were blown away how Chef and his Chef team wife, has managed to take simple foods and turn it into a flavor bomb! Take for example, a simple steamed shiitake mushroom topped with a salty, crunchy garlic topping…WOW!!! Breakfast was another whole experience with peaceful views of the countryside mountains, with hundreds of dragonflies dancing around…magical! Raw eggs with dark orange yolks are whisked on top of perfectly steamed rice to make the best TKG “tamago kake gohan” we’ve ever tasted! The rest of the meal was again beautifully presented…fresh steamed vegetables with the most delicious dipping sauce that I wanted to drink! I mentioned to Chef that he should bottle it and sell it…it was that delicious! Special MAHALO to Seika-san for helping us arrange our shoyu and sake purchases and to the front desk gals, Eiko and Mizuta san. Mahalo nui for a wonderful stay! Until next...

I have been to a few different ryokans across Japan now and Yawaraginosato Yadoya is definitely in the front of the pack. The staff are very friendly and personable. They are helpful even after we check out of the room and had our car still parked for a couple hours. ||The private onsen options are abundant and there are 4 different private onsen you can book for your family. There is also a game room that you can book for ping pong and fooseball, the former is very onsen appropriate...haha.||The dinner was fantastic. The beef from Oita rivals A5 Kobe Beef I have had else where. We were so full by the end of the meal. The kids meal are also beautifully presented.||There are multiple massage chairs that are high quality and great to use after onsen. ||The room is one of the nicer rooms we've stayed at ryokans. Some ryokan rooms are dated and old but still costs similarly, this place was nice and new. ||What I would like to see improvement from Yawaraginosato is I expected to have the meal in our room. In this case we went to their restaurant. I have always had shokuji in my room and the staff always made the beds for us, which was a nice service and also how I justify the high price of staying at an...