Ashikari — Hotel in Yugawara

This is a classic good-quality traditional ryokan, updated and freshened with great design sense, with the sort of inventive, seasonal food you'd expect at this price point, with attentive and flexible service. You won't be disappointed.||||My wife and I took a train from Tokyo station direct to Yugawara station. From there it's less than 10 minutes by taxi - the ryokan is well-known locally so you won't need to give directions to the driver.||||The front of the building is compact and classic. There's no indication that there's quite an extensive building behind, as the various floors drop down a hillside, and in any case are extensively landscaped. We were warmly welcomed by the staff, and shown to our room. The layout is typical of many old ryokans: winding corridors, little corners of flower vases and artworks, nicely framed views from the windows... but feels fresh and contemporary. We spotted a huge kids' playroom, with a well-stocked library (including some English-language picturebooks).||||Our room was huge, with queen beds and fluffy futons. It was a classic Japanese style, but again, updated, and very well designed. All the equipment was new. There was a separate hi-tech toilet, and a balcony accessed both from the living area, and also from the shower room (so you can shower watching the view across the valley - gorgeous!). The balcony was the piece de resistance! Plenty big enough to relax, with a sofa and armchair - and its own two-person onsen. Not just a nice outdoor bath, but onsen water direct from the source. We couldn't get enough of it - soaking in egg-poach-hot water, in the cool spring air, with a backdrop of a tangerine tree in fruit and the hills across the ravine. ||||Dinner was excellent. A seasonal kaiseki, prepared with great care. My wife, a potter, was professionally impressed with the standard of the crockery, and commented that not only were most of the pieces of high quality and aesthetic value, but were consistent in their style and appeal. There's a tasting set of wines, and a similar tasting set of sake. We chose the sake (tho' most of the Japanese guests seemed to have chosen the wine - apparently the wine collection is highly rated locally). Of the many dishes, our standout favourite was a fillet of grilled perch, with an exquisite slice of delicate bamboo shoot.||||We tried both the public baths. They were very pleasant, clean, and relaxing. One has an outdoor section (under a sakura tree!), and they alternate overnight between mens' and womens'. There's also a reservable separate outdoor bath. But we were spoilt by the private onsen on our balcony...||||We slept solidly and woke just in time for breakfast. Again, it was a traditional meal, and excellent, but less daunting than many Japanese breakfasts I've had (for example, you have the choice of ordering your grilled fish off the bone!). After breakfast, we took a stroll in the courtyard garden, with a cup of coffee from the lobby (if you're feeling a little too destressed, you can hype up a bit with the freeflow coffee, and wifi, in the lobby).||||A ryokan isn't so much a place to stay, as a set-piece therapeutic experience, distanced in time and place from whatever's preoccupying you. Ashikari is one of the best I've stayed in. It's well-cared for, fresh, and updated, but doesn't fail in its core job of leaving you relaxed, refreshed, and...

This is a classic good-quality traditional ryokan, updated and freshened with great design sense, with the sort of inventive, seasonal food you'd expect at this price point, with attentive and flexible service. You won't be disappointed.||||My wife and I took a train from Tokyo station direct to Yugawara station. From there it's less than 10 minutes by taxi - the ryokan is well-known locally so you won't need to give directions to the driver.||||The front of the building is compact and classic. There's no indication that there's quite an extensive building behind, as the various floors drop down a hillside, and in any case are extensively landscaped. We were warmly welcomed by the staff, and shown to our room. The layout is typical of many old ryokans: winding corridors, little corners of flower vases and artworks, nicely framed views from the windows... but feels fresh and contemporary. We spotted a huge kids' playroom, with a well-stocked library (including some English-language picturebooks).||||Our room was huge, with queen beds and fluffy futons. It was a classic Japanese style, but again, updated, and very well designed. All the equipment was new. There was a separate hi-tech toilet, and a balcony accessed both from the living area, and also from the shower room (so you can shower watching the view across the valley - gorgeous!). The balcony was the piece de resistance! Plenty big enough to relax, with a sofa and armchair - and its own two-person onsen. Not just a nice outdoor bath, but onsen water direct from the source. We couldn't get enough of it - soaking in egg-poach-hot water, in the cool spring air, with a backdrop of a tangerine tree in fruit and the hills across the ravine. ||||Dinner was excellent. A seasonal kaiseki, prepared with great care. My wife, a potter, was professionally impressed with the standard of the crockery, and commented that not only were most of the pieces of high quality and aesthetic value, but were consistent in their style and appeal. There's a tasting set of wines, and a similar tasting set of sake. We chose the sake (tho' most of the Japanese guests seemed to have chosen the wine - apparently the wine collection is highly rated locally). Of the many dishes, our standout favourite was a fillet of grilled perch, with an exquisite slice of delicate bamboo shoot.||||We tried both the public baths. They were very pleasant, clean, and relaxing. One has an outdoor section (under a sakura tree!), and they alternate overnight between mens' and womens'. There's also a reservable separate outdoor bath. But we were spoilt by the private onsen on our balcony...||||We slept solidly and woke just in time for breakfast. Again, it was a traditional meal, and excellent, but less daunting than many Japanese breakfasts I've had (for example, you have the choice of ordering your grilled fish off the bone!). After breakfast, we took a stroll in the courtyard garden, with a cup of coffee from the lobby (if you're feeling a little too destressed, you can hype up a bit with the freeflow coffee, and wifi, in the lobby).||||A ryokan isn't so much a place to stay, as a set-piece therapeutic experience, distanced in time and place from whatever's preoccupying you. Ashikari is one of the best I've stayed in. It's well-cared for, fresh, and updated, but doesn't fail in its core job of leaving you relaxed, refreshed, and...

My partner and I have been going here regularly for years as well as introducing friends from abroad to the classic Japanese ryokan experience. Ashikari fits the bill: beautiful grounds and rooms, great onsen (hot Japanese baths -- both indoor and outdoor), superlative service and -- best of all -- superb cuisine (if Michelin ever finds out about it, expect at least two stars...)||||We took my brother and his wife there in May and thought things were not quite what they had been. It turns out the ownership has changed, and while much of the staff from the old days is still there (and still extraordinarily attentive as only the Japanese can be), there are little hints here and there of cost-cutting. Can't really blame them, but they are now charging for use of the ryoten-buro (outdoor bath) -- you have to reserve ahead of time. We were put upstairs in the main building rather than down the long corridor as we always had been in the past; while we had two rooms, one couple had to get through the other couple's room to get to the toilet -- that really shouldn't be necessary for what we were paying. They are putting pressure on guests to eat in the dining room rather than be served in your own room in traditional style; while the dining room is nice enough, you have to settle for what music they choose (in our case, inoffensive Western classical; koto and shakuhachi would have been preferable) and if there are any other guests in there (there weren't the evening we were there, although there were the next morning) forget having a private conservation that won't be overheard. The good news is that the chef is the same and the food remains superlative. I've lived in Japan for 35 years and it's as...