Seiranso Ryokan — Hotel in Yugawara

we arrived at the Yuwagara station very late and after a very short wait, a taxi came. after a short drive through the tiny Yuwagara town then uphill we were at Seiranso||||upon arrival we were warmly greeted by the staff at the entrance who spoke no English (none of us spoke Japanese either!) nevertheless we understood each other||||the elderly gentleman took us to our room upstairs and dinner was served soon after.||||an elderly lady who came to serve us explained everything to us and taught us how to eat them (in japanese) then a younger lady (an apprentice?) did the translation.||the dinner was SOO good! the lobster was fab and the vegetarian was amazing too! it was a real feast and we were stuffed after! ||||the outdoor bamboo forest onsen isn't very big but you can hear the sound of the waterfall while you relax||||when we returned from the onsen, they have already tidied everything for us and laid out the tatami. needless to say we all slept like babies||||in the morning, they gave us a call first to ensure we were all up before someone coming in to remove the tatami and lay out the dining tables + chairs for us. breakfast again was a feast! can't tell u how happy we were!||||we managed to spend some time in the "waterfall" onsen (which is opened to men most of the time). this one is sooo much better than the "bamboo forest one"! much bigger and just much nicer with the full view of the waterfall. what more can you ask for??||||when we left they booked a taxi for us to take us back to the station. and after a short wait and train journey, we were back in central tokyo.||||overall definitely a highlight of our trip! can't wait to visit Seiranso again!||||Please note: the outdoor "waterfall" onsen is opened for ladies from 8am - 9.30am, then 6pm - 9pm at the time of writing so best to ask breakfast to be served at 7.30am so you can spend abit more time there...

we arrived at the Yuwagara station very late and after a very short wait, a taxi came. after a short drive through the tiny Yuwagara town then uphill we were at Seiranso||||upon arrival we were warmly greeted by the staff at the entrance who spoke no English (none of us spoke Japanese either!) nevertheless we understood each other||||the elderly gentleman took us to our room upstairs and dinner was served soon after.||||an elderly lady who came to serve us explained everything to us and taught us how to eat them (in japanese) then a younger lady (an apprentice?) did the translation.||the dinner was SOO good! the lobster was fab and the vegetarian was amazing too! it was a real feast and we were stuffed after! ||||the outdoor bamboo forest onsen isn't very big but you can hear the sound of the waterfall while you relax||||when we returned from the onsen, they have already tidied everything for us and laid out the tatami. needless to say we all slept like babies||||in the morning, they gave us a call first to ensure we were all up before someone coming in to remove the tatami and lay out the dining tables + chairs for us. breakfast again was a feast! can't tell u how happy we were!||||we managed to spend some time in the "waterfall" onsen (which is opened to men most of the time). this one is sooo much better than the "bamboo forest one"! much bigger and just much nicer with the full view of the waterfall. what more can you ask for??||||when we left they booked a taxi for us to take us back to the station. and after a short wait and train journey, we were back in central tokyo.||||overall definitely a highlight of our trip! can't wait to visit Seiranso again!||||Please note: the outdoor "waterfall" onsen is opened for ladies from 8am - 9.30am, then 6pm - 9pm at the time of writing so best to ask breakfast to be served at 7.30am so you can spend abit more time there...

In most ways, this is a bog-standard Onsen. Like most, it's very old-fashioned & tends to attract an older crowd. Like most, they serve you dinner and breakfast in your room. Also like most others, it's not really within walking distance of anything. But Seiranso differs from most other Onsens in one very important respect: It has an absolutely outstanding outdoor hot spring. The water temperature is perfect, it's cleaned very regularly, it doesn't stink of sulphur, and it's situated right next to a stunning waterfall and a bamboo grove. I've stayed at dozens of onsens (it's a sort of hobby), and this one had one of the best hot springs -- possibly the very best within a reasonable distance of Tokyo.||||The food was quite good, for what it's worth. It's rather unusual for a place like this to serve steak, but I liked it. ||||The staff are very helpful and, although they don't speak much English, it's not difficult to get along with them. The parking situation can be a bit of a pain, as they sometimes park your car offsite & it can take them some time to retrieve it -- but I'm not one to complain over free valet parking.||||It's noteworthy that the wifi at this hotel was very fast and reliable. It was actually much better than all of the hotel wifi connections I've had in Tokyo. This was nice, as it helped me get some work done between dips in the hot springs....