LiVE MAX RESORT KAWAJI — Local services in Nikko

I'm an American traveling with my teenage daughter, and this was the first time in Japan for either of us. We spent 3 days in Tokyo before taking the train north to stay at Ranryo for two nights. I speak no Japanese, my daughter speaks a little bit.||||As a brief summary, the food was exceptional, the staff care meticulous, and the area scenery was beautiful. As a cultural experience for an American, it was an experience to remember for a lifetime. But this doesn't do justice to the stay, so I'll go into more detail.||||I booked the stay from the US. At the time I didn't feel comfortable making train reservations remotely (assuming you even can), so we bought our tickets after we had gotten to know how to navigate the rail system. We bought our rail tickets about 36 hours in advance of our stay, and used the Booking.com message system to inform them of our travel plans. Booking.com says they need 48 hours for turnaround, so I wasn't sure this would work. Nevertheless, when we got off the train, within a couple of minutes a van showed up to take us to Ranryo. I mention this because in retrospect I realized that I hadn't stated in my message the precise station we were arriving at. We got off the train at Kawaji-onsen rather than the more convenient Kawaji-yumoto; while the staff didn't mention it, I suspect that what happened is that when we didn't show up at Kawaji-yumoto, the driver went looking for us. This is just one of many examples of how the staff is willing to go extraordinary lengths to ensure that you have a smooth trip.||||When we arrived, we chose yukata to wear during our stay (fresh each day). We had rented pocket wifi devices in Tokyo, and these worked perfectly even up in the mountains, so when we got to our room we were able to watch youtube videos about how to tie the obi belt. The room was very pleasant, with the tatami mat flooring and sliding screens that I understand are widespread in traditional ryokan. We slept on the western beds, but they also offer traditional Japanese futons (presumably if you request them in advance they will prepare them for you before arrival).||||The meals were easily the most exceptional of our entire visit to Japan. Dinner is a 10-course affair with remarkable variety, and breakfast is something like 7. The meals were a treat for all the senses. Yum.||||The bathing in the onsen was also a terrific experience. This ancient tradition was new to me; if you're a westerner, it's worth doing a little online reading about the expectations. We arrived on a Thursday evening, when it was relatively quiet, and this was nice for exploring the bath and start putting my reading into practice. On Friday evening there were many more users of the bath, and I was able to pick up a few tips (and correct a few mistakes) by seeing how others did things. The baths are available 20 hours a day, and they have two separate bathing areas, one for men and one for women; to ensure that you get to see them all, men and women switch baths twice a day (with breaks around midday and between 3 and 3:30 am). They let you know which bath is for which sex at particular hours on an English-language sheet they give you at check-in, but a handy factoid is that they also use a color code: red for female and blue for male.||||Ranryo offers a shuttle to take you out for the day. There seem to be two main options: hiking in the local area, or taking the train to Nikko. At breakfast, you can let them know which of these you prefer. We went to Nikko, which was amazing. But I also simply must come back and try the hiking, because it is a beautiful (and rugged) area.||||Among them, the staff was able to find enough English to navigate any need we had during our visit. But part of what I liked is that I got more of a feeling of cultural immersion than elsewhere on my trip---in Tokyo, the English signs are everywhere! It's also worth noting that despite their well-deserved reputation for politeness, the Japanese also seem to have a remarkable ability to notice when inserting themselves into a situation might be beneficial. At several times during our stay in the country, we made minor mistakes (e.g., with the trains or directions), and each time a native spontaneously came up to us and asked (in perfect English) what it was we wanted to do, and then coached us through the right way to do it, on one occasion walking with us for half a mile to make sure we went the right way.||||As a consequence, I'd say that, as long as you have even a slightly adventurous spirit, this is an experience to seek out. The value of the experience (paying in US$) is quite remarkable. If I could repeat just one aspect of our 10-day trip to Japan, the stay at Ranryo...

My family of 4 stayed at this place on a Sat in late Jan. I read quite a few Google reviews before arrival, so I didn’t have high expectations at the beginning. However, we found this place amazing and had great experience there! It was beyond our expectations and everyone was more than happy about the resort. We found everything negative that mentioned by previous reviews have been rectified - somebody complained that the onsen water was not hot enough, but we found the water pipping hot when we used the private onsen in our room - we needed to add a lot of cold water to adjust the temperature; somebody complained that there were not enough food choices offered at the buffet, but we found that the staff continued to add new food and were still cooking fresh steaks when it is half an hour before the closing of buffet, and there were quite a variety of food, drink and desert offered. The staff even gave us a call to remind us to go to buffet; somebody complained that the front staff doesn’t speak English, but when we arrived, we found two ladies at the front desk speaks English very well as well as Japanese. Based on our experience, we found that the resort seems to read the reviews and had taken actions to improve the things that other people complained. I also really LOVED the two public onsens (especially the outdoor one that surrounded by bamboo) - love the soft music played and it made a really tranquil and relaxing vibe! I’m not saying that everything of this resort is perfect - there are some facilities that seems to be old and worn, but the staff worked hard to make it clean given the condition provided. Also, given the price we paid, I do think it is not fair for the resort to only get 3.2 star, I’m more than happy to give it 5 stars based on my...

I have been using it frequently during the winter months for several years. It's been a while since I last visited, but it's getting old and may become a ruin in the near future. Unfortunately, I feel that nothing can be done about the staff's efforts. However, since the travel support system was previously available at a very low price, I accepted the defects, but now that the coronavirus pandemic has passed and the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan has increased, prices have become more aggressive. However, the bad equipment is getting worse and the quality of customer service is also declining. The room is cold, and the walls between adjacent rooms are thin, allowing sound and vibrations to pass through easily. Food may be good if it just satisfies your hunger, but I don't know if it will satisfy you. The hot springs, which I was satisfied with, are colder than before, and there are no nets to prevent wild animals from entering, and multiple triangular pylons have been installed like a construction site to warn of the dangers due to aging, destroying the atmosphere. And this time, when I was taking my last bath before checking out, a surprising thing happened! Surprisingly, there was feces floating in the open-air bath! ! I was surprised, angry and sad, but was it some kind of protest? What country is this customer from? This is clearly an act of terrorism! ! ! I no longer feel like going to this hostel. I told the staff, but I don't know what happened after that. Has it become a lodging for people with such inclinations or people who like ruins? It...