Kinosaki Yamamotoya — Local services in Toyooka

First. This was an amazing place to stay. You will have a hard time trying to find a nicer group of people or such a luxurious place to stay anywhere for such a reasonable price. The yamamotoya is a fantastic place and the staff are more than accommodating. Highly recommended.

Features and ammenities: Unlimited onsen pass for the area. Complimentary yukattas ( 4-5 pieces) 24/7 access to the private onsen for the guests. The staff

You check in, and the staff work as a we'll coordinated team to welcome you, ferry away your luggage to your rooms, guide you in all the features, and answer all your questions. The front desk answered all our questions and more.

When we made it up to our room 3rd floor room 19, all our things were brought up already waiting for us, our yukattas were there and a very kind young women came in to explain how to wear them. She was very patient and answered even more dumb question and wrote information down for us in case we forgot.

We had a last minute change in plans and asked to opt in for the dinner for the first night. They accommodated our request last minute which I suspect was difficult because of how much food they seemed to have sourced locally. We suspect all the fish product were caught daily from the area but we are only guessing. We then asked last minute about massages and the front desk arranged for two gentlemen to come to our suite. They also were thoughtful enough to provide us with two thermos pitchers of hot and cold water and continually replenished them for us each day as they cleaned our rooms and provided housekeeping services.

Personal recommendation:

At midnight go down to the private onsen. All the guests are sleeping but it is still open and quiet. No one is around and I had a wonderful time in both the indoor and outdoor baths while it snowed. It was magical to be honest.

I have no complaints, and only praise for the inn. We were all thoroughly pleased with our...

Our first night at Kinosaki onsen was spent at this 350 year old ryokan, Yamamotoya. Upon arrival from Osaka, we dropped our luggage at the Kinosaki Onsen Ryokan Service Center directly opposite from the train station. For a token fee, they delivered our luggage to the ryokan, thus freeing us to explore this quaint onsen town with ease (Onsenji's venerated eleven-headed Buddha is currently on its once every 30 years exhibition until 2021 April so this is a current must-see!). Yamamotoya is very well located in the center of Willow Street (Yanagidori) such that all the seven public onsens are within less than 10 minutes' walk - with two right next door to the ryokan, Yanagi-yu and Ichino-yu. One should walk Yanagidori during both daytime and at night because the atmosphere changes dramatically and beautifully too. Welcome tea was served by the affable and helpful Ryota-san in our room, as with all meals. And Ryota-san, who spoke good English, was the one to take care of us throughout our stay. We enjoyed our Tajima beef kaiseki dinner and their house-brewed stout. After dinner, we had a familial soak in the ryokan's private onsen which turned out to be a rather small earthen tub (prior reservation and charges apply - skippable imho unless, like us, you enjoy bathing privately as a couple), and then their public rotenburos. The night view of Yanagidori from our room's balcony was really remarkable. Breakfast was good though nothing stood out in particular. Unfortunately, the famed Goshono-yu was closed for repairs and Yanagi-yu didn't open in the morning so we only tried Kouno-yu and Ichino-yu. If not for Ryota-san's unceasing hospitality, we might have left Yamamotoya missing the feeling of genuine warmth from a family-run inn in Japan - surprisingly it felt rather pedestrian for such an...

It should be a crime what they charge for these rooms. We got a no meal plan and it was still over ¥20,000 a night. The walls and paper windows were all stained. Furniture was sticky. The mini fridge, a/c, and bathroom were ancient and kept rattling and humming the entire night. There is no sink and mirror in the bathroom so you have to use the bar in front of the big window. The onsen at this place was also old and outdated. I understand the selling point of this place is that it's ancient, but that doesn't excuse them from never upgrading the electronics. Also, if you have problems with stairs, choose a different place. The stairs are shallow and steep. No elevator.

The staff was very unfriendly. When there was staff at the lobby, we got yelled at to leave because they didn't remember us and thought we weren't staying there. Often there was no staff at the front, even during the daytime so anyone can walk in and out of the hotel. We had them hold our bags after checkout and they just had our bags sitting in the lobby with no staff around. I walked out with my bag without anyone saying anything. What if it wasn't my bag?

Our friend had a room at a Ryokan down the street and it was half the price and the rooms were much better. This hotel's location may be centrally located, but the street isn't very long. I'd rather walk the extra 5-10 minutes and...