Yufuin Tsubaki — Local services in Yufu

Stayed with hubby and teenage son for one night in Tsubaki in December 2016.||||Location||View from room is the grand Mt. Yufudake. This onsen ryokan is far from downtown or Lake Kinrin and virtually in a no man's land. Great for people looking for tranquility during vacation. The trees, in different shades of colours, formed a really picturesque view in autumn. Pre-booked transfer service available from and to Yufu train station.||||Accommodation||A small establishment with only 7-8 self contained maisonettes. We stayed in maisonette 105 - 'dragonfly'. A two-storeys building with toilet, sitting room and tatami area on the upper level, private onsen and changing room at lower level. I particularly in favour of the sliding paper wooden doors - retro feel. Strong and steady WiFi throughout our stay. The wooden onsen tub was big enough for two persons. Toiletries, yukatas, slippers and even heater at bathroom all available. Very clean and well-maintained. Excellent sound-proofing: we knew that a group of youngsters from Shanghai was at next door but the environment was super quiet, especially after dark.||||Service||Very few staff for a ryokan at this size - as far as I saw, a manager, a chef, a cleaning lady, a driver and a Chinese-speaking assistant. All friendly and helpful. Upon my request, they also re-confirmed my booking with another onsen hotel the next day.||||Dining||This was the highlight of our stay. Everything served hot and nice to your table. For the sophiscated dinner, sashimi freshly prepared. The very juicy teppanyaki bungo beef was probably the best that we had in Japan. For breakfast, rice cooked in small earthen pots impressed us with that vintage feel. The freshly squeezed tomato juice was truly a delight to start a new day.||||We enjoyed a marvellous onsen holiday here, under saplings in shades of bisque, crimson and amber. Highly recommended, especially...

A traditional Ryoken run in a very traditional and correct manner by what I presume to be a husband and wife team. Individual chalets incorporating private bathhouses are set along the contour line of a hill over looking the Yufu valley and directly towards Mounts Yufu and Eboshi. The chalets are split level, with toilet, living/sleeping areas on the upper entrance level, and the bathhouse on the lower floor. The upper floor and lower floors have a panoramic view across the valley and mountain side. Everything is “just so” and very clean. The small Ryoken complex has a central restaurant, serving a multi course traditional Japanese evening meal, which is beautifully presented, and an equally beautiful Japanese breakfast in the morning, both at set mealtimes. Unfortunately we had only one day at the this hilltop location, but this would be a great base for some hillwaking, with the prospect of a hot bath in the evening. One oddity was the arrangement of a toilet on the upper floor, but no handbasin, meaning that hand-washing, and tea service washing, required a trip downstairs to the bathhouse. All...

A traditional Ryoken run in a very traditional and correct manner by what I presume to be a husband and wife team. Individual chalets incorporating private bathhouses are set along the contour line of a hill over looking the Yufu valley and directly towards Mounts Yufu and Eboshi. The chalets are split level, with toilet, living/sleeping areas on the upper entrance level, and the bathhouse on the lower floor. The upper floor and lower floors have a panoramic view across the valley and mountain side. Everything is “just so” and very clean. The small Ryoken complex has a central restaurant, serving a multi course traditional Japanese evening meal, which is beautifully presented, and an equally beautiful Japanese breakfast in the morning, both at set mealtimes. Unfortunately we had only one day at the this hilltop location, but this would be a great base for some hillwaking, with the prospect of a hot bath in the evening. One oddity was the arrangement of a toilet on the upper floor, but no handbasin, meaning that hand-washing, and tea service washing, required a trip downstairs to the bathhouse. All...