Shimoda Yamatokan — Restaurant in Shimoda

We stayed here with two families for four nights. The first impression was not so great. The breakfast price on Hotels.com was wrong (it said 1200 yen p/p) and they wanted 3000 yen p/p. The hotels settled for 1500 p/p because they had forgot to change the info on Hotels.com. They offered western breakfast (that we booked, mostly because of the kids) but the hotel retracted the offer later and said they only served Japanese style breakfast. Also one of the days they were fully booked and offered no breakfast for us. The breakfast and dining rooms are traditional and very nice. We enjoyed one Japanese breakfast and then we cancel all further breakfasts since it didn’t work out for the kids. No lunch is served at the hotel and if you haven’t booked the traditional Japanese dinner every night you have to go elsewhere. There are no restaurants near by so you will most likely have to take a taxi in to town. There are however vending machines that sells hot meals and soda and you can buy instant ramen in the hotel shop. ||The beds are traditional futon beds that you roll out on the floor each evening. ||The hotel’s location is very beautiful right on the Tatodahama beach. While it’s quite shallow, I wouldn’t say it’s a great beach for kids since the undercurrents are quite strong. It’s a surfer’s beach and I personally quite enjoyed watching the Japanese surfers of all ages and genders riding the waves. ||We came just before the Japanese summer season started (which is July 14) and the swimming pool was closed which was quite disappointing.||The onzen is nice but every other day you will get the western style bath which is less hot and with optional jacuzzi bubbles. The onzen has a rooftop pool with a nice view over the bay. There is no additional charge for the onzen or western style public baths. Unless you have tattoos because then you will have to book a private bath.||The Shimoda town is beautiful but sleepy. Maybe it comes to life when the summer season...

We stayed here with two families for four nights. The first impression was not so great. The breakfast price on Hotels.com was wrong (it said 1200 yen p/p) and they wanted 3000 yen p/p. The hotels settled for 1500 p/p because they had forgot to change the info on Hotels.com. They offered western breakfast (that we booked, mostly because of the kids) but the hotel retracted the offer later and said they only served Japanese style breakfast. Also one of the days they were fully booked and offered no breakfast for us. The breakfast and dining rooms are traditional and very nice. We enjoyed one Japanese breakfast and then we cancel all further breakfasts since it didn’t work out for the kids. No lunch is served at the hotel and if you haven’t booked the traditional Japanese dinner every night you have to go elsewhere. There are no restaurants near by so you will most likely have to take a taxi in to town. There are however vending machines that sells hot meals and soda and you can buy instant ramen in the hotel shop. ||The beds are traditional futon beds that you roll out on the floor each evening. ||The hotel’s location is very beautiful right on the Tatodahama beach. While it’s quite shallow, I wouldn’t say it’s a great beach for kids since the undercurrents are quite strong. It’s a surfer’s beach and I personally quite enjoyed watching the Japanese surfers of all ages and genders riding the waves. ||We came just before the Japanese summer season started (which is July 14) and the swimming pool was closed which was quite disappointing.||The onzen is nice but every other day you will get the western style bath which is less hot and with optional jacuzzi bubbles. The onzen has a rooftop pool with a nice view over the bay. There is no additional charge for the onzen or western style public baths. Unless you have tattoos because then you will have to book a private bath.||The Shimoda town is beautiful but sleepy. Maybe it comes to life when the summer season...

Our new favourite place in the whole world. We loved it so much we changed our travel plans to stay longer! The rooms are beautiful, traditional, and very spacious. And the baths, just wow! Stunning. We had a room with a private open air bath which was heavenly. The views of the beach and out along the rocky coastline were magnificent, and we really enjoyed watching the surfers and dogs on the beach. The second day was crazy stormy and we loved bathing in the cold rain, watching the huge waves crashing on the cliffs. The staff are so genuine and kind, always smiling and polite, and really went above and beyond to make our stay special. They even catered especially for a food allergy, which was greatly appreciated (if you have special dietary restrictions just be sure to give plenty of notice). The food was phenomenal, beautifully presented, and very generous. Make sure to come hungry! We felt so relaxed and at peace here. Be aware there is not much nearby in terms of sightseeing attractions, restaurants or bars - just a surf shop and one small cafe (only open Saturday). The free hotel shuttle will pick you up from the train station around check-in time, and drop you off at check-out time which is fantastic, but do note it’s not an all-day service. You can ask the reception to call you a taxi at any time if you do want to go into town or somewhere else. However, the ryokan is so lovely you surely won’t want to leave anyway! Snacks and drinks are available from vending machines or at the hotel gift shop for a very reasonable price. This is the place to go if you want to be still, relax, take long hot baths, go for a walk on the beach, read a book, or simply sit quietly and watch the ocean. Thank you to everyone at Shimoda Yamatokan for making our holiday magical and perfect in every way. We can’t wait to come...