Beniya

Located in the Awara onsen town, it is a relatively new onsen hotel. All rooms have a private onsen inside the room. We received very warm welcome from staff. And I notice that the staff ratio is quite high given the manpower shortage now in Japan. THis is also the first time that the check in process was done inside your room, not at front desk of in club lounge. Our suite is facing the man-made fish pond with a small porch. Our living room has a table and chairs for meals, not the Japanese style sitting on the floor. The bedroom ares is nice. Air conditioning control is separated for living room and bedroom. The public onsen is not particularly impressive since each room has its own private onsen. Hand made drinks are available in the lobby after checkin. Enjoying the good scene of the hotel fish pond garden with a drink on hand is marvellous. Both dinner and breakfast is served in the room so you do not need to out out. It has a high price tag and the service quality matches with such high price.

One of the best ryokans I’ve experienced. Now on my fourth visit (month long) . The places has been totally rebuilt since a fire in 2018 and is still like new. Each room has a partly open tub but there are also public ones indoors and outside. Food is amazing. You can watch the chefs work through a viewing window. Both breakfasts and dinners are served in your own room with views on to either the pond or garden. Very tranquil setting.