Ryokan Maizuru <Iwate>

This place could have and should have been wonderful. It was our final 3 night accommodation before returning home and we so looked forward to our 10 tatami room with park view. (Description from their website: “New Wing Standard Park View Japanese-Style Room, 10 tatami mats Non-Smoking [no bath, toilet with washer]”). On the website you have to check the Japanese to see the tatami size, in English it shows square meters. You can imagine our shock when we were shown our 6 tatami room. There was hardly enough floor space for the two futons along with the low table and two chairs, let alone luggage for two people on a 6 week Japan trip. Our one window looked out on the parking lot. If you squinted and look to the right you could glimpse the trees bordering Kanjizaiō-in Ato and perhaps the parking lot for Motsuji Temple. We had little interest in a view, but the fact that the room was described as having a “Standard Park View” was very misleading. We tried to arrange for a change of room. We were told there were no vacancies; the ryokan has only 6 rooms. Although there were rooms unoccupied on other nights of our stay, we were not offered them, though we would gladly have changed rooms mid-stay to get more floor space. We were also told there was no difference in price from the 6 tatami to the 10 tatami room so no refund was offered. Had we known this was the room we were going to be given, we would not have made the reservation. We have been coming to Japan twice a year since 1999, and this is the first time we have had such a problem with the room being so different from the one we reserved. As a “make nice” we were given beer free of charge with each of our dinners, but, quite frankly, it was no substitute for our cramped quarters. The baths were very small, probably no more than two people could fit comfortably at a time. The meals were lovingly prepared and served. It’s clear that the point of this ryokan is the food, not the accommodations, though the property was quite new and spotless. The care and attention to detail given by the chef was obvious with each course and each plate chosen specially to enhance the food. The chef or his assistant came to our table and gave us a brief description of each plate; much longer descriptions in Japanese were given to other guests, but we appreciated the chef’s trying to let us know something about the food we were served. I wish there were a way to rate the ryokan for food separate from accommodation. I took what would be our two ratings and averaged them.