Hotels near Nishigatana Shrine, Toyooka

When I mapped out our November-December 2023 trip to Japan last June, I chose west of Kansai region and the northwest along the Sea of Japan where Kansai Wide Area 5-day Pass and Sanyo/San’in Area 7-day Pass would cover. When I came across Kinosaki on the map, I thought this would be the first place to begin our journey of “off the beaten path” (this was my 10th trip to Japan, my desire to travel off the beaten path was obvious.) Since Kinosaki is an onsen town, it makes sense to choose a traditional ryokan with on-site onsen. I found Onishiya Suishoen’s official website very helpful. The photos are genuinely impressive. It has all I was looking for: daily 10-course Kaiseki dinner with premium choices of Matsuba crabs, Tajima beef and local delicacies, along with traditional Japanese breakfast, can be served in-room or in a private dining room; indoor/outdoor onsen; a quiet guest room for two, with private garden views; free shuttle from the JR Kinosaki station; an entertainment lounge; a public sitting lounge with views of scenic Japanese garden; away from the busy tourist center. A free day-stamped pass to use in town’s seven historical public onsens, valid per day from 14:00 to 15:00 the following day; a daily shuttle offers to and from main area of Kinosaki town, from 16:00 to 22:00. These are extra bonus offers to the guests. The guest car parking is available. We arrived at the Kinosaki JR Station on a rainy day. After exiting the station I found the sign of hotels free shuttle across the street just as I was informed at the time of booking. A local coordinator was waiting outside the station and started taking names of the arriving guests. I gave her our hotel’s name and after about 10-15 min waiting we boarded a van and headed to the local hotels. Interestedly, most of the guests in the van are foreigners like we, all got off the last stop. Upon checked in we were told to leave our luggage at the front lobby area. We then followed the hostess to the public lounge waiting for an assigned staff to accompany us to the room and to get familiar with what they have to offer during the stays. When I booked this ryokan I asked for a quiet room and surely our room is at the end of the first floor hallway. During our two-night stay we had a personal hostess named Chiba. She catered our needs for the entire stay, served two meals a days, prepared beddings and replenished in-room services for us. On the second night she noticed we were trying to stack several cushions over the leg-less chairs to improve the posture comforts. She asked if we would prefer regular chairs and a raised table. When we said yes, she quickly popped up the table legs and brought us two chairs. We were so pleased with her attention to details. She did her best in English, explained our daily meal options and introduced each serving plate and sources of the ingredients. She was a very good hostess for us. On the first night we had seafood Kaiseki dinner with premium selec

We stayed at this ryokan with onsen for one night in August. The journey from Kyoto takes around 2.5 hours with Japan Rail - some connections go without changing. It's about 700-800 m from Kinosakionsen train station. When you leave the train station, you can either walk across the street and a few steps to the left and lock your large suitcase in the locker (but not too big please, our standard hard-shell suitcase was one a few millimeters too deep) or have your suitcase delivered to your room door a few steps further to the left for just 200 yen. Upon arrival at the ryokan there was a very friendly welcome from an owner who spoke good English. He explained everything in detail and took countless greeting photos of us with our cell phones. Afterwards we were accompanied to our room by a young lady and tea was poured at the reception. The accommodation has 11 rooms. The anteroom of the ryokan, where you have to leave your luggage and slippers, is very small, actually too small to be able to unpack halfway. The room itself is sufficiently large. As is usual in ryokan and Japan, there is little storage space. Everything very clean and well-kept. There is a toilet and sink in the room, but there is no shower, that's what the onsen is for. A total of two onsen - one outside and one inside like in a cave. Both really beautifully done. In the evenings the onsen were “private” - you wait until one is free, then go in, lock it and have it to yourself. The room price also includes entry tickets to the city's seven public onsen. We only briefly used a public onsen “around the corner”, the ones in the neighborhood appealed more to us. After dark we took a longer walk through the very beautiful place. The area is centrally located - but of course still quiet. A Family Mart is just 100 m away. We had booked with breakfast, which is consumed in the room. You choose a time slot - for us, 8.30 was the latest option. Be careful, get up in time, there was a knock at our house at 8:15 a.m. and the young lady first put our futons away - so don't worry about turning them to the side again when the alarm clock rings at 8:00 a.m. The Japanese breakfast is unusual for a Central European, but why not get to know other breakfast habits? The young lady who brought and prepared breakfast was busy with everything for at least 10 minutes. Check out by 10 a.m. at the latest. The owner was kind enough to drive us to the train station by car. I have rarely experienced so much hospitality in a neighborhood. Would I book it again? Almost 200 euros per night for 2 people including breakfast is anything but cheap, but the experience is certainly worth it. A clear recommendation from me if you want to experience something other than a hotel room.

Our stay was pleasant in terms of the facility, food, and service. Only that the staff did not tell us we were only allowed to deposit our luggage before 9:50 the next day before we check out, which caused a huge inconvenience of ours. An elderly and I had to drag our big luggage to the entirely opposite direction to the train station to deposit and then came back to the side of the onsen temple. We were quite unhappy about it and it might be caused by the limited English ability of the staff, but other than that I'd still recommend this place!

Room: There is only a washbasin, and a separate toilet. There is no bathroom. The poor washbasin did not have hot water that night. I called the housekeeper to come, but it couldn’t be repaired later. He told me to go to the public bath to brush my teeth and wash my face, which cost so much Qian actually has problems with the basic use of hot water. Service: As soon as you enter the door, it is like a butler telling you what time to eat today and what time to have breakfast tomorrow, and will help you make your bed at night, which is not bad. Meals: There were 3 of us in the evening, and each of us had a big crab. For the first time, we had all we could eat. The dinner was great, and there was more than one dish, and there was dessert at the end. The breakfast was too rich. Soup house: They have their own soup house that can be reserved, and it can be used by families for about half an hour. It is not bad for your family to soak in soup independently.

We stayed at Tsuruya Ryoukan for a night, and had an excellent dinner and breakfast. The steamed crab and Tajima beef sukiyaki were especially wonderful. The service is excellent, and the inn is located within walking distance of two onsen! Just outside the inn, there is a place to make onsen eggs and a walkway filled with cherry blossoms. It was a really special experience!

The food is delicious, the cospa of comfort twin and universal twin (although there is no view) is good, and this is the third stay. You need to walk a little or take the inn bus to visit the outdoor hot springs, but it doesn't bother you in a pleasant season (laughs). If you like long-established inns, I think the main building or another inn is better, but this is the best for me who likes twin rooms. The convenience of staying at a city hotel while enjoying the hot water in Kinosaki. The comfort room is not wasted in the size of the walk-in closet, the functionality of the washbasin and toilet, and the shower room. I really liked it. The view is also important in the sea inn, but this room with good cospa is pushed in shirosaki. The towels are from the front desk when going to the outdoor hot spring, and the large communal bath in the inn is full of bath towels and face towels. The past two visits in August, and the outdoor hot springs and inns were lively (noisy 々), but the GW was quiet and I enjoyed the outdoor hot springs, inns and meals. I will visit you again. Thank you very much.

It seems to be the oldest inn in Kinosaki, and it was wonderful with a very atmospheric interior. All meals were served in the room, and the room attendant was very cute, polite and warm. The employees, including Mr. Gonzaemon of the sister inn, were very polite and comfortable. Because it is near the ropeway platform, there are few tourists, so it was relatively quiet. Even the farthest part of the tour of the hot springs wasn't too far away (about 15 minutes on foot in clogs?), and it wasn't too hard to see the streets of Kinosaki and there were various shops. I definitely want to go again!

This time I was worried about snow due to the cold wave, so I gave up my car and went to the Resort Pier Kumihama Hotel to eat crab by train. The hotel will pick you up by bus to Toyooka Station and arrive at the hotel in about 30 minutes. The crab for dinner is also grilled, and the crab pot is full! I had them make porridge, but it was delicious, so I got it firmly. The bath was hot, but it wasn't that much and it was comfortable when I entered. This time, everyone is playing golf in Kumihama Country and trying to stay here again. Thank you very much.

The hotel is newer! Clean and hygienic! The room is big! New equipment! Although there is no shopping nearby, there is a large convenience store Dodo-eki Store opposite the hotel! For those who want to visit second- and third-tier cities in Japan, here you can slowly experience the tranquility and slowness of second- and third-tier cities!