Yamada Bessou

The interior was very cute and staff were very lovely and helpful! They had even hired an English speaking staff for foreign visitors!

The bathroom and floors were a bit dirty and walls very thin (you could constantly hear staff and guests stomping around the wooden boards outside) the price was kind of steep for the offering. Would have also been nice if dinner was available as an add on

Having read the reviews, I knew this was going to be a rather dated ryokan in need of updates, but, it is still a good value for money if you are looking for a traditional Japanese experience. The building is old and creaky and that is part of the charm, however, that shouldn't stop them brightening up the inside onsen a bit, which was so dark and murky that I didn't even use it. Fortunately, the outdoor onsen made up for that. The staff were lovely and even dropped what they were doing to drive me to the train station upon departure.

A few updates to the soft furnishings could be done to update the place. My en suite bathroom had an unpleasant sour odor if I did not run the exhaust fan and air constantly. Could not SEE the bottom of the inside onsen and I'm not sure if that meant the bottom needed scrubbing, so I did not use it at all.