Popular Agematsu 4-star Hotels

This is a reasonably priced national lodging located on a hill just a stone's throw from the sleeping area. The Kiso region produces high-quality cypress, and the interior of the building has a bright atmosphere, with plenty of cypress used, and the hallways have a pleasant cypress scent. The Western-style rooms have been renovated, so they are simple, but modern, clean, and spacious. Also, the bathroom in the room was new and clean. There is no open-air bath in the large public bath, but it was a clean bath. The water wasn't that hot. I thought it would be better if there was a screen door to let the outside air in. In the washroom area, there was a pearl barley lotion. Cold water is outside the bath. Even though it was a day-use hot spring, not everyone came. Therefore, I was using it alone. It's a luxury. This time it's just the two of us. I was disappointed that I couldn't use the bath in the morning. I've stayed at various hotels and inns, but I think this is probably the first time I've stayed in one where I couldn't use the room in the morning. The explanation was that there were fewer users in the morning, CO2 emission limits, carbon neutrality, etc. However, there was no tea cup in the room, there was a disposable plastic cup, and the three remote controls were covered with plastic covers that could be thrown away immediately, which made me wonder what was wrong with the room. Later, when I looked closely at the fact that the public bath cannot be used in the morning, I noticed that the usage times were listed in a small section on the homepage, but they were not listed on the reservation site. In addition, Toron Onsen is an artificial hot spring made from natural medicinal stones. It is said to have the same effect as a natural hot spring, using the natural ore tron ​​stone, which is only found on the earth. I knew about that, but I heard that I thought it was a natural hot spring. I had no choice but to take a bath in my room in the morning. Although it is a unit bath, the legs are long enough to stretch out. Well, you won't know much about any inn until you visit. We had dinner at the restaurant. When you take your seat, the items are brought to you one by one, but the chawanmushi is piping hot and the tempura is freshly fried. There was also tempura with cheese sandwiched between apples. Other than the lack of sashimi, it was a pretty good dinner at a typical inn. As for the drinks, the local sake Nakanori-san's Dry Nama and 300c of Namazake from the sake brewery Nanawarai that I wanted to visit today were both reasonably priced at 880 yen. Breakfast was a Japanese set meal, and rice, apple juice, and coffee were self-serve. The customer service at this inn, including the restaurant, felt quite businesslike. I don't think I'll visit again because I can't take a bath in the morning.

The staff really went above and beyond to make two ignorant Canadian tourists feel extremely welcome at a traditional Japanese Ryuken. Though there was a small language barrier, we never felt that we could not communicate our needs. The hot and cold onsen was very refreshing after walking post towns along the Nakasendo Way. The river next to the hotel made for a relaxing experience and deep sleep. Somehow, I missed the option when booking to select the dinner option, there is really no other food options in the area, and the clerk (owner) said he would put a 'simple meal' together for us for a small charge which we found acceptable. The kaiseki that followed was some of the best and most authentic Japanese food we experienced in our two weeks in Japan. The woman serving us was an absolute gem and the cat that ran the establishment was adorable. Our room was very comfortable and had a nice sitting area with a view of the river. Only points of contention would be that that it's a little out of the way if you don't have a car, but is conveniently accessable by bus with ~10 minute walk. The facilities are a little dated, the onsen is discoloured, but I assume that is from the natural minerals. There was a stale smell (smoke) in the rooms which is a bit off-putting to non-smokers. It would appear smoking is allowed in the facility which might be a plus to some.