Best Manno Spa Hotels

During our road trip throughout Western Japan, we needed to spend the night after touring Kochi but before heading to Tomonoura (near Fukuyama in Northern Hiroshima Prefecture.) Looking on the map, and after extensive research, we were hopeful that Asan Kotonami would hit all the right buttons as a luxury Onsen (natural hot springs) ryokan with a mountain retreat vibe and good food. All in all, we enjoyed our stay here and wouldn't hesitate to stay here again. It's about a 30 minute drive from Kotohira-gu (aka Konpira-san), which is the nearest major tourist attraction. Since we had our own car, there was not much effort in getting here, but accessibility to Asan Kotonami might be a bit more challenging if one resorted strictly to public transportation. In any case, if you're looking for something that's not a large, city hotel and is relatively luxurious, there are few (if any) other options - in fact, I'd say that Asan Kotonami might turn out to be the de-facto choice in this regard. First off, it's a gorgeous ryokan - it's in a picturesque location nestled in a mountainous area of rural Kagawa Prefecture. It's modern but done with a simplistic yet stylish Japanese aesthetic that will please many people. Unlike many luxury ryokans, however, Asan Kotonami is relatively new - it was built in 2017, meaning it is not worn down in any way. We loved the modern Japanese architecture, furnishings and decor, and the fact that it was in a remote location surrounded by nature. Thumbs up. We stayed in the ”Type F” room, which is described as a Japanese-Western room with Open-Air Bath. It's Western in that the bedroom has two beds and a couch. The ”living” area is Japanese in that you either sit on the floor, or on an oddly shaped and very low ”chair.” I guess you can call the living room being more Japanese than Western, but it's definitely Japanese in that it's a tiny room. Overall, it's uncomfortable and unusable, which was a shame, because I often need to work late at night, meaning we prefer a nice living room (for work) and a separate bedroom with sufficient noise insulation. Asan Kotonami didn't have that here, unfortunately. The room only had one sink, which is a drawback for a luxury property that was newly built less than 5 years ago. On the positive side, the open-air outdoor Onsen (natural hot springs) bath on our room terrace was fantastic, and internet was very speedy. In addition to the Onsen our room, Asan Kotonami also had among the nicest communal (gender-segregated) ”Daiyokujo” Onsen baths that we've ever experienced. It's almost Disneyland-like in that it's stylish, expansive and has several indoor and outdoor bathing options. It's possible that the property gets an abundance of the hot spring water directly from the source, because they certainly don't make any effort to preserve it. As soon as I stepped out of the changing room and even before going to the bathing area, Onsen was flowing all around me on the floor, with stylish woo