Matsusaki Ryokan

We booked this hotel as our “nice getaway in Japan”. We spent months planning and chose this hotel based on its stellar reviews and picturesque photos. We said “treat YOSELF” as we paid the high rates. Arriving, we entered the facility with excitement and were heralded to our rooms to a “welcome tea ceremony” that felt chaotic, rushed, and left us bewildered. There was only one staff member who spoke English, and while she was exceptional, she also seemed to be overworked and spread a little too thin. She was called anytime we needed anything, and I’m not sure she was given any time to think or sleep. After check-in, we were welcomed to dinner which was held in a weird, sparse, conference room with fold out tables and chairs and very little decor. The dinner was also chaotic and the food was not great. We made it through dinner and tried out the private onsen. It was fine. All of it felt super outdated and while the price tag felt luxurious, the experience felt like a sad budget nursing home. We ended up leaving early and spent our precious and limited vacation time exploring more of Japan. Best decision we ever made.

Stayed with my wife and 11 year old in a room with a private onsen. I have to say, I was nervous about staying here because there were very few reviews and none that I could find since Japan reopened after the pandemic. I usually don't write reviews but I'm doing this for the next person that might be on the fence. I had the concierge at our hotel in Tokyo arrange the pickup from Matto station which went very smoothly. It's only about a 10 minute train ride from Kanazawa train station and the driver was waiting there for us as we exited the ticket gates at the station. When we arrived, we checked in with the one employee who spoke English and she gave us the overview of everything at the ryokan. We then went to our room and relaxed for a few hours until dinner time. I don't know if it was because we spoke English but we had dinner in a banquet hall all by ourselves. The dinner was absolutely amazing, it was the best meal I had in multiple trips to Japan. I don't want to spoil it but we did no upgrades to our meal and we wish we came even more hungry because it was a lot of food across around 10 courses. Everything was seasonal and each course was a setup to the next course, I loved it. After dinner we used the private onsen in the room and went to sleep. The next morning we had breakfast once again in the private banquet room and again it was an amazing meal. We relaxed for a few more hours and then they gave us a ride back to the Motto station. This is the perfect place to stay if you are looking for some peace and relaxation. Everyone in the ryokan was across the board super friendly and professional. The language barrier was a real thing but we kept an open mind and we made it through just fine. My wife and I have tattoos so using the public onsen was probably not an option, but since we splurged for the private one I probably wouldn't have used it anyways, though it is rooftop and looked super nice. Overall, I can't recommend a night here enough. It was for sure the highlight of our trip to Japan. Thank you so much to all the staff that made it such a special night for us. Mahalo!