1000 Years of Tradition - Akiu Onsen Sakan

We took a chance on this onsen resort hotel as there was no recent reviews. We were charmed by the beautiful hotel lobby with indoor koi ponds. It was serene and peaceful and despite the many rooms, it was quiet and not crowded. The Japanese-styled tatami room was huge and very clean. I tried 2 hotel onsens during my 1 night stay. I must admit that some of the onsens were rotated between male and female users and closed at certain hours for cleaning. So it took a while to plan which onsens I could use during my short stay. to be honest, I was looking forward to having a unique experience at the open air onsen next to the stream. I was there at 10.30 pm (it closed at 11 pm) and because the corridor leading to it and the changing/cleaning room were semi-open (exposed to cold night air) it was indeed a very cold experience. Outside the onsen, it was pitch dark and I could not see the stream nor hear any running water (likely low volume of stream water then). My husband made an effort to use the same onsen at 5.30 am the next day. He did not manage to reach the onsen in his Yukata. The extreme cold air along the corridor made him return to the warmer hotel room. He could not find another onsen that was open. The dinner and breakfast buffets were great except that for dinner dishes, most did not have English labels so we were rather lost and chose to forgo some unfamiliar dishes. Labelling for breakfast dishes was much better. Akiu is a very quiet onsen area with nothing much to visit in the vicinty. We found the hotel bus transfer from Sendai Station to be very useful. A map on pickup point sent in advance for customers would have helped. I would recommend this onsen, it's rates charged are very reasonable compared to onsens in other popular areas.