Besshoonsen Nanjyo Ryokan

We stayed here as a family of four. Our youngest child was only one year old, but there was body soap for children in the bath, which was nice. Personally, I was very excited about the shampoo bar. They also prepared things like yo-yo fishing and puzzle solving for the children's festival, which my older child seemed to enjoy. Although it was outside of opening hours, they also made shaved ice for us. We were very satisfied with the flexible and polite service. It is a historic inn, and it did feel old in places, but it was well-cleaned and we had a comfortable stay. Thank you very much.

This is my first time staying at Bessho Onsen. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom. I arrived early and parked my car in the hotel's parking lot, and after sightseeing at Bessho Onsen, I checked in. When I checked in, they gave me a welcome drink (apple juice). The room was a Japanese-style room with a wide veranda and was old, but it was kept clean, just like the rest of the building. The bath smelled of sulfur, and hot spring water came out of the faucet. The open-air bath was lukewarm, and the indoor bath was hot. There was a shampoo bar, and lotions and other things were also available. There were also diapers and bath supplies for babies. There was mineral water at the bath, and you could drink it at the rest area. Jazz was playing in the rest area as well. In the morning, they were playing bossa nova (maybe Lisa Ono?). There was a single plum flower on display, and it was pretty and smelled good. Dinner was served at the venue, but there were partition blinds between each table, and the tables were far apart. The spring Shichikuri course was named after the Jizo statue in Bessho Onsen that is said to rid us of seven hardships. The menu consisted of seven dishes in a basket, Shinshu salmon and Iwana carpaccio, grilled Spanish mackerel with yuzuan sauce, and fried Sakukyu carp, all of which went well with the sake. I thought it was a light menu, but when I looked at the back of the menu, there was a greeting from the head chef, who said that "At our inn, we serve low-salt, low-carb, health-conscious dishes with the idea of ​​making your mind and body at ease." After eating meat and vegetables, the Shinshu beef hotpot was made into a risotto made by melting cheese in a Shinshu miso sauce and adding rice. My partner didn't really like the risotto. The risotto was quite rich in flavor, probably because it was boiled down. It was delicious when I ate it, but it made my stomach feel a little heavy afterwards, so I should have just eaten it as regular rice. But the combination of miso and cheese was certainly delicious. The light menu may be too light for young people, so perhaps there was a menu using cheese. Sake was priced from about 1200 yen per cup (1500 yen for 300cc). For breakfast, we had delicious rice porridge with a gentle flavor containing beans, soy milk hotpot with very large shimeji mushrooms and tofu vegetables, and tamagoyaki. The lobby lounge of the inn was renovated in 2019, and is a chic, modern, and very nice space. Jazz music is playing quietly. Coffee (instant from the machine during the day) and tea are free drinks and can be used at any time. After the bath, I went there to drink coffee and look at the many books. There were customers even though I was drinking local beer. After dinner, I was able to watch a "Chaplin silent film" (projected on the wall), and I watched it for a while while I was tipsy. The film was "City Lights," in which Chaplin plays a homeless man struggling for a blind flower girl. When I went there early in the morning, regular coffee was prepared. The bath was being used by about four generations of guests, so I went to the lounge first and had a coffee. Bach's music was soothing, and I looked at books about wine. I came back after dinner and read the newspaper, but this time I tried the decaffeinated coffee. The owner left a handwritten message with an illustration, and I received messages of gratitude from the staff, and I felt the kindness and attention to detail in every aspect of the inn. It was an inn where you could feel the warmth of their hearts.

The entrance is narrow, but the inn is spacious in the back. The lobby has been renovated and is very relaxing. The room feels old. I used a detached room with a cypress bath, but the hot spring is moist with the smell of sulfur, and it is not too small even for two people. Anyway, there are many stairs to go away. A lot of local dishes, full stomach, all delicious! If this was a room meal, it would be a little minus. I was supposed to check out at 11:00, but I was asked to pay by 10:00. It may be due to the convenience of the ryokan, but I was satisfied with the staff as a whole, so I think it would be better to devise a little more at the time of accounting. Bessho Onsen is my favorite place, so I wanted to stay at a different ryokan.