Name: Okyakuya
Address: 6546 Manganji, Minamioguni, Minamioguni, Minamioguni, 869-2402, Japan
Rating: 9

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Kumamoto Airport

Okyakuya

Minamioguni

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hospitality and attentiveness is top notch, a small gift and greeting note was given to my wife during dinner time, as the staff noticed her birth date from her passport as we checked-in. onsen quality is excellent, skin became silky smooth, a total of 7 public and private onsens are more than sufficient. food is delicious, no expensive ingredients, but prepared whole heartedly, rice grown by themselves, so are preparation of pickles. most of the staff here speak fairly good english, so communication is of no problem. despite a 300-year old inn, facilities are well maintained, not suitable for elderly as there are quite some stairs to climb. cleanliness is outstanding, i deliberately checked the wooden beams where no one will normally notice, they are all dust free! overall, we are given the impression that every staff here is fully dedicated to his or her own part of work, and this collective effort explains the continual success of this accommodation.

a well managed 300-year old onsen accommodation

We stayed here three nights with the family (teenage girls). It is all you might wish for in a traditional Japanese Inn. The rooms are simply furnished as you would expect and the futons made up each evening. No showers in the rooms - that is what the onsens (hot springs) are for!. These are beautiful as you would expect and though I speak passable Japanese, they have good English explanations. 

Two things really stood out for me - firstly the service is genuine and superb. Secondly the food is really special - local ingredients and fresh seasonal food prepared with care and attention to detail in the traditional Japanese kaiseki style. It would be top rated to get this level of cuisine in the UK. They asked before if we didn’t want to eat anything (raw horse meat being a regional speciality) and we left the rest to them.  

The area is stunning and sadly we were scuppered by a typhoon for much of the stay and so had to really slow down and enjoy!

Relax, slow down, unwind

This is the second time we go to this outstanding Ryokan and it was another amazing experience. Its location within the centre of Kurosawa is perfect and allows you to walk to the other onset. There is poking available if yo come by car. The rooms are typical Japanese style with the comfort you need as well as privacy. The onsen is magnificent, next to the river and you can relax in the bath while listening to the water fall. What makes also this place unique is the delicious dinner and breakfast, where every details and taste are amazing. And if there is something you don't like, the ryokan will send you an email before to ask your preference. Finally, the manager was so nice and made us feel valued. She remembered us from the year before, helped us find great places and explained the best way to make tea after giving us as gift one of the finest tea from Kyushu. 
we will come back for sure!

The place to relax and enjoy Japan

My husband and I stayed at this property for two nights and it was fantastic. Book your room now. What a gem. This is my fourth time in Japan and my third stay at a traditional Japanese Inn (ryokan). Before this visit, I had never been to Kurokawa onsen town. We've been to other onsen towns in Japan, but this was our favorite onsen town hands-down. 

Here's why I would select this particular ryokan.

1. It's traditional and beautiful.
2. The staff speak really good English. You could get by with pointing and gesturing, but having the staff speak to us in English made our visit more pleasurable.
3. The food is simply amazing. I was blown away by both breakfast and dinner. Dinner and breakfast is served in a communal space, but everyone has a private dining room within that space. This is different from other ryokans where meals are often served in-room. I could tell that the chef put a lot of thought into the menu. We decided we didn't want to eat the local specialty (horse meat) so they substituted other foods for us. I really loved the sashimi! And they gave A LOT of thought to their plating which I appreciated. This is common in traditional Japanese dinners, but I think they went the extra mile and I noticed.

We got upgraded to a family room since the inn was not fully booked and it was very spacious and incredibly beautiful. The room was well appointed and it had everything we needed. But it did not have a river view (only a partial view).  As mentioned in an prior review, I loved the fact that the property used burning tea leaves as room incense. Really nice touch.

There are a few additional things I feel I should point out to help manage expectations:
 
1. The property is old. It's not modern and it's not fancy.  If you want a fancy ryokan experience, this probably isn't the best place to stay. The service and food felt like a high-end experience (think the Four Seasons or Ritz) but the facility does not have a modern feel. Everything is old and traditional. If you want a fancy ryokan,  you may need to look at another place. Also, our room had a sink and toilet but no private shower. Some rooms have only a shared bathroom. At this particular property, all showers are communal and are on on another floor. If you want a private shower, or your own bathtub, this is not a good place for you to stay.
2. Overall their onsen baths are only average. I found their shared private baths to be really lacking. But during your stay, you can purchase a ryokan onsen pass that allows you to visit three other onsen baths so you'll get a chance to see other properties and try out their onsen. The baths were clean and well-maintained, but nothing special. That being said, I still enjoyed them.

Final thoughts:
Before you stay at a ryokan, you might want to consider doing an "onsen trial run" in a day onsen wherever you are staying. It's a bit intimidating to onsen for the first time in an onsen town where so little English is spoken. At the minimum, I would watch a few online onsen videos and read some articles about onsen culture in advance of this trip. 

I've visited a lot of onsen in Japan and I still found the Kurokawa onsen culture a tiny bit intimidating. You'd be well served to take a practice run so you know what to expect in advance and the internet provides great resources. 

Also, I want to put in a plug for staying two nights instead of one if you can afford it. I know it's pricey but I think you'll come away fully rested and happy you did it. 

Finally, make sure you drink some local sake, eat some local soba (the water makes the noodles taste unbelievable) and relax. You'll love this onsen town. It's simply magical.  Great onsen town, great staff, great experience.

Unbelievable stay

It was our first time traveling to this village and first time ever staying at a Ryokan. Since we only stayed for one night, we are not able to compare with other places but overall we were quite happy with our stay. The location itself was very good since it is a very small village and I saw the main bus stop was at walking distance too. We went by car and there is parking space provided and also right in the entrance when you enter the village. When selecting a Ryokan you choose by numbers of futon. Most of them would be an area for sitting and after dinner they move the tables and put the beds on the floor. There is a toilet but shower is normally at the onsen area. It has male/female indoor/outdoor and private ones. All of them have shower places inside and then you go onsen. I believe most of other Ryokans have dinner included. Our dinner was served at our room which was a delightful experience for me. There was plenty of food and was tasty as well. The menu set is seasonal and they arrange it for you. If there is anything you don’t like, just tell them before. Check-in time is 3-5pm, mainly because they have dinner starting since 6pm onwards. If arrive late, you might just miss the dinner. There is also traditional Yukata provided which you can wear it around the hotel and outside as well. The staff were very friendly and would like to remind you that is not just a hotel lodging but a full experience that was quite worthy :) 

Lovely Ryokan with nice dinner

Went there beginning of Dec 2017 as part of our 3rd Japan tour.  The Onsen hotel is great, the setting/decoration is so authentic. It even have a coal burning stove there in the lobby area. The room is very nice and the outdoor Onsen are beautiful.  The dinner and breakfast were tasty and beautifully decorated.  
The staff were very helpful and friendly.  My wife was not feeling well, one of the staff - Miss Matsumura 松村 gave her some Over The Counter cold medication. She even let us to use her personal hotspot to access internet.
Cons: Wifi is only in the lobby and It was non responsive most of the time or very very slow if working. 
The Onsen and the breakfast area are in the basement level, so if you stay in the second floor, you have two flights of stairs.  Overall, the setting of the whole twin is beautiful and the hotel is tastefully decorated. Service is excellent.  
Since this town is in the middle of nowhere, it took us almost an hour bus ride from Yufu to get there and  another 2 hrs to Kumamoto. 

Cosy environment and very thoughtful service, very bad wifi

Our stay at Okyakuya was so much better than we expected! We already expected it to be really nice & welcoming but it was so much more. I'd stay here again & would recommend it to others.

Okyakuya is a little smaller than some of the other ryokans in the region with only 13 rooms. I really love this as it wasn't so crowded and was very zen. We booked a 8-tatami mat room and it was definitely a lot more room than 2 people needed. The room included a toilet but the baths are all downstairs. They have both indoor & outdoor baths, 3 are private to guests only and another 3 baths are for the public. It made me feel better than I wouldn't have to fight for a bath with non-guests. We visited during low season so basically had the public baths to ourselves at night (after 7pm) and in the morning (around 8am). It's worth checking out both baths as they were gorgeous & relaxing. It's nice to be here before the crowds & tour groups.

Location of the ryokan is in the main part of town so it's easy to walk to other onsens if you have the onsen hopping pass. We drove to kurokawa onsen and the roads are super tight. If you're catching the bus, its a nice walk down to Okyakuya.

Service is amazing - from check-in to check out, the staff were friendly & helpful to make the whole experience perfect. Food was also amazing - was delicious and I liked that they served horse sashimi, the local delicacy. I loved the in-room dinner experience and the breakfast was served in their dining room. 

Can't wait to come again!

Wonderful stay!

I tried out this onsen on the onsen hoppng deal.  Ryokan Okyakuya has free lockers; rustic place to shampoo, wash and rinse before going into the rotenburo.  Nice rotenburo.  I snuck coupla pictures after everyone left and I was alone.

Okyakuya

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