The rooms were huge with a nice river view. It seemed understaffed sometimes. Like the other said, the location is a little bit farther away. The buffets are generous with lower quality food. I wish there is a stair to go up the rooms. The elevator can be a bit busy during some times. I opened my windows at night to get fresh air. Around 4 or 5 am on the next day, the kitchen’s cooking smell went straight into the room. I was still half-awake so I didn’t want to move. The smell was pleasant in the first 2 minutes and then became too much. For the next hour or so I breathed in too much grease and finally had to get up to close the windows. It felt gross. I wish they can improve on the ventilation. The salmon sashimi looked like trout. One of the times I got ikasomen and it was not fresh. Otherwise, it’s a good deal for the price. I’d give 5 stars if they fix the problems above.

I had a great stay at this ryokan style hotel that offers great amenities and friendly service. Pros: - Offers both Japanese style and regular rooms. Main difference is the bed in the regular room is a modern, raised bed on a frame. Japanese style bed is a 2-3 inches thick pad on the floor. - My Japanese style room #312 was very spacious, river view, and super quiet. - Has its own on-site onsen which is bigger and better than some of the public onsens. However, it's closed from 10:00am to 3:00pm daily. - Unlimited popsicles and drinks (including various sodas, juices, and Asahi beer) in their lounge from 2:00pm to 10:00pm daily. - Their dinner buffet had a great spread including sashimi, nigiri, salad station, various soups, tempura, noodles, dumplings, and Hagendaze ice-cream. - Their breakfast buffet also had a great spread including poke station with raw seafood, eggs, sausage, and croissants. - Like most ryokans in Kinosaki, included in your stay is a yukata (traditional outfit) and shoes you can wear when visiting the public onsens. - A shuttle to the train station is offered in the mornings until 11:00am. - A shuttle to center of town is offered in the evenings from 4:00pm to 9:00pm. Cons: - Not located along the main canal so a bit away from the central part of town. - A shuttle to center of town is offered, but at limited times. - During mid-day, the on-site onsen is closed, the lounge with free drinks is closed, and no shuttle service so you don't want to be there from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Also note, an onsen tax of 450 JPY/night/guest must be paid in person. Credit card can be used to pay this. This gives you access to all 6 public onsens. Even though it is a bit of a walk to the main part of town, their on-site onsen, free drinks in lounge, and quiet location made up for it and I wound definitely stay here again.

A good hotel in a bad location. The shuttle bus is helpful, but not running between 11:10 and 16:00. It works for guests checking in and out, but what about those staying for more than 1 night?

Kinosaki-onsen was one of the destinations on a tour. Our Japanese style tatami room had three beds and enough space to kick back for three of us. They have a variety of yukata (room wear kimono) you can borrow. It wasn't located on the main street, but they have a shuttle service. The hotel was super clean. Dinner and breakfast buffet had many selections. Onsen was not too hot, which I liked. There were three very nice massage chairs. Complimentary drinks, including alcohol at the lounge area. We visited Arima-onsen after this place. However, I liked Kinosaki-onsen and this hotel way more than Arima. Highly recommended.

The rooms are nice especially those with a river view. The dinner buffet was great with a lot of variety albeit heavy on the deep fried side. The sushi section was lacking. Overall an enjoyable meal. The bath house is large with lots of partitioned showers. They offer shuttle buses to Kinosaki Onsen town but it's recommended to book desired time slots as soon as you arrive as they film quickly. There are no reservations for return trip just a simple line up at the drop-off site which can can build quickly. It's only a 10 minute walk back to the hotel but if you depart with the Geta slippers this might be a longer arduous walk.