Beppu Showaen

Very friendly staff, really tried to communicate with us in English and were extremely helpful. They drove us to the station and were able to accomodate for our dietary restrictions for the dinner. The dinner was AMAZING and the private room in which is served had a lovely view of the town. I had planned to propose to my partner during dinner and they helped me with planning for this and made it very special even at very short notice. The room was very very spacious and very traditional, near a waterfall and it felt like we had our own little private corner of the forest. The private onsen was lovely and very relaxing and set in the middle of the nature, it comfortably fit two people. The Samue they provided was so comfortable too!

The bath salt provided was almost empty and I wished it was refilled (although I didn’t ask and am sure they would’ve refilled if I had). I wished the vending machine sold water.

First of all the place is beautiful. The plants, lawns, roads and overall the whole compound is kept very well and just magical to walk around. The hot spring is just incredible to look at as well and feels like bathing in the jungle. The staff were very nice and kind. One staff member (maybe he is the owner) offered to shuttle us to the train station after check-out, which made that day a lot easier.

The location is beautiful, but it's a bit tricky. There aren't any restaurants or convenience stores nearby and it's pretty far from everywhere in Beppu. So unless you intend to eat all your meals at the ryokan, I think the location isn't as good as mentioned. I would suggest renting a vehicle if you want to stay here and still move around the city. The water pressure in the showers was too weak and hot water may take up to a few minutes to start flowing. Maybe it's because of the height, but still, this was the least pleasurable shower I had while traveling for a month in Japan. The public hot spring (though it was incredible visually) was too hot. On the first day it was very hot, but tolerable enough that it was still a good experience. On the second day it was hot enough to give me burns.

Every accommodation was an individual small building of several traditional tatami rooms, some with their own indoor and outdoor onsen baths. The reservable family bath and the traditional public men’s and women’s onsen were amazingly beautiful. And the amazing dinner and breakfast meals were the best we’ve ever had— no exaggeration.

Nothing

The backdrop and grounds were gorgeous, overlooking a damn and river flowing down the mountain. Very zen

The buildings were tired and needed maintenance, doesn't look like they've been updated in 30+ years. Old TVs, damp and mould in the bathrooms, uncomfortable beds. Definitely not what you'd expect given the price of the room. Unfortunately the dinner and breakfast weren't included in our booking which was the main reason we'd booked a Ryokan in the first place. We tried to add these on the day as we arrived early but they simply said it's not possible. Not great customer service, they seem to be understaffed. Be careful when selecting your booking options