Wanosato

Felt very relaxing and authentic. The river running along side was very relaxing. The dinner was a wonderful experience but not a lot of food so if you come with a big appetite, bring some snacks. The free drinks in the mini bar were a nice surprise although we barely had any.

Could use some sprucing up. The bathroom shower area was a bit tired. Would not recommend more that one night

Location is a dream. Rooms are enormous and quiet, making you enjoy the sound of the river. Staff is super attentive, but without being invasive as in other ryokans. Though dinner and breakfast menus are strictly traditional kaiseki, they are very accomodating to food tastes if asked. Considering the age of the property and the middle-of-the-woods location, rooms are surprisingly clean and well maintained (we stayed in the main building).

The bathouse experience in the woods is awesome, but the bathouse itself needs some renovations. Also, while the party tricks with sake after dinner were folkloristic and gave the perfect excuse to stay by the fire and enjoy the beautiful common room, we found that the experience would have been improved either with just sake and conversation (even facilitated by a translation app), or if it was at least shared alongside the other guests.

Loved the atmosphere, charm, and amenities of the property. Had the stand alone house by the river and enjoyed the onsen in the main facility each night with my wife, during a dedicated private onsen reservation. The food is amazingly crafted and presented nicely, but there is a lot of fish with each meal, raw and cooked.

Not a negative, just a data point for others: This quiet property is not located near any amenities or attractions, we knew this going in and had a car so it was not a concern. Just come prepared.

It is in a wonderful setting but far from everywhere. Public baths are nice. Food is up and down. One evening was good other evening was a disaster.

Worst 5-star ryokan in our trip. First night we stayed in a villa called Garyu. Cold, dusty and filled with spider webs. Even in relatively warm autumn weather, it was difficult to warm it up with kerosene burning heater which has a timer of 3hours and needs to be turned on. Service was abysmal, except 1-2 ladies the rest of the staff was ignorant and unwelcoming. It was difficult to reach them when you needed support. First night dinner was shabu shabu, started with dried out meats and tasteless appetisers. Second night kaiseki was good. Breakfast was better in general in terms of quality and choices. We were served a bitter, spoiled melon at breakfast and we complained in Japanese about that, we received just a simple sorry. This showed us the level of hospitality and care. It was an expensive mistake.