Onsen Urashima

Staff really friendly especially when making a decent effort to communicate in Japanese (but then, learning some of the language before travelling is just the polite thing to do and it does get appreciated), really helpful, and yes, it was very clean. A good introduction to one's first Ryokan. Also there were house Martin nests under the eaves of the reception building, which was lovely to see - shame we weren't there at the time of year when the birds were active.

There wasn't really anything to dislike to be fair - to try to find something to complain about would be like deliberately standing in a field in the UK for a few days in order to complain that the weather was capricious - i.e. you'd have to know it wasn't something you wanted to experience and yet do it anyway. The one downside I guess is that it is an hour's walk out of town, but for the price, that's kind of expected that it's not in the most amazingly convenient location. It's really easy to find though - getting there is pretty easy.

Forgot items at the hotel after checking out and they called and even emailed the photos of each item forgotten! They offered to ship them to us!

PROS- The friendly and helpful staff where accommodating when greeting my friends and I with the limited Japanese we can speak/ understand, although I have heard from others that translation apps are good here, the staff went out of their way to explain the onsen and bathing facilities to us which was nice as we where 外人 (foreigners) who where trying to understand the somewhat awkward yet very enjoyable process of bathing with strangers! The property is close to bus stops which use IC cards for easy day trips and over all the room service and Japanese experience is something all foreigners should try! スタッフへ、滞在がありがとうございました！

CONS- While understandable for the sake of the onsen, the property is far from the station (20-30m via bus) and has a lack of things to do In the local area, however i still highly recommend this property if you are seeking the Japanese experience!

The staff was very friendly and patient with the fact we don’t speak Japanese, so they went out of their way to help us with translation apps. Very clean and nice baths, too!