Tachibanaya

Beautiful location, outstanding tatami room with good en suite bathroom facilities, and extremely friendly staff. Wifi connection in room was very weak (had to go to hall to connect). Not many English-speaking staff but made do with Google-translate. Would have appreciated food/snack options in bar but bought snacks at well-stocked gift store and small snack outlet on street where they have nice hot spring foot baths next to the river. The garden is beautiful and the private onsen was excellent. Probably easiest to visit by car (plentiful space in their off site parking lot); the train option would be cumbersome. Beautiful rose garden associated with the shrine up the hill; in full bloom at the end of June. Small restaurants nearby.

very nice hotel, what a perfect stay, highly recommended this iconic hotel

It was a nice stay. There are some great features to this place. It's beautiful, has great updated amenities, and it's perfect for a relaxing trip. However, the website was hard for me to use and it was difficult to get anyone on the phone who speaks English. This made booking a room difficult, as well a working out some details of my stay. It was also kind of boring place to stay. Most clients were families with babies or older couples. Nobody spent time in the lounge/ bar at night, only for coffee in the morning prior to checkout. The restaurant was good, but not amazing. I had better meals at some home stays in the area. If you're looking for something very cozy, quiet, and standard hotel experience, this is for you. If you want something a little more fun, with great food and still have a relaxing time, there are better options.

Extremely helpful staff. Showed us where to park and had an English speaking front desk staff to show us around and explain the hotel bath, dining, and other schedules. The hotel grounds were gorgeous. The room was extremely spacious and I wish we could have stayed a few more nights to enjoy everything. Hope to be back one day.