こもれびの宿 明徳庵

Le lieu est tout simplement, magnifique, très bien placé, et le personnel était vraiment adorable et attentionné.

Everything was perfect! The location is charming, the building itself is so beautiful, expecially the little central garden. The staff was very friendly and helped us with any requests we had. We got lucky and even saw some fireflies on the river right next to the ryokan!

This was such a memorable stay. We spent two nights here for our honeymoon and it was everything I hoped for. We will definitely be back. We wanted to get "away" from the city without having to rent a car, so Minoo was perfect: about 40 minutes outside Osaka by train, and from there you can reach the bottom of the hill by train/bus, but we took a taxi to the hotel from the train station; it was about 1200 yen which is very cheap! But I'd recommend a taxi from the train station on arrival if you have luggage, as the walk is about 20 minutes up the hill alone and would be a pain with lots of bags. The hotel area is quiet and remote enough (we were even there on the weekend) that you forget there is a city a short trip away. There are plenty of shops, restaurants, vending machines, all along the hill, but it doesn't feel super touristy and is pleasant in terms of browsing or getting food. Heads up that most everything is cash only (we were NOT prepared here) and the closest atm is down the hill several blocks away (it was very hard to find an atm that took visa, and it resulted in a very long adventure for us lol). The area is so charming. So many peaceful temples to wander as well. The hike to the falls is a bit more challenging than it seems, I'd say it's a bit more intermediate and not beginner, terrain is uneven and rocky in places, with many flights of rock stairs along the way and a decent climb in elevation. But it was not far at all, really 20-30 mins and we took our time; couldn't believe we were in a hotel that was just next door to this, surrounded by nature. Go first thing in the morning to have the falls basically to yourself! Room and onsen were clean, comfortable, and romantic. Beautiful building and gardens. Perfect oasis. ALSO AMAZING BREAKFASTS! GET BREAKFAST!!! Kaiseki lunch at the riverside and kaiseki dinner at Otowa Sanso down the hill were alright, but the private sushi chef dinner was once in a lifetime. Go!

This wasn't something I didn't like per say, I didn't mind because I am the traveler, but heads up: if you don't speak Japanese/have a translating app, you will have a difficult time because the staff at the ryokan as well as the surrounding area and into the town do not speak English much at all, and by that I mean that nobody spoke more than a few words the whole time. I didn't mind and had been learning Japanese for the trip and just those few phrases helped us a LOT, but for anything other than pleasantries in english you will need some sort of translating app. All the meals at the different locations did not have english menus, and we maybe ran into 2 english speaking staff over the course of our 3 day stay. We also had some difficulty because it is SUCH a small hotel, the staff aren't really around outside of checkin and for breakfast, so when we had questions about two of our reservations there was nobody there to help, and we ended up being late to two of them (for one we ended up checking with 2 restaurants before finally finding the right one, oops). I'd just try to ask questions about meal reservations/the surrounding area plans you have at checkin rather than later, or be okay with giving them a call on the phone (this is tough if you don't speak Japanese though...). Let me be clear I don't think a lack of english in a more remote area is bad, but because I had some difficulties myself and extra effort was needed to find the place or communicate about food/bill I wanted to give others a heads up! The staff here is kind, warm, and caring, and we had a beautiful stay despite awkward moments being lost in translation or having to problem solve. :) I will definitely come back!

Tout était absolument parfait, des employés à la chambre jusqu’au petit déjeuner. La cadre est magnifique, les employés se donnent sincèrement et se préoccupent vraiment de vous. C’était une expérience parfaite.