Yunohana Resort Suisen

“So Relaxing”

This was our first stay at an onsen and it didn't disappoint. The baths were relaxing, my partner got an amazing massage, and the beds were so comfortable with pillows unlike any we'd seen before, but made for sleeping with excellent posture. We woke up refreshed, relaxed, and feeling great. Ther… lisää

This was our first stay at an onsen and it didn't disappoint. The baths were relaxing, my partner got an amazing massage, and the beds were so comfortable with pillows unlike any we'd seen before, but made for sleeping with excellent posture. We woke up refreshed, relaxed, and feeling great. There are a couple of things to know, however. First, the meals, while fresh and overall very good, give you a little bit of everything. It's all traditional, and we didn't like all of it. However, we liked most of it and left full after dinner and breakfast. If you're on a time schedule the next day, check the information that they give you. The information on the email they sent us, told us pickup from the north exit from the train station at 1:30pm (this happened and they were early), and back at the train station north exit at 11:00 the next morning (this is the problem). With that information, we booked an 11:20 train back to Kyoto with a transfer to the bullet train for our trip to Osaka. However, they planned to have us leave the Onsen at 11:00, arriving at the train station at 11:30. This would have made us miss our bullet train to Osaka, on which we'd already purchased tickets. Luckily, we caught the misunderstanding just in time, but had to rush. Also luckily, there was another couple that needed to leave at 10:00, so they put us on the 10:00 shuttle and we made all of our connections. Just make sure when you get that email, you know you'll be at the station at 11:30 and make plans accordingly.

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“Quite possibly the best Onsen ryokan within close proximity to Kyoto”

If you want a stay at a bona fide luxury Onsen (natural hot springs) Onsen within a stone's throw from Kyoto, this is as good as it gets. Kyoto City proper isn't known for Onsen; in fact, there are very few - if any - luxury hotels or ryokans in the city that offer in-room free-flowing, straight-fr… lisää

If you want a stay at a bona fide luxury Onsen (natural hot springs) Onsen within a stone's throw from Kyoto, this is as good as it gets. Kyoto City proper isn't known for Onsen; in fact, there are very few - if any - luxury hotels or ryokans in the city that offer in-room free-flowing, straight-from-the-source, never recirculated hot springs baths. When they say "Onsen" in Kyoto, it usually means the Onsen is trucked in from somewhere and recirculated. Kameoka is a city on the outskirts of Kyoto and just 30 minutes away by direct train via JR, and from there it's a 15 minute courtesy shuttle ride to Kyo Yunohana Resort Suisen (that's its full name.) Kameoka is valley that is known to be perpetually foggy, making it ideal for growing a wide variety of produce. In fact, it is one of the important food production areas in the Kansai region. First off, while on the face of it Suisen might appear expensive, it's actually an excellent value given what you get, and when you consider the alternatives (which doesn't exist.) And, if you compare it to the nicer properties in Hakone, for instance, it's downright inexpensive. Every single one of the 13 rooms have open-air Onsen baths on the balcony, and base room rates are less than 40,000 yen per person per night, half board. In addition, the entry-level rooms are not at all constricting; they're over 50 square meters in size. The property is relatively compact, but they make good use of the comparatively limited space - the property grounds are thin and long, but there is a small creek running through the grounds, with a dry rock garden on one side and an embankment with a forested garden on the other side - it also houses the one private rental Onsen bath. Speaking of the rental bath, it's available only to paid guests and costs a whopping 3500 yen per hour - whether it's worth it is a personal decision, especially when every room already has its own open-air Onsen bath. That said, the walk across the creek and up the stairs to the rental bath structure is an enchanting one, and the Onsen itself is a pretty rock bath. If you're looking to maximize your hot springs experience, why not? That's what we did, anyway. In addition to the in-room Onsen and the rental bath, there is also a communal, gender-segregated one as well. I visited just before dinner, and I had the place all to myself - I'm assuming most guests simply use the bath in their room. Anyways, it was pure bliss. There is both an indoor and outdoor bath. We were really looking forward to the highly regarded kaiseki cuisine, especially given that On the cuisine department, Suisen did not disappoint. Fall (and Spring) is generally considered the best season for the best produce, seafood and wild vegetables in the country - Early Fall offers newly-harvested rice as well as numerous mountain vegetables like wild parsley, bracken, matsutake mushrooms, lotus roots and mustard greens. Using these ingredients, the kitchen staff artfully crafted some unique dishes that were unmistakenly kaiseki but had their own twists to the formula. The steamed Yuba (Tofu skin) with Tofu Mochi beneath it, with both in a simple yet sublime dashi broth was simple yet unique at the same time, and was wonderful in taste. The simmered vegetables in a semi-sweet broth was prepared to perfection, as was the Nagaimo (Japanese mountain yam) paste with Shrimp that was steamed and then deep-fried with thin somen noodles. Of all of the servings, the next-to-last one was a bit underwhelming - the Octopus cooked with rice in a clay pot was somewhat disappointing. It wasn't bad at all, but given that it's newly-harvested rice season, we would have preferred perfectly steamed rice with some excellent condiments to round out the savory part of the dinner. Breakfast was as delightful of an experience as dinner, which is saying something. Sanma (Pacific Saury) is a very common fish in Japan, but they grilled and flavored it to perfection. And the various condiments to accompany the (thankfully) steamed white rice were all awesome. The corn dressing for the salad was homemade, and they even sell the dressing in their boutique - it was fabulous; we bought two bottles to take home with us. Overall, we enjoyed our stay at Suisen. While I wouldn't quite put it in the same class as, say, Asaba or Takefue, its accessibility from Kyoto, legit Onsen, and succulent cuisine makes Suisen a great option for people that want to try out a ryokan but don't have the time or energy to go farther afield for such an experience. It's a darned good value, too. Since it's so accessible from/to Kyoto, I wouldn't advise non-veteran Japan travelers to spend too much time touring Kameoka. However - one of the fun things to do is taking the Hozu River boat from Kameoka down to Arashiyama (home of the Bamboo Grove.) It's a 20 minute cab ride to the boat dock, and it's a scenic, leisurely, 2-hour ride down Hozu River (which, by the way changes its name to the Katsura River at Arashiyama.) Other potential activities in the area include some historic temple visits (very uncrowded compared to the famous ones in Kyoto), Strawberry picking during the Winter months, and a very pretty Cosmos flower garden that is photogenic in the Fall.

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“Best Ryokan experience ever”

Hands down the BEST ryokan experience ever. I stayed in a different one of the same scale in 2017 but Suisen blows it out of the water. From the service, food, environment and just attention to detail, everything is just top notch here. We got the room with private onsen and the room was huge! Had… lisää

Hands down the BEST ryokan experience ever. I stayed in a different one of the same scale in 2017 but Suisen blows it out of the water. From the service, food, environment and just attention to detail, everything is just top notch here. We got the room with private onsen and the room was huge! Had separate bathroom with shower/tub, a makeup room, living room and huge bedroom. The private onsen was nice on the balcony as well. We also booked the private onsen and that was 100% worth it. The outdoor views are simply stunning and they also give you little drinks in the fridge. Next is the food, the lounge offers unlimited ice cream, cookies and coffee. The fridge in our room was also loaded with different types of drinks, beers etc The dinner and breakfast was on another level. We were amazed by every course, each was a work of art and taste did not disappoint. Chef Kobayashi really knows his food and what works together. The staff was always friendly, and eager to help. The stay was only 1 night but we will be thinking back on it for a long time.

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“Outstanding!”

Wow wow wow. Staying here was the highlight of our trip and absolutely worth the expense. We were treated like royalty. From the moment we arrived our bags were whisked away, the room was spectacular overlooking the cherry blossoms, and having our own private hot tub was an experience like no other… lisää

Wow wow wow. Staying here was the highlight of our trip and absolutely worth the expense. We were treated like royalty. From the moment we arrived our bags were whisked away, the room was spectacular overlooking the cherry blossoms, and having our own private hot tub was an experience like no other. They stocked the fridge with a variety of complimentary drinks and were able to accommodate our dietary limitations. We absolutely loved going to dinner in our hotel provided pajamas. The attention to detail is really wonderful. When you get to dinner, they ask you to remove your slippers, but there’s a heated floor mat to keep your feet warm. There’re a TV in the ceiling above the beds so you don’t have to strain your neck. There is complimentary Nespresso coffee and ice cream in the lobby. The spa was nothing to write home about, but was fine. Our only disappointment was that we couldn’t stay longer!

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