Ryokans in Zao Onsen

The rooms were very spacious and the food was exceptionally. It was a fantastic authentic experience.

The food and service were excellent. Staff were very nice.

We had an excellent stay, food and presentations were exquisite. We admired the thought that went into presenting food in dishes that are compatible with the “mood” of the food. Only 5 minutes walk to the lift. Staff were professional, rooms were comfortable and clean. We really enjoyed our stay.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Having stayed at Zao Onsen thirty years ago when I worked in Japan, I wanted to share the Zao Onsen experience with my husband, and chose this hotel on the basis of the photos and reviews on Booking.com. On arrival, it all seemed very familiar. After experiencing the onsen bath, and the location of our room, I'm quite sure I had chosen the same hotel where I stayed back then! Obviously it has been quite recently refurbished, but there are some parts that don't change so much. We opted to have dinner at the hotel, which was excellent. Due to some confusion about exactly where the Z90 bus for Zao Onsen left Yamagata city,we missed the bus we wanted to take, so arrived around 6.45pm. (According to Google Maps, we could catch the Z90 from a stop about 50 yards from our previous hotel, but the reception staff there insisted we had to go to Yamagata station... so we missed the bus by one minute. After an hour and a half wait for the next one, the first stop after Yamagata station was, yes, you guessed it, 50 yards from our previous hotel!) As dinner is set out with fresh ingredients to be cooked at your table, you can't be later than 7pm. There is a shuttle bus from the hotel to Zao bus termius, but we didn't know about it, so walked to the hotel. Unfortunately, the short cut route we had planned was closed due to road works, so it was a much longer, and steeper, walk. The next morning, we got the shuttle bus to the bus terminus to return to Yamagata city. The onsen is really wonderful. Zao has a very special PH balance to the water. The bath at this onsen is superb.

You get well beyond what you paid for, comfortable bedding and pillow. Owner was super helpful and friendly.

The hospitality and service provided by the staff - they sent us to the bus station when needed, allowed us to use the bath after coming from an overnight bus, and changed our rooms when the heater wasn't working.

free onsen. very close to ski rental shop and snowboarding instructor. fairly close to the ski ropes and the gondola to see the snow monster. has an equipment room to store your ski / snowboarding gears. nice authentic dinner and breakfast provided by the hotel.

Thank you for the stay, everything was perfect. Highly recommend to anyone who would like to stay in traditional ryokan and enjoy onsen in a beautiful place

We chose half board when booking the rooms. Love the breakfast and set dinner. Generous amount of food and very thoughtful kids menu. Outdoor onsen is superb. Rooms are spacious and clean.

The staff members are all kind and provided me free shuttle services to cable cars. Though the facilities are not brand new but it is reminiscent of my childhood as most items in the hotel are the same ones we used in my old family house. Besides, they are all well kept. Obviously it is clean and bright.