I'd go so far as to say that, as a first-time, there isn't really much point in paying anything over Y15,000/person for a ryokan. My first "ryokan" experience was as the solitary guest of a Y5000-a-night-with-two-meals minshuku, and I found everything about it (sleeping on tatami! japanese breakfast! outdoor hot spring! so many slippers!) utterly amazing. If you add a zero to the end of that price tag, you'll get more expensive sashimi, more skillful ikebana and a scroll by a world-famous calligrapher you've never heard of hanging in your tokonoma, but can you appreciate this enough to make up the difference in the price tag? I'm as big a Japan/ryokan/luxury hotel fan as they get, and I doubt I could.