Originally Posted by
dtremit
On this trip, we're tentatively planning to start in Osaka and explore the surrounding area, continue to Kyushu to see some highlights of the island, fly to Sapporo, and then finish up with a week in Tokyo.
We'd love to find someplace to spend two or three relaxing nights in the middle of the trip that has a similar vibe to Hakone — something out in nature and with a decent number of relaxing things to do. A small city with nature nearby might be a decent alternative.
Our only major requirement is a nice hotel with Western-style rooms — my cranky knees sadly do not do well on tatami. (Very open to Japanese-style service, so long as there's beds and a comfy chair!) Sadly that rules out a lot of the properties on
KI-NRT 's excellent thread. We're willing to splurge a bit, but we don't have Amanemu money.
Where in Kyushu and Hokkaido will you be visiting?
Kyushu - you might enjoy the town of Yufuin which is a fashionable little onsen town with a lake and some cafes & stores. Enough to "do" for a day other than enjoying onsen and reachable by train. Luxury ryokan Sanso Murata is in Yufuin and perhaps someone else has a good cost performance recommendation for Yufuin. If you're looking for a smaller onsen town feel then Kurokawa is an onsen village with not much else. Takefue is a bit outside Kurokawa's core village and while the smaller rooms aren't as large as the one shown in KI-NRT's thread, the service is good in all rooms. Some rooms have western beds and you'd want to book well in advance. While you can get to Kurokawa by bus, you'd probably want a car to take in local sights & nature around Mt Aso.
Hokkaido - Noboribetsu is one of my favorite onsen towns for the variety of water. There isn't too much to do other than see the outdoor hot springs (skip the bear park). There's other areas like Lake Akan, several ski resorts, and you could also look towards Aomori or Fukushima on Honshu if you're taking the shinkansen back to Tokyo.
You'll find luxury ryokans with western beds in both areas and even some of the mega-ryokan "hotel within hotel" or annex if you'd like to mix super splurge small boutique ryokan and moderate upscale. Be sure to click through the various room types when looking in both categories.
I'm sure several of the more modern styled luxury resorts on KI-NRT's list like FuFu default to western beds.
I'm also a fan of the Kyoritsu chains (more moderate vs KI-NRT luxury level) which include Oyado (the middle ground between a Dormy Inn business hotel and a La Vista resort) which all have western beds and private onsens on first come first serve basis (kashikiri onsen)
https://www.hotespa.net/resort/hotellist/ They have a new resort in Jozankei Onsen which is accessible from Sapporo.