We've visited Beppu on numerous occasions, as it's home to some of the best Onsen in Japan. Located along the East coast Oita Prefecture on the Southern island of Kyushu, Beppu is home to the most productive Onsen area in Japan (over 2000 in total), discharging 130,000 tons of natural hot spring every day - second only to Yellowstone National Park. It also accounts for 10% of all of the steam vents in the country - it's a remarkable sight, where Steam is literally rising from every pore of the city.


View of the pool from the lounge area

This time, we went as part of a multi-generational family trip to celebrate our anniversary - we took along Mrs. KI-NRT's relatives, including her mother. In all, we were a group of 11, divided into 4 separate rooms including two families with two small children each. We flew into Oita Airport, which is served from both Tokyo (Haneda) and Osaka (Itami), and then rented two vans at Toyota Rent a Car at Oita Airport (it's about a 45 minute drive from the Airport to central Beppu.) Beppu does not have a Takefue or Asaba-type ryokan, but in this case, it's just as well that it didn't - many of the very top family-run ryokans (and some smaller mid-range ones) have age restrictions, while the vast majority of Beppu ryokans do not. It partly has to do with the fact that it's a rather large city (instead of a small Onsen town) with lots of young families paying it a visit. Also, many of the properties are larger than in smaller Onsen towns - couples tend to gravitate towards more intimate ryokans in smaller towns, including nearby Yufuin, which is just 30 minutes away.


10F "Special room"

Amane Resort Gahama (also often referred to as "Gahama Terrace") is a luxury ryokan that opened in 2016, and features 31 rooms, all with in-room Onsen. 17 of them are villas, while the rest of the 14 rooms are situated in a tower building on floors 3-10 (2 rooms on each floor.) We went for rooms in the tower, partly because it offers better views of the ocean, and we Mrs. KI-NRT's mother has mobility issues - the only Villas with a view are maisonette style units, and stairs are a no-go for her. All of the rooms in the tower are very spacious, with the main difference being the view. For instance, one of the rooms was on the third floor, and the view was slightly obstructed by the roofs of the villas below. The 5F room, by comparison, had uninterrupted views, so anything above that level should be more than satisfactory if a good view is important to you. The two rooms on the top floor (10F) are called "Special" rooms - aside from being on a higher vantage point, I didn't see notice any difference. In fact, I preferred the rooms on 3F and 5F... although they're all supposedly 90mē in interior size, the "Special" room was junior suite in layout - if your preference is to have a separate bedroom/living room, then I'd skip it and save some money in the process. Also, while the other rooms offered both an indoor and open-air Onsen, the Special room had an indoor Onsen and an outdoor, non-Onsen jacuzzi. I enjoy jacuzzis as much as the next person, but that's not what we came for, and I see this as a big demerit on Amane's part.



Gahama is the sister property to somewhat larger (and original) Amane Resort Seikai, which is a few minutes walk away. Guests staying at one ryokan have access to facilities (including restaurants) at the other, which, in my mind, was a requirement for us rather than a nice-to-have. We stayed for 2 nights, so we wanted to try out both the kaiseki dinner (at Gahama) and the French cuisine (at Seikai.) Breakfast wise, Gahama serves a Japanese set meal, whereas Seikai dishes up a wonderful buffet, which the kids really enjoyed Also, the large communal Onsens are only found in Seikai, which is something that isn't necessary for adults staying at either property but great fun for kids. Gahama and Seikai are bisected a large home furniture store called Nitori, and it's a 5 minute walk through the parking lot to get from one property to the other, or a 1 minute complimentary golf cart ride (available on demand.)


View from the 10F room balcony

We found the ryokan to be very child-friendly; they had pint-sized Pokemon slippers for use in the room, and also Yukata robes and Samue (buddhist-style "pajamas," for lack of a better description) that were also suitable for even a 2-year old. They also offered a very nice kid's meal for both dinner and breakfast - all of the children in our group scarfed down every item that was offered, all with a big smile.


Indoor free-flowing Onsen; open-air jacuzzi (not Onsen)

We had all of our meals in a private room (with the exception of the buffet breakfast at Seikai.) Meals were of very high quality - not Ishiharaso or Asaba quality, but it was still very satisfying. Both the kaiseki and French offerings took advantage of the bounty from Oita's waters as well as the high quality fruits and vegetables, many of which are grown on very productive volcanic soil. They served lobster sashimi as well as steamed local abalone, both of which were caught not far from Beppu and were both absolutely amazing.


Kaiseki dinner at Amane Resort Gahama's Kappou Matsuhide restaurant - sashimi platter

Is Gahama (and Seikai too, for that matter) worthy of a stay for adults? I'd say so - service is polished, the atmosphere is serene, the Ocean views are calming, and even if there are children staying there (we didn't see any other kids during our stay), we've found Japanese youngsters to generally be well behaved. That said, for a truly tranquil, intimate and luxurious Onsen ryokan experience, I would skip Beppu altogether and pay a visit to Yufuin (30 minutes from Beppu) or Kurokawa Onsen (a 75-minute drive away in Kumamoto Prefecture.)


French dinner at Amane Resort Seikai's Bistro vent nouVeau restaurant

A few additional notes: Although both Amane ryokans offer amazing views of the Ocean, location wise it's not close to the main attractions such as the "Beppu Hells" - it's about a 10 minute drive away. Also, the entrance faces a large and busy boulevard, with the furniture store and KFC serving as quite an eyesore as you arrive to the property. However, once inside, it's completely from the elements (including noise) that we were able to have a relaxing time while enjoying the views of the sea.

Which Amane resort to choose? It's really a toss-up. If you intend to frequent the communal Onsens, then Seikai is the obvious choice. Aesthetically, they are somewhat similar, although Gahama is a bit newer, has slighly less rooms and has a more airy, Japanese-modern aesthetic compared to the Bali-esque interior of Seikai.