Ryotei Hanzuiryo
I’ve both driven and walked by this property several times over the last eight years but finally had the opportunity to stay there in October. The property is about a 15-minute walk from the Unzen Jigoku (Hell), where steam rises up from the underground geothermal hot springs, creating a steamy hellscape that is Unzen’s main tourist attraction. There are several onsen ryokan right next to the Jigoku, some providing rooms with excellent views of it, but you’ll want to get outside and walk on the extensive meandering walkway that takes you through it. Hanzuiryo was built in 1992 in a traditional ryokan architecture. However, despite a traditional exterior, like many ryokans today, its interior is a hodgepodge of Japanese and Western styles, such as hallways and rooms with wall-to-wall carpeting combined with tatami-floored rooms, and Western-style beds that don’t always mesh well, but after many years, I’ve grown accustomed to Japan's overly pragmatic approach.

To quote from Hanzuiryo’s website, “Ryotei Hanzuiryo has received the highest rating of five stars for accommodations and one star for cuisine in the ‘Michelin Guide Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki 2019 Special Edition’. This is the second hotel in Japan to be awarded in both the accommodation and cuisine categories at the same time.”
https://hanzuiryo.by-onko-chishin.com/en/

Guest check-in lounge

Check-In
The entire resort is located below street level, so you really can’t see any buildings when you drive by, only the resort’s outer wall. We drove to the entrance gate, which was closed, so we pushed an intercom button to talk with staff who opened the automated gate for us. From the gate we drove downhill to the ryokan’s lobby entrance and were met by staff who greeted us, took our bags, and parked our car (valet parking is included in the ryokan fee). We were then ushered into the guest lounge where the check-in occurs. There we sat in comfortable chairs and were served matcha green tea in traditional large tea bowls accompanied by Japanese sweets. Two other parties, one from the U.K. and the other from Taiwan (their second stay), were also checking in so we chatted with them until we were finally escorted outdoors along a stone walkway to our “room.”

Exterior view of the cottage

Room
The room is a two-story cottage connected to other cottages and the onsen baths (public and private) through a long fully carpeted indoor hallway. The standard (basic) rooms are a massive 2,691 sqft. (250 sqm.). The first floor consists mostly of a private dining room where all meals are served and a smaller room where your private room attendant/server prepares teas, beverages, and other items. The attendant also brings the food cooked by the chef at a central kitchen and serves it. The second floor consists of a carpeted bedroom, ours had two Western-style beds, a separate tatami-floored living room with a low table, and two Japanese-style floor chairs. There is also a refrigerator (all drinks in the fridge are complimentary) in a separate area off to the side, a bathing room with a hinoki (cypress) bath, a room with two sinks for washing and brushing one’s teeth, and the toilet is in a separate room. The property has a total of 14 cottages, which were all occupied during our weekend stay.

Room entrance area

Bedroom


Living room

Living room

Sitting area next to the living room

Hinoki bath

Washroom

First-floor private dining room

Garden view from the dining room

Garden view from the dining room

Onsen Baths
There are two main onsen baths on the property, the “East Hot Spring,” which is the public bath for all to use, and the “West Hot Spring,” which is the private bath that can be used by individual parties for free by reserving a time slot. The in-room hinoki bath is not fed by hot springs (onsen) water but is fed by natural water and not tap water. In the changing rooms are baskets for keeping one’s yukata and other clothing, as well as several small security boxes with keys for storing one’s valuables.

The public bath is of a comfortable size consisting of four individual washing stalls and one shower stall and has indoor and outdoor baths along with a sauna and cold bath. Traditional onsen ryokan normally provide only a hot bath, so this spa-like setup was very welcome as we much prefer it to the traditional setup. When I used the public men’s bath in the evening, I was alone for the first hour after which four others came in. In the morning as well, I had the bath mostly to myself with two other guests only briefly showing up.

The private bath is of a similar size and design with the same facilities as the public bath, but I found the public bath to be more attractive with a nicer outdoor view, and more relaxing with the gurgling sound of the trickling water feeding the outdoor bath. At our request, our attendant reserved the private bath for us for an hour on the morning of our checkout. We found the sauna and the bathing water in both baths to be perfect temperature-wise, and the cold-water bath was nice and cold.


Private onsen bath

Private onsen bath


Private onsen bath

Dinner
We chose to eat dinner at 6:00 p.m. and when we walked into our private first-floor dining room, the appetizers were already on the table waiting for us. Our server/attendant (probably called a “butler” [traditionally a male job title] at Western hotel chains, but since women fill this role at Japanese ryokans, I’ve used a different term) welcomed us and proceeded to describe what we were about to eat. We followed along while perusing the beautifully printed menus photographed below. All the food was exquisitely presented in a traditional kaiseki style with a view overlooking the Japanese garden, making us feel as though we might even be in Kyoto.

One after another, the courses continued, one as beautiful as the next, and as one-starred Michelin cuisine, the food was very good, the Nagasaki beef, sashimi, varied dipping sauces, and chestnut ice cream were especially memorable, though some of the dishes were not as sharp or standout taste-wise as I would have expected, it was a highly satisfying and especially filling dinner that ended after two long hours.

Dinner menu


Appetizer

Dinner course

Smokin' vegetables

Vegetable dishes

Nagasaki beef and vegetable dish

Breakfast
The filling dinner made it difficult to sleep, so it was not easy to get up at 6:30 a.m. not fully rested to bathe and return to our room for an 8:30 breakfast. Fortunately, breakfast was not as extensive as dinner, but we found it to be satisfying and delicious, and because of the daylight, we could enjoy the sight of the Japanese garden outside while eating. Once finished, we asked our server to reserve the private onsen bath for us for an hour, which she promptly did, and we were off again to bathe for the second time that morning before the 11:00 a.m. checkout.

Breakfast menu


Breakfast (not the full breakfast, fish and other items were also served)

Service
After check-in and checkout, our only other service engagement was with our private room attendant/server. Whatever we needed, we could direct our requests to her. She was only in our room during meals, but we could reach her by phone as well. We found her friendly, personable, and helpful and throughout dinner, we enjoyed conversing with her and learned that we shared an interest in the same higaeri onsen baths (use of onsen bath only without ryokan stay, which is not available at Hanzuiryo) in Unzen and Shimabara, so we compared notes and shared our favorite places. We were very pleased with the level of service provided by her and the other staff we encountered

Hallway connecting cottages and onsen

Hanzuiryo entry and exit gate

Overall
After staying at Ryotei Hanzuiryo, I consider it and the Mt. Resort Unzen Kyushu Hotel to be the top luxury onsen ryokans in Unzen. TBH, I wish I hadn’t waited so long to finally stay at this property. Considering that you get a Michelin starred breakfast and dinner with a cottage providing 2,691 sqft. of space, a private attendant/server, a public and private onsen bath, and an in-room hinoki bath all for about $1,038/night (taxes and fees included), I think it’s an exceptional value. Because of the filling dinner, we would probably opt for breakfast only on future stays, which would only cost $638/night, quite a bargain IMO, but I would encourage everyone to try the full board option at least once.

For a one-night stay, it is difficult to go sightseeing with all one’s time taken up by eating and bathing, therefore, I would suggest sightseeing before check-in or after checkout. OTOH, a two-night stay would afford sufficient time to sightsee between breakfast and dinner on the second day. The staff was international, at least there was one non-Japanese English-speaking staff that we encountered, but I don’t know if there are any English-speaking room attendants/servers. But since there are many foreign guests at this ryokan, I would imagine they must have some who speak English too. Many of the signs throughout the ryokan were in both Japanese and English.

Ryotei Hanzuiryo is part of Onko Chishin, a chain of 11 hotels and resorts in Japan that also includes Goto Retreat Ray, Iki Retreat (both in Nagasaki Prefecture), and Setouchi Retreat, which are also reviewed in the FT Forum.
https://by-onko-chishin.com/en