We have just completed an amazing 11-night ryokan road trip in Japan. Thanks to Keita, without this post we would not have been able to discover so many gems.
Asan Kotonami - 4/5 (1 night)
We loved the onsen here the most out of all ryokans. The building and rooms are very new and impeccably well maintained. We stayed in room type A ourselves and even though it was relatively small, it was extremely cosy, functional and tastefully designed. We particularly loved the outdoor private onsen in our room. Service was very friendly and attentive. Meals were served in a semi-private room shared with 2 other tables. The food was decent but nothing to write home about. It definitely isn’t the most luxurious experience but we enjoyed it thoroughly and would definitely love to return if we visit Kawaga again.
Room tips: We were with family friends and booked room type A, type D and type F. Type A is ideal for 2 persons. It’s located to the side so it enjoys a private mountain view and is more private. We didn’t particularly like the view from room type D - there wasn't much to see and everyone in the carpark and front door could look onto the balcony. If you are travelling with kids, room type F is ideal. One night here would suffice.
Fufu Nikko - 5/5 (2 nights)
This was our first Fufu experience and wow what a way to start. Everything here is impeccable, from the moment you step into the hotel, you know that you are in good hands. Every single staff was lovely to interact with, service was personable and extremely proactive and attentive. Food was great and the drinks selection was decent - they offered an agreeable champagne for free drink happy hour and if you want something nicer, the Dom Perignon 2013 was at an extremely reasonable price. The hotel had a feeling of a luxury safari tent or of the best of Amans. It is everything that a luxury hotel/ryokan could and should be. Even the other guests were all courteous, polite and friendly. We were constantly surprised by all the small gestures and stuff that the staff prepared for us. We won’t go into too much detail as we don’t want to spoil it for you, but if you were to visit Japan, you must make a detour to visit Fufu Nikko. It’s just THAT good.
Room: We stayed at the lowest room category Stylish Suite. We were perfectly happy with it. We feel that rooms on the first floors offer easiest accessibility. We would likely be staying for 3 nights for our next visit, as Nikko has so much to offer and is the highlight of our trip.
Fufu Kyu-Karuizawa - 2.5/5 (1 night)
Coming from Fufu Nikko, we had high expectations and we couldn’t be more wrong. As with the streets and buildings in the area, this hotel has a much smaller footprint than the one at Nikko. Even though the hotel itself is nicely decorated, everything, i.e. the rooms, lounge and restaurant, face towards the same small inner courtyard, it feels pretty much like a zoo as you can see all the guests going into and coming out of their rooms when you are enjoying your drinks or your meal.
However the real let down is the service. We felt that the staff here were mostly quite young and not really well trained, hence the service was at an extremely unacceptable level.
At arrival, not all of the staff would greet us. At check-in we were asked to sign an agreement about the T&Cs of staying at the hotel, which is the only hotel out of 4 Fufu hotels we stayed at that required it. The check-in staff for us, who had a Chinese surname, was a bit cold and incompetent. We requested a change of breakfast time and the lighting of the fireplace when he showed us the room, which out of 2 tasks he completed a grand total of zero. When we got to the lounge for the free flow drinks, the wines were quite undrinkable. Which is fine with us and we asked for the drinks menu, then the staff told us the drinks were offered for free and pointed us to the counter. We asked for the bar menu at 16:00, which they told us the bar is only open from 17:00 and couldn’t offer us drinks. After some back and forth we got the bar menu later but it was mostly whisky, so naturally we asked for the restaurant drink list. And of course we were told no again at first, then I had to explain we prefer wines/champagne/sake, then they had to check and after some more wait, they relented. Everything here just took a lot of effort, it’s the exact opposite of a luxury experience. We didn’t ask for stuff because we felt it would either get lost in translation or simply not worth the hassle and effort. When we left the hotel and came back the next morning after an excursion outside, the front entrance was unmanned, unlike Fufu Nikko. The reception lady indoor just looked at us and ignored us without any greeting.
Food and staff at the restaurant however were great. We enjoyed the meals and service there was great for both dinner and breakfast. However, since the hotel is smaller, the seats are less private and more closely placed together compared to Fufu Nikko. For beverages, they also only just offered Billecart but no Dom perignon for those who care, and the sake list wasn’t particularly interesting either. To their credit the NZ sauvignon blanc on the list was actually a decently easy drinking one at a very reasonable price.
I think if one must visit the Komuba pond, which is stunning during autumn foliage, then this hotel is in the perfect location. If you can accept the relatively negative aspects of the hotel, then it might be worth considering. But personally I think there are many more better locations and hotels to stay at in Japan.
Room: We stayed in a comfort suite 104, which was quite nicely decorated. But there is a house outside with a direct view into our room, so the rooms on this side don’t offer much privacy.
Fuefukigawa Onsen Zabou 4/5 (1 night)
We made a plan to stop by Kosho in between our trip from Karuizawa to Kawaguchiko. Couldn’t have been more glad to visit this more traditional ryokan, after days of staying at a modern Ryokan/Hotel at Fufu groups. Service here was great and the staff tried very hard. Even though a lot of them didn’t speak English, it wasn’t an issue at all, in fact it made the stay more authentic for foreigners like us! The winery visit was well organised, again even though it was in Japanese, we were given a detailed translation of the tour. The wines were understandably not the best wines one could ever find (lack of concentration, complexity and depth and generally too sweet), it was still very interesting to see how they produce wines in this part of the world. They also organised a night view tour every night but we didn’t partake.
The room itself was the main highlight, we stayed in Kotogawa which had a balcony and shower/onsen right next to the koi pond. They even kindly provided fish food as well. We also quite liked the onsen there as we felt the quality was pretty good, to our untrained and foreign sense anyway. F&B was decent, although not outstanding, but you wouldn’t expect to find world class cuisine in Kosho anyway. Overall we enjoyed the stay and I think it’s worth visiting at least once just for the outdoor onsen with the koi pond. Erinji temple in the area is also stunning.
Room: We stayed in 琴川 (Kotogawa). This is a place where I feel you have to stay at the top category rooms to make it worthwhile. We were worried about the coldness of an outdoor shower and having to couch down to avoid splashing water into the koi pond, but it was actually not much of a chore and didn’t impact the experience in any way.
Fufu Kawaguchiko - 4.75/5
Lake Kawaguchiko was extremely crowded as we arrived on a clear day on a Sunday. Fufu here acted as a perfect sanctuary from that. We got a warm welcome from the staff, and it feels that the service here is friendly, maybe a bit more informal compared to Nikko, but in a good way. The view was superb, while it won’t match that of Ubuya’s, the rest of the stay will be much better. The room we were in showed signs of wear and tear, but was still in a good shape and was tastefully designed and comfortable. F&B was great, they offered an extensive list of premier champagnes, bordeaux wines and premium sake - they even had 3 different versions of Junyodai! If you visit here, you must also pay Morita-san at the bar a visit. He is extremely friendly, funny and makes world class cocktails. The fruit cocktails he made were hands down at least on par with the best Japanese bars in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. The GM also came to greet us during our meal to check on us. The only reason why we didn’t give a 5-star is that the restaurant could be very noisy at dinner, especially at around 7. It’s partly because of the design of the open-kitchen and the closely placed-together tables, partly because there are more rooms here, and partly because of some unruly guests. We could hear guests speaking Mandarin 3 tables to our left the whole meal, guests speaking Cantonese behind us, and an eastern European guest to our right speaking on the phone at his seat, and some guests to my left watching Mandarin speaking videos with speaker on to my left. I guess that kind of sums up Mt Fuji and the five lakes area in peak autumn foliage season.
Room: We stayed in the comfort suite as the better ones got booked out. We were luckily placed on the 3rd floor which gave us a view of both the lake and mt Fuji. I think it won’t be possible to see the lake from the 2nd floor and rooms on the 1st floor won’t have any views to speak of. Please correct me if I’m wrong here.
Asaba - 4.5/5
From the moment we arrived, we were taken away by how stunningly beautiful this ryokan is. Everything is tastefully designed and at times it feels more like a museum than a ryokan. We loved our room Hagi which faced the pond. We also absolutely loved the food that was served here - the ingredients were very fresh and the dishes, to our palate, were better than the ones at Fufu (and mind you, food is a strong point across all Fufu properties). Our room attendant, Yoko, was also friendly, knowledgeable on a lot of things and had a cool personality. The tatami was also plush and very comfortable, possibly the best futons we have ever slept on.
What wasn’t so great for us, however, was the lack of proficiency in English. There were a couple of service lapse, which we assume is due to language barriers despite what we thought was clear communication and acknowledgment. We feel that it should be better for Japanese speaking guests. We also feel that most staff here were a little bit old and feel that we might be a bit too young to be a guest, I’m not sure how we got the feeling but just didn’t click for us. For the room, it lacked the normal skincare amenities of an onsen ryokan and the hairdryer was very weak, which would pose an issue for the ladies or gents with long hair. Service here, while good, was not great per se. In the end we had a good stay here but were not blown away.
Room: We stayed at Hagi room, which is adequately sized for two and enjoyed a great view of the garden. Would happily stay there again if we return. One night would be enough given the very small size of the Shuzenji town.
Suishoen 5/5
From the moment we parked our car at the entrance, we were constantly blown away by the service. Our room Hagi was decently sized and comes with all the amenities one could expect at a Fufu property. What made this place stand out was the constant amazing, attentive and proactive service by literally all the staff, kind of like Fufu Nikko. Everyone seemed to be very passionate about their job and made sure all the guests were well taken care of. The teppanyaki head chef cared if the guests enjoyed the food and was very attentive. When my wife got up for the washroom and other service staff were busy, he spoke into a microphone and other staff would magically popped up and showed her the way. After dinner they also offered to serve dessert and carry the remaining bottle of the champagne into our room. And then moments lady a waitress would show up in our room with the dessert and the champagne in an ice bucket, drenched in the pouring rain. And as with the service level here, she would be wiping off the rain on the serum wrap while saying sumimasen. It was to the point that we felt bad to have accepted the offer to have the dessert in-room, and I don’t think we have ever felt bad receiving service at a luxury hotel. We are not sure what is the proper way to show our appreciation other than writing a commendation email, as Fufu staff don’t accept tips.
We rounded up the trip with a couple of nights at Peninsula Tokyo, which was a great city hotel as always in the perfect location. I was initially a bit worried about a 11-night ryokan trip might be too much, but in the end all the great cuisine, onsen and sightseeing around Kanto area was very enjoyable for us. Fufu properties, with the exception of Kyu-Karuizawa, were so great in terms of services and F&B. It is also astonishingly good value, especially if you consider the hotel prices around the world post-pendemic. Every single meal we have had was better than any meals we have ever had at any Aman properties across the world. To top it off, all the beverages, spa massages and private excursions were equally very reasonably priced. Thanks once again to Keita for the thread and I hope this review helps my fellow FTers.
Last edited by RichardInSF; Dec 11, 2024 at 10:31 pm
Reason: Removed boldface of entire post