Originally Posted by
JustRIce
Mr. KI-NRT, I am in absolute awe of your ryokan knowledge. and was hoping you might do me a favor. Would you be able to recommend 2 ryokans for consideration for my family for a June visit? We are a multi-generational family of 5 (myself, my wife, my father in-law, my mother in-law, and an 11 year old daughter). We plan on visiting Tokyo and Kyoto, with some forays into Nara, Osaka, and Kobe. We have not been to Japan previously and do not speak Japanese. Budget is inconsequential, we are looking for the most comfortable ryokans (western-style beds) with the best food and in-room onsens.
I greatly appreciate any attention you can give to this!
I'm assuming you'll need two rooms, and June isn't that far away so some of the below properties might have their top rooms booked up already.
For your first trip, I suggest you go to Hakone, as it's the easiest to get too and there are plenty of things to do in the area. It's a 90 minute train ride on the Romancecar from Shinjuku Station. Easy as pie.
Get one of the suites at Gora Hanaougi Madoka no Mori, or one of the suites (or, worst case, junior suites) at Gora Hanaougi. Gora Kadan is always a solid choice, but some of the rooms are quite small - if they're available, I'd go with Akebono or Akatsuki, with the fallback being Kadan Suite Aoi. Hakone Suishoen offers both kaiseki and teppanyaki, so if you're staying for multiple nights, it's a nice option.
Gen Hakone is highly regarded (we haven't stayed), with spacious rooms, but it's an auberge property so if you want kaiseki this won't work for you.
Another option is Fufu Nikko. It's a 2 hour train ride from Tokyo Station if you take the Shinkansen to Utsunomiya Station, and then transferring on the Nikko Line to Nikko Station.
The absolute top ryokan (somewhat) near Tokyo is Asaba in the Izu Peninsula; however, it's a bit less convenient to get to vs. Hakone. However, if you're motivated to have the best onsen ryokan experience near Tokyo, this is my top choice. See my review of Asaba above.
From Kyoto, it's a bit trickier - not as many good options within a 2 hour distance by train. Kaga Onsen is probably the only possibility; it's a 1 hour 45 minute train (you'll need to change lines at Tsuruga Station). Beniya Mukayu and Kayotei are among the top ryokans in the area. Kinosaki Onsen (home of Nishimuraya Honkan) is 2.5 hours by limited express train; unfortunately, none of the ryokans in town are allowed to offer in-room onsen so you're out of luck there.