I recently stayed in two places in Hyogo, and though they were priced about the same, the experiences were totally different. The first place is obviously making an effort to up its game, and the second sitting back and relying on location rather than the facility to bring in the customers.

The first was near Asago and was �24,000 on a Saturday night. It had been renovated 4 years ago and was spotless. Staff were great. Free espresso from a machine in the lobby. Ice bucket brought immediately. Room had decent beds (on new tatami oddly), 4 outlets, hot water heater, drip coffee, green tea, new washlet, nice interior lighting etc. There was a public onsen downstairs that was pretty nice. Our dinner for two was in a small dining room downstairs and was excellent, with some interesting descriptions of the local dishes. The only downside was the BGM loop of 60 seconds of classical piano that echoed throughout the building. It was soft, but had a crescendo we could hear easily in the room. I mentioned it to the staff early the next morning, and he seemed genuinely surprised we could hear it in our room. He shut it off, and at checkout again apologized for disturbing us all night. They were very excited to hear we had seen the undai surrounding Takeda Castle early in the morning, as that is there main local feature.

The second place was in Kinosaki and �27,000 on a Sunday night. The staff were quite welcoming, and our ice bucket came quickly. They were very helpful with the yukata wearing (harder than it looks for women). The decor was 1970s, and the interior of the room had such ancient features as a huge steel safe (with key), old tatami, a dial phone, one outlet, a 1970s fridge, a thermos of hot water and a 1970s/80s washlet in a tiny toilet. Stained carpet on the sitting area overlooking the river, train tracks and road. The train is not all that frequent, perhaps once an hour, but it and trucks passing by were quite audible. Small, rundown public bath, but they did provide an onsen ticket good for 24hours at seven baths in town. Dinner was in another room identical to ours that had been set up for dining. The food was excellent, but no descriptions of the dishes. When we asked for a second ice bucket at 10pm the man at the desk (owner perhaps) said there was a �400 charge.

To be blunt, I'm not sure what the point of this post is if you're not even naming the hotels/ryokan in question.

I interpret it as some of the JP booking sites will list the year the property was last refurbished, room listings with mention of refurbishment/"annex" (possibly newer build), and some of the more well known places may not have modernized.

I've also learned to pay attention when booking "famous" ryokans/hotels in "famous" onsen towns like Beppu, Kinosaki, Dogo, Noboribetsu, and Nyuto. I've encountered ryokans resting on laurels and ambivalent service for a ryokan at the level it was known for. It's fine if I've set expectations accordingly and want to enjoy the onsen facilities at almost all hours of day and night but sometimes I'd rather stay at a smaller and modern hotel/ryokan nearby (with a lot less cost, quiet, cozy, & everything clean) and visit with a day pass.

I was making a general point that some traditional hotels have taken modernization seriously as tourism has increased over the last decade, but those with a guaranteed clientele due to location may be less likely to do so. Certainly, the wave of newer business hotels has been huge.

https://kozyo-ryokan.com/
http://www.kinosaki-kourakuen.com/

I'm sorry, I still don't quite get the point - the first one requires either a car or a bus that comes four times a day (assuming Google Maps is accurate) and the second is in an extremely famous resort area with direct train service to Osaka and Kyoto. Despite being in the same prefecture they will have very different target markets and obviously the former would have to try harder.

As a perhaps extreme example, for many tourists (I appreciate others especially locals may feel differently) there is pretty much nothing the first one could do to make them visit because the location and fame-level of the nearby sights are just not enough of a draw.

Now if we were comparing two ryokans in Kinosaki Onsen (or two places in rural Hyogo) then I can see the point of checking when the place was last refurbished, whether it's facing a major road/train track, reading reviews on Jalan/rakuten etc. and choosing on this basis.

Edit: the first place's onsen is artificial (presumably hot water + manually added minerals) which will also limit the price they can command.

Exactly. I too prefer a newer/renovated room over a bigger older room most of the time.
I'd also add Arima to your list.