Wineshark Nice Hotel Experience - Yunoshimakan (Gero Onsen)

This historic ryokan is located in Gero Onsen, in Gifu Prefecture. We went there from Nagoya after visiting Magome. Gero Onsen is one of the three 'best' onsen according to many Japanese, and Yunoshimakan is one of the most famous there, being a Tangible Cultural Asset recognized by the government.

Its history started in 1927 with the beginning of the construction, and it was opened in 1931. The ryokan was designed to be a 'resort hotel', offering not only the hot spring facilities but also billiards, ballroom, solarium, bar and outdoor tennis courts. The architecture reflected the era, combining traditional Japanese style wooden structure with Western elements. The ryokan also had the honor of hosting the Emperor and Empress in 1958 and 1976.

Arriving a bit early, the staff helped us take our luggage in, and after a short wait we were shown our room, and my wife able to choose her preferred yukata. The first impression walking down the hallway was that the ryokan was quite old as its history implied, and also quite busy with many visitors already waiting to be shown their room.

We booked a room with outdoor bath in the annex wing, Room 402 千種. Through the door there is a small hallway leading to the Japanese style side room and living room, with some interesting 'old' furniture and appliances, like the historic heater and telephone. On the window side there is two seats with table overlooking to the garden outside. Overall it gave us a feel of antiquity, though a bit too dusty and worn.

The bath room is quite small with a single sink, with a bathing area connecting to the outdoor bath. The outdoor bath has no roof, so you can experience the nice (and bad) weather, as experience when I took the bath in the morning when it was raining. The spring water is clear and alkaline, good for relieving muscle pain and fatigue. The bath was a bit too small but overall it was a good experience.

I also went to the public bath, with the large public indoor bath having big windows looking out to the mountain ranges. Fairly basic in terms of the facility, the ventilation was a bit insufficient so making it quite suffocating inside. I didn't spend too long there before going up to the outdoor bath. The outdoor bath is good with a nice view looking out, of decent size to be able to accommodate many bathers. As I strategically come early to enjoy, on the day there were only three of us so I can enjoy my time in great privacy and having good room to relax and admire the beautiful scenery.

For the meals they were served inside our room. The food was generally nice, but I think the service can be improved. The Nakai did a decent job in giving us privacy in eating, however she can maybe recommend how the Hida beef should be best grilled. The small candle and metal plate in my opinion is not hot enough to grill the beef well, and because it was a thick cut the inside was still very raw after a long period of grilling. Maybe I did it wrong, but like I said it would be better if the Nakai can advise us.

The other main issue for having the meal in the room is the strong aromas, particularly the grilled beef. I have to use the deodorant spray many times afterwards to dispel the strong smell in the room, and our clothes inevitably were also affected.

After dinner we walked around the complex, and went to the western wing which got some interesting facilities like the billiard room where the table and everything is by itself an antique. There is also a karaoke and table tennis room. An outdoor foot bath is also available which got a good view.

On the next day we had breakfast in the common room on the 8th floor. A large dining room the food again was quite nice. The coffee and tea was self-serviced but the quality of the coffee was quite terrible.

Overall I think the ryokan is a bit too outdated and may not offer the comfort that you might want to experience in one. If you want to come and immerse in the history of the ryokan it would be nice but other than that there is not much that really impress.

The cost for me in this stay is 57,672 yen, and my rating is 6.2/10.