The atmosphere and ambiance are very peaceful. This is a place to stay if you want to have a nice ryokan and onsen experience. Everything is basically straightforward. Staff is not proficient in english, but if you use google Translate, that will help. The food was great with japanese traditional breakfast and dinner. The whole experience was excellent. The onsen was also good. So if you like onsen, most likely, this is a place to go.

Just communication is hard for non japanese speaker

Close to the train station by taxi. Reception was excellent. Check-in was a little difficult, because of my inability to understand the Japanese language. The room was exceptional because of the River view and the wonderful sound that it projected! I slept with the window open to receive this 'background' concert... there was no need of using the A/C or room heater. The Onsen was very good. The available amenities (Nihonshu sampling), free soft serve, free matcha tea service, created smiles. We also had an early departure, and the staff accommodated us with an extra early time to begin our breakfast meal. The staff reserved a taxi for us, right on time for us to make our train connection. I have NO complaint about this hotel. I would definitely attempt to make a return visit.

The AI email system kept sending communication in Japanese. I had to utilize my own preference to view these messages in English.

Mainly stayed here for the public Onsen facilities, which were fantastic. Japanese style room was lovely, staff prepared the mattresses daily for us & put them away each morning. Breakfast was delicious, set dinner too although limited options when we checked in on Monday, think the main restaurant was closed. Looks like we could have got a much better price online than through booking.com, which was our one main disappointment. Otherwise highly recommend.

This recently and very tastefully renovated onsen was delightful. With an excellent location in a valley on the fringe of Aizuwakamatsu, but only a short bus or taxi ride away from the centre of town (a regular bus service stops right outside the ryokan) we enjoyed the view of a rapidly flowing stream with beautiful waterfalls and bamboo groves from our room, the lounge, banquet hall and baths. Our room was very spacious, comfortable and nicely furnished, with a small wooden bath, and in excellent condition. Our meals, served in the cavernous and rather characterless "banquet hall" (surprising as the rest of the ryokan. was so tastefully decorated), were excellent, generously sized and delicious. Both the indoor and outdoor baths were superb - large, well appointed, spotlessly clean, atmospheric and well maintained - and all of the staff were very kind and pleasant. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in this lovely onsen and thought it offered excellent value for money.

The banquet hall seemed to be understaffed as service was quite slow.

The man out front helping with parking and the man assisting in the restaurant were exceptional and extremely helpful and friendly. In general, they were all extremely good, given the language barrier. The private bath, with the view of the falls, is wonderful. For anyone over 5' 5" or 175 cm, be aware that the building is 135 yrs old, so has low beams in some areas.

Lack of guidance from the station to the hotel. Once we were there, we were able to find out how to navigate around town.

Probably the best place we stayed in the two weeks in Japan. Everything is perfect! Highly recommend for anyone reading this to take the effort to go, be it driving there or taking the train. Plus point it the private onsens are really affordable. Don’t save your money just splurge it on the private onsens they offer!

If there is one thing I didn’t like is probably the limited time of the shuttle the hotel offer which is 4pm. I opt to just skip it and took a short taxi ride from Aizukawamatsu station. Otherwise everything else is perfect!

The place is beautiful with an amazing scenery in the middle of a rural area. The food was fantastic and staff did their best to accommodate to out needs (kosher, don't eat raw meat or fish) - there was so much food :) Our room was spacious and beautiful with a stunning view to the river and forest. You get free Juice, sorbet and tea for free in the lounge. The onsen was wonderful and beautiful. You can pick a beautiful Yukata to wear inside and outside the facilty (there is also one inside the room, but a simpler one). There's a bus stop of the local loop bus so you can tour the area.

We didn't have wifi in our room for most of our stay, and I had to go to the lobby with my computer to get things done and it was very inconvinent. It wasn't easy to adjust the water temprature in the shower. The futons were hard for us, so please take that into consideration. There are TONS of spiders outside the facilty since it's near water and a forest so be careful if you're scared of them likeI do.

Meals are great. We love the handmade mochi for the breakfast. We also enjoyed the hospitality of the staff with a welcoming tea to start our stay.

I was hoping to be able to use the private onsen but unfortunately it was not available. Maybe next time I will reserve the private onsen when I reserve the room.

We always wanted to stay some traditional onsen hotel like Shosuke-no-Yado Takinoyu. We had JR East pass and stopped at Aizu, rented a car for two days and stayed at the hotel one night. This is special experience for us. Room is traditional Japanese room with river view. We paid for Dinners and next morning breakfasts, they were super delicious. Onsens for women and men switched day by day and there was some special onsen for women/men to use. All were very special. The staff made the tatami beds while we were having our dinners.we loved our stay. Highly recommended.

We tried just one layer of futon mattress. I woke up a bit backache but my husband was fine. If you are not used to hard mattress try to have some more layers.

Very traditional, Amazing Onsen, great location. The staff were very friendly despite the language barrier especially in the restaurant. The breakfast and dinner were delicious.

Our room was very much at the end of the hotel. It felt that because we used Booking.com this was the reason. This may just be our perception though.