Very welcoming staff, we felt relaxed and taken care of. The rotenburo open air bath at the top of the hill is just breathtaking!! You see the sea as you enter it, you can enjoy the moon and sunrise viewing. The room is spacious and comfortable. And the hall with the glass window to the small vertical garden and the waterfall is just the most beautiful view to welcome you. The dinner and breakfast was delicious, and don’t get me started on the cable car to the rooftop rotenburo! A few important notes for the fellow travellers: 1. There is no mixed bath! Men and women get separate hours to use all the onsen facilities, including the rotenburo open bath at the top of the hill. For female travellers I advise to check in before 17:00, as we did, and then you get to enjoy the view and the rotenburo before dinner, then at night at 9 PM, and then before breakfast early in the morning. 2. You can find a taxi in front of the Ito station: they accept credit cards, and your ride to Yokikan will only cost a few euros (700 yen). In the morning the hotel kindly offered us a ride to the station which was amazing. It’s a short distance but not very easy with the luggage. 3. You can pay with the credit card for drinks at the hotel. There is a free water dispenser for cold drinking water too. But do prepare some coins if you’d like something from the vending machine. 4. I saw reviews that the hotel is not new and the facilities are a bit outdated. Frankly I don’t see the point to stay at new ryokans, the whole experience is to enjoy the atmosphere of old days. That being said, the room and the bathroom were impeccably clean and very warm, since there was an air conditioner in the room. We stayed in the middle of February and in other newer hotels we were freezing cold, but at Yokikan it was no issue.

2 important moments: 1. The hot water in the room: as it is written on the tap, it takes 5-10 minutes before the water will get warm. First time it worked. But the next morning we waited for 30 minutes but the water was still cold. 2. The inner bath is extremely hot: so hot that it’s impossible to enter the bath. Rotenburo at the top is perfectly fine temperature though.

Great experience! Very cozy and authentic. Very large room - more than enough space for a family of three. Impeccable staff and facilities! Traditional kaiseki dinner is a must and is delicious. Dinner and breakfast are served in the room. Slept great on the futon! Outdoor onsen with a view of the city is beautiful. Funicular - functional, fun and cute attraction. Transfer to the station upon check-out. Thank you very much for everything! We will definitely come back in old age :) We will age gracefully like this ryokan! The ryokan does not need advertising for Russian-speaking travelers :)

This is an old school Ryokan, the building is well kept but you can feel that it is old and authentic. The meals were excellent (both dinner and breakfast) and were served in the room, which has its pluses but is also a little strange as there is staff in your room early in the mornings. The staff is very nice and accommodating. The outside onsen is beautiful and is accessed with a fenicular which is a fun experience. We arrived with a baby and we had a great experience.

There is only one outside onsen and it is time shared by women and men. The time table seems to favor the men a little more but perhaps this depends on your schedule and when you get up and go to sleep. The inside onsen was slightly too hot for my taste so only used it for a short dip and used the showers.

Everything surpassed my expectations. Starting from the intitial communication to accommodate our vegetarian requirements to the final checkout, we were treated with utmost hospitality. The ryokan is easy to find on foot (good signage throughout the town). We got a thorough explanation of the facilities upon check-in. The hospitality was flawless, far better and more engaged than in most ryokan I've stayed at. Above avarage command of English of most staff members. Large, well-appointed, very comfortable room in Japanese style. The outdoor onsen was a highlight especially for my son (thanks to the cable car) and has a serene setting overlooking the town and the sea. Peaceful lounge overlooking an enclosed garden with massage devices. As for the facilities, the building offers the best combination of tradional without being outdated and modern without fluff or losing its charm. The dinner and breakfast were served in our room, again great professionalism and overall some of the best ryokan kaiseki meals I've had - huge variety, emphasis on local cuisine, no shortcuts (some other hotels can't accomodate vegetarians or serve less intricate meals if they do). We were gracefully offered a shuttle to the station when we checked out, another good example of service mentality.

At times, the indoor onsen was unexpectedly hot, depending on preference.

Staying at this ryokan was the best experience I’ve ever had! The outdoor hot spring was absolutely amazing – such a serene and unique setting to relax. The staff were exceptional: incredibly polite, friendly, and always ready to help. They even gave me great recommendations for places to visit nearby, which made my stay even more enjoyable. The breakfast and dinner were beyond excellent – authentic, beautifully presented, and absolutely delicious. This ryokan truly offers an unforgettable experience, and I can’t wait to return!

Nice and relaxing traditional Japanese hotel. We’ve booked spacious room for 4 people with our friends with breakfast and dinner included. Dinner is really something - it’s served inside the room and contained various chois of delicious traditional food. Breakfast is also amazing but might be a little bit heavy (also contains various of more traditional food), if you used to more “coffee and toast” way. Something that deserves special mention is open-air onsen up the hill with great city view (you could get there by elevator or stairs) and a couple of inner onsens changing during day hours (man/ ladies). We’ve been there mid-April during the working week so there were not many guests around. So late evening we’ve been enjoying the open-air onsen by ourselves (ladies). Please note there is also separate ladies and man hours. There are many interesting places around easy to get by bus or train - zoo with capybaras, suspension bridge, etc. So it’s definitely worth to stay for a couple of days. The place itself is easy to get by train: we took Shinkansen from Kioto to Atarmi and next regional train to Ito. The hotel is within 10 minutes walking from the station. Stuff was really nice and friendly ready to provide all the instructions, which is really helpful if it’s your first time at traditional hotel (which was for us). Also nice to mention there were nice bathroom accessories in common places: shampoos, lotions, hair-dryers - all good quality, prepared thoughtfully and pleasant to use. And perfect mattresses and pillows. And they give you personal yukata to walk around :) It was new experience to me and a good way to switch off from big cities. Highly recommend!

Very clean & spacious . Great service and yummy kaiseki + breakfast

1) No elevator to assist us with bringing 2 big suitcases to our room on 2nd floor from lobby. We are seniors :( 2) Pretty stingy on small onsen towels compared to other ryokans which we’d patronized before. Only 1 small towel provided to every guest for entire day.

Everything! You will not find a more authentic Japanese experience than this inn! I wish we had stayed longer. Everything was perfect. Unfortunately it rained for two days straight… so our sightseeing was cut short…. But staying here totally made the trip worth while!! From the welcome at reception, to the amazing view from our room and everything in between… it was perfect. We stayed in a room with a hot spring bath in the bathroom. The dinner and breakfast were delivered to our room. The “kitchen” staff were gorgeous! The futons were comfortable, and everything was spotless. We tried the open air bath at night. Such a different experience in the rain. Sitting in a warm bath, under the roof, listening to the rain falling! It was so peaceful. The owners are very kind and gracious. They are the 5th generation of the family to own the ryokan. They even offered us a lift to the station in the morning and helped us with an issue that we had with our tickets. I am definitely returning in the future!

My sister and I truly enjoyed this traditional Japanese-style hotel with Tatami beds and onsite onsens (indoor and outdoor hot springs). We stayed for two nights including dinner and breakfast (see photo) - all conventional Japanese food that was super-fancy and tasty. In addition to accommodation, we've experienced the rich Japanese culture through food, onsen, and living style.

Nothing we didn't like!

Really nice atmosphere with traditional Japanese ryokan rooms. Three great onsens. Common spaces are great too. Super nice and warm service, felt welcome and cozy from the moment we arrived to Yokikan. Staff offered great info and recommendations of the area and even drove us back to the station when we left. Every morning and evening a table filled with delicious traditional food. Didn't want to leave!

There was a squirrel rattling above our ceiling one night. During the night a bit startling to wake up to as it sounded so close, the next morning funny to hear about from the owner. Not a big problem, part of the adventure. Spring time makes them wild!