Takaragawa Onsen was a magical experience. The entire process and experience was seamless, comfortable, considered and enjoyable. The bus shuttle services had plenty of options, were prompt, polite and efficient. It was me and my friend's first time staying at a Ryokan Onsen, and the culture and experience was explained to us well. The stay was peaceful and relaxing at all times. The food was exceptional, filling and delicious. The Rotenburo was an experience we will never forget (as Australians who had never seen snow). I felt amazing after our stay, it has been the highlight of my 3 weeks of travel through Seoul and Japan so far. Thank you to the staff at Takaragawa Onsen.

My occupation is a lighting technician for film & television. The lighting in the rooms were bright 'cool white' colour temperature bulbs. That is excellent for illuminating the space during the day, and if you need to see what you are doing. However, for maximum relaxation, some 'warm white' colour temperature bulbs would transform the feel of the room x10. Maybe just 1x lamp in the room with an LED warm white bulb, or change the bulbs in the overhead light fixture. There isn't anything wrong with cool white, but warm white would just make the room so much more relaxing. Just my opinion :)

We spent 4 nights in Takaragawa onsen ousenkaku. The onsen is just so tranquil and picturesque, this really is right up there with the best in the world in our humble opinion. 4 large onsen baths, varying in temperature, one for women only. All with views to a river, blended seamlessly into the stunning natural environment around. You really get an idea of traditional onsen in Japan here, we found the experience to be rejuvenating and restful. When we were there the baths were not busy at all, sometimes we had a whole pool to ourselves. It is also atmospherically lit, so bathing at night is also a pleasure and delight for the senses. Onsen are available 24 hours, with the exception of one hour here and there for cleaning. We didn't have great weather everyday, but honestly you're in a roasting hot onsen, so it actually doesn't matter and is beautiful anyway! In our opinion, you need to stay for at least 2 nights at the hotel to get the best of the experience and bathe at different times of day. The hotel is very quaint and we were fortunate enough to stay in a lovely old Annex room, right next to the river. The free transfer bus from Jomo-Kogen station is convenient and makes for a hassle free check in and check out, we were able to book via messenger on booking.com. The staff were all very lovely, in the restaurant, at reception and housekeeping. Amenities were fabulous. We were encouraged to wear yukata robes and change to different pattern each day if we wanted to! Food was delicious- very filling Japanese dinner and breakfast! They also offered a bento lunchbox and delivered it to the room for ¥1000. Public baths indoors were clean and lovely spaces too. If you want a gorgeous onsen experience just 1 hour by shinkansen away from Tokyo, just book it !

Nothing.

Amazingly beautiful Onsen! The food was delicious and more than enough to fill our tummies. Dinner and breakfast definitely made up for the higher price to stay only one night. If you can afford to stay 2 night, do it. Staff were helpful and friendly.

The check out time of 9am if you want to get the courtesy bus makes the morning feel very rushed. It’s quite a mission to get there (but still well with it). There are 3 pools but only the main one is ‘hot’ enough so it felt quite crowded as no one seemed to want to use the others.

We had a fantastic stay here. We chose a more budget friendly room in the "annex" section which had a shared bathroom. We were expecting a pretty small room, but actually our room was really spacious with an amazing view of the river and the hot springs! Guests are given these cloth outfits to wear while soaking in the hot springs - men have this wraparound skirt and women have this potato sack type dress. But actually it is pretty comfortable and dries quickly, so it was easy enough to wear at the hot springs. There are three spacious co-ed pools, and the pools never felt crowded, even during the peak time in the afternoon. When we went in the evening right after dinner we had an entire pool to ourselves for quite a while! The meals are a fantastic experience in their own right, with many traditional Japanese dishes and small hotpots or griddles to cook certain foods yourself at each meal. I recommend bringing some extra snacks for between meals. For lunch they offer a really yummy $10 bento box. The rooms are traditional style with tatami mats, sliding doors and futons, but they are really spacious and comfortable. They also provide you with traditional yukatas to wear while you are at the resort, which added to the cultural experience. The pools themselves have different temperatures, and the temps greatly depend on which part of the pool you are in. So there is something for everyone, whether you like it hot or lukewarm. We also enjoyed a short hike (maybe 1-1.5 hours round trip) behind the hotel. The trail starts from a back door in the annex of the hotel, and goes up a hill to a lookout point with pretty views. The trail isn't very well maintained and it's hard to trail find at points, but the main tip is when you get to the old abandoned hot springs building, follow the trail behind the building (not over the sketchy looking bridge thing).

Some of the facilities could use a bit of an update, but it also adds to the old rustic feel of the place. Also there is only one bathroom down by the pools that is open, but it'd be great if the second bathroom was open to make it easier to access the washrooms when you're at the pools.

so amazing! osens was great! safe was amazing! definitely recommend to get a more traditional japan hotel! Erica was so helpful with so many thing’s appreciate her so much as well as rest of the staff. definitely take shuttle bus it will save you $$. food was great! definitely recommend. they give you a beautiful kimono like rob that everyone wears around the hotel. so amazing

shuttle bus only runs from jomo station to hotel two times in the morning and one time in the morning from hotel to station

Our experience was amazing. We absolutely loved everything about our stay wish we could have stayed longer. The staff were wonderful . The view from our corner room was picturesque and going to sleep with the sound of the river and the warmed floor was cozy. Bathing in the baths was therapeutic .The food was what I call clean food, fresh tasty with different unique things to try. Our boys even tried out some new things. Thank you so much . ☺️

This place is magical. We spent 2 days completely immersed in the atmosphere of the ryokan, with the beautiful onsen and the delicious, very well curated meals. Yes, it's tourist-y, some "traditional" aspects of onsen culture such as bathing naked have been changed, maybe to adapt to a more international audience or other reasons. However, at least for a person travelling from Europe, those little details didn't make the experience any less beautiful. Me and my husband fully enjoyed the silence and the slow pace of this place. We had breakfast & dinner included and, as much as it was a bit hard to adapt to certain flavors in the morning specifically, we soon adjusted to it and enjoyed the experience fully. The staff is kind and ready to help at any time, which makes the experience even better. As much as we thoroughly enjoyed the experience while living it, thinking back to those days makes me realize even more how amazing and magical those two days really were. Would go back in a heartbeat :)

The place could use a little more maintenance. Some things looked like they had not been fixed in a long time, such as the door nob of our room. That was not a big issue, but small details that would elevate the experience even more. As for the room, we would have appreciated having a reading lamp or just a different light other than the ceiling lamp which was very strong and not great to use at night when reading. A little touch that makes a big difference :)

We chose the annex room which was amazing right next to a waterfall. You sleep on futons on the floor and with the waterfall in the background I slept like a log. The authentic Japanese banquet was delicious and staff were all super friendly. the hot springs pools were beyond what I expected and at night it was like a fairyland. There is a shared toilet done the hall which was clean. Would highly recommend this experience.

The futons were quite firm on the floor so we put two together and it was more comfy then. But otherwise staying in that room was awesome.

Honestly, this was one of my favorite places during my trip to Japan. We were very well received, the service was exceptional. Mr. Happy was perfect, explained everything to us, and even took us back to the station by shuttle after checkout.

Unfortunately, tourists who do whatever they want are always a problem everywhere. I caught quite a few of them taking photos and videos around and even IN the onsen while I was inside, even though it's strictly forbidden; there are even signs indicating this. I don't think it's the establishment's fault, but I had to play the "police" several times, explaining that it was forbidden and that it bothered me and other people who were enjoying the onsen. The second thing I would say is children. They are allowed in the onsen, and some of them are completely uneducated and think they're at Disneyland without their parents saying anything. So we had to go to the onsen early in the morning or late in the morning to feel relaxed.

This place is exceptional. The staff were outstanding. We had the most amazing room with a great view of the river. It had everything we needed with toilet just across the hallway. The floor under the futons was heated so we were warm and cosy. The meals were generous and delicious and they did their best to adjust the food for my tricky food intolerance. We enjoyed the outdoor onsens so much. It was great to be able to bathe as a couple and they provided bathing suits. Highly recommended place to relax after lots of sightseeing or skiing! We will be back.

There is not one thing we didn’t like