We were looking for a place to stay in the Kinosaki Onsen area. Regrettably, we had waited too long to book a place and the Go To Travel Campaign for Hyogo Prefecture ended by the time we booked. Regardless, we had committed to the area and set out to find a place.

We wanted to be in the area in and around the iconic river that ran through town. We found and decided to go with Sennen no Yu Gonzaemon in Toyooka. It’s location along the river and close proximity to several of Kinosaki Onsen’s famous onsen was perfect. They also had a fairly large parking lot which was crucial since we had our car. We called ahead of our arrival and were told to park in front. An attendant came out and showed us to their parking lot on the side of the building. It was snowing at the time and the attendant was kind enough to bring us a pair of umbrellas.

The path leading to the front entrance was long, narrow, and well lit. Together with the snow falling, it created quite a picturesque scene. Once inside, we took off our shoes and switched into pairs of indoor slippers that had been neatly laid out for us. The attendant took our shoes and put them in a nearby shoe cabinet. Check in went smoothly and we were given a key to our room on the third floor. The attendant took the elevator with us and showed us to our room for the night.

Sennen no Yu Gonzaemon Room Review

Inside the room, there was an entrance area for our shoes and a sliding door that separated it from the main room. The main tatami room was nice and spacious. We calculated it to be 8 tatami mats which was a little over 130 sq.ft.. There was a sitting table and two seats in the middle. They were comfortable and provided some nice back support when we sat on them. In room amenities included, a mini split heater/air conditioner, air purifier, water heater, and these heavy duty blue coats we could use while walking around town in our yukata.

The sink and bathroom were behind a pair of sliding doors. It was considerably colder in this part of the room. There was a large window that was radiating cold air. There was a sink on one side and a door on the other side that led to the toilet. In the middle, there was a small table and two chairs. The ryokan staff asked us to notify them when we were going out for dinner, so they could set up our futons. When we came back they had set out a pair of futons for us.

The ryokan did not have any private baths or showers in the rooms. Their gender separate bathing facilities were located on the first floor. Inside one of the closets there were two sets of yukata and obi. We got changed real quick and grabbed their complimentary towels before heading downstairs.

Sennen no Yu Gonzaemon Onsen Review

The baths were nice. There were five or so bathing stations and a small indoor bath. There was also a open-air bath outside. The open air bath was a little disappointing. It was pretty small, the water wasn’t very hot, and there were quite a few leaves in it from the nearby trees. This was somewhat understandable as the main highlight of the town was their seven famous public onsen.

Like most of the lodging facilities in the area, Sennen no Yu Gonzaemon provided us with a pass to access all seven of Kinosaki Onsen’s famous onsen for free. We were pretty tired so we decided to use them the following morning.

Check out time was at 11:00 which allowed us to hit up one of the famous public onsen before heading out in the morning.

As with many of the other places we’ve stayed at in Japan, Sennen no Yu Gonzaemon featured a number of beautiful wallpapers.

Final Thoughts

We enjoyed or stay at Sennen no Yu Gonzaemon in Toyooka. The building overall was a bit on the older side. However, they did a good job maintaining and upgrading it, while still retaining many of its more traditional aspects. We appreciated a lot of the little “extras” that the ryokan staff did to make our stay more comfortable. In the morning the fresh snow had already been scrapped off of our car by the ryokan staff. So, when we opened the doors, no snow would fall on us. In addition, we did not have to dig our car out or scrape the snow/ice off of our windshield. We would happily stay here again for their convenient location, affordable rates, and wonderful hospitality.

More to Come…

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