Unzen hotels & places to stay

This is by far the biggest room I ever come across for standard of Japan hotel. It’s just stone throw away from the bus station. The hotel have two Onsen for male and female in separate floor located in another building attached with it. There is a restaurant in the hotel but we didn’t try it. To go to most tourist spots on the mountain you will need to take a bus up. There are few restaurants nearby and a convenient store across the road. Our stay here is memorable as the sunset view from the room is mesmerizing.

Unzen is a small village with many Ryokan, and it's amazing to walk through the streets and see steam from the jigoku ("hells") rising out of the ground all over the place, if you don't mind a slight smell of sulphur. I haven't been to Beppu so I can't compare the quality of the hot springs, but Azumaen has a wonderful facility. We were given traditional Yukata to wear around, and thoroughly enjoyed the baths, which overlook a beautiful landscape of a large pond and forest. The men's and women's baths are on different floors, and each have an outdoor and indoor section, as well as a sauna. I wish we had been able to enjoy dinner or breakfast at the Ryokan, but we were on a budget and instead opted to find our own meals. There are a couple of places to eat in the other hotels in town, as well as two stand-alone restaurants that had good food at reasonable prices. The staff at Azumaen were incredibly accommodating, picking us up in their shuttle from the nearby bus stop (we went to Unzen via Nagasaki) and showing us right to our room. I would recommend this Onsen to anyone looking for a really quiet and relaxing destination.

If you take bus to Unzen, there is a bus stop just in front of the hotel. So the location is very decent. It is 10 mins walk away from the Unzen Hell. The breakfast and dinner were fantastic. You can have your meals in a private room, and they would serve your meal in order. There were a lot onsens in the hotel, they opened different indoor and outdoor onsens in day and night time, and swapping them to open for Male and Female. So you can experience all of them within your stay. They got their own Cafe and Souvenir shop within their hotel. The facilities were excellent. Overall, Very good Onzen Hotel. Very Good and Recommended.

I should start out by saying that if you are not very interested in Japanese culture or are looking for a Western-style hotel, this is not the place for you. There is little English spoken, the rooms are equipped with tatami floors and futons instead of beds, and the main appeal is the public bathing in water piped in from the hot springs around town. But if the idea of spending a few days in a small Japanese hot springs resort sounds appealing, this place will be amazing. The price is not cheap, but the access it gives to private rooftop tubs overlooking the ocean make it worthwhile. The hotel staff were attentive and observant and always ducked into the room to make the futon in the evening and put it away in the morning when we were out. There was no need to bother with a "do not disturb" sign, as the staff were preternaturally aware of our movements. Guests are also recommended to fork out the extra money for the traditional breakfast. Even I (bold culinary traveler as I like to fancy myself) hesitated at some of the offerings, but overall the meal service was diverse and creative, while staying true to traditional Japanese cuisine. As for location, the hotel is right in the middle of the hot spring strip in Obama. The local bus station, which provides a quick connection to cities like Nagasaki and Unzen, is a short walk from the hotel, and a wide variety of sites and restaurants are also easily accessible on foot.

The service there was just... WOW... You get some sort of personal housekeeper that takes care of you and serves you dinner and all Staffs... kinda... aren't really well versed with English but they tried... was cute... :'D I was able to understand Japanese so it wasn't really much of a problem for me, they have English instructions everywhere so it's pretty convenient. Location wise... Well, google map solves everything... :'D It's a minute walk from the Unzen Information Centre The disappointing part is they don't have laundry service, neither does the town nearby... :'( But overall it was an awesome experience.

Beautiful tatami room (no seating). Similarly for large dining room you must be prepared to sit on floor (on cushion) for your breakfast or dinner. No problem for us but could be for others. Excellent breakfast, we didn’t have dinner. Friendly staff with no English. Please note they only take cash and the only ATM in the town does not accept non-Japanese cards!!! Was very nearly embarrassing. The town essentially closes at 9.00pm. We used the three restaurants in the town centre. There is unfortunately a considerable number of ugly concrete buildings around in various states of dilapidation which takes the shine off the location. But we enjoyed our stay and found we could walk to and from Nita Pass without having to take the shared taxi.

I approached the receptionist before the check-in time and asked if I could park my car at the hotel. She nonchalantly pointed out that it’s fine if I do not drive my car at all. I proceeded to use the throw some empty plastic bottles into the recycling bin. My family and I decided to use the toilet. Both the latter were met with a rather rude and loud “stop!” while I was clearing the litter and before we entered the toilets. A more polite greeting towards guests would be welcoming instead of yelling “ stop!” This is unlike the warm and sincere Japanese hospitality that I have met with throughout our years of travel in Japan. However, the dinner cuisine, porter and waitress at the ryokan were awesome.

Highly recommended! We loved the onsen at Iseya. There is an outdoor and indoor bath for men and women separately. Everything is well maintained and clean. The rooms are traditional Japanese style on tatami mats with a small sun room attached to it. There is a pretty tea set on the table with hot water in a thermos, glasses and ice water in another thermos as well. In the morning and evening the staff come to make the futon beds for you, which is a really nice touch. Right outside the ryokan, there is a 100m-long foot bath area overlooking the sea; it's free to use. Just a short walk from the ryokan is an excellent seafood market and restaurant where you can have sushi, sashimi or meals steamed directly in the natural hot-springs; very cool!