Arashima Onsen Yumoto Ama no Shima

I stayed with my parents as a group of three. The exterior looks a bit run-down, but the Room had been renovated and was very clean and spacious. Most of the staff were from overseas, but everyone worked very hard, answered our questions politely, and provided excellent service. The Onsen was also well cleaned and felt great. The amenities were well stocked, and there was even free coffee in the morning. It was truly a wonderful Ryokan, and I would like to stay again.

The building itself seems quite old, but it was very clean.Our Room was a Japanese-Western style room, and it felt more spacious than expected—we were able to relax comfortably even as a family of five!Best of all, we could see the ocean from the Room, and having an island right in front of us made the view even more special.We could also see Pearl Island nearby.That said, seeing a Hotel being demolished between the sea and this Hotel felt a bit lonely… though it can’t be helped.The sweets in the Room were also delicious, and I regret not buying any to take home. I should have stopped by the shop…The meals were incredibly delicious!I was especially impressed by how tender the abalone was!Some of the staff at reception and in the dining area were from overseas and worked very hard to communicate with us, but I personally would have preferred service from Japanese staff. Everyone was very polite, but I would have liked water to be brought before serving the meal—I ended up eating for a while without anything to drink.Breakfast also had lots of small portions of side dishes for rice—just the right amount (too much can be overwhelming), and everything tasted great.As for the baths: if you’re used to large public bathhouses with many options, having just one indoor bath and one open-air bath may feel a bit limited. However, the shell-shaped bath was interesting, and while you can’t really see anything outside at night in the open-air bath, the indirect lighting created a lovely atmosphere. Since they switch between men’s and women’s baths in the morning, I went again then. The hinoki (cypress) bath on the other side is spacious! There were some insects floating in the open-air bath (which is unavoidable outdoors), but there were also cherry blossom petals floating as well—it was beautiful.The water had a faint seaside scent somehow, yet it didn’t feel sticky—maybe because it’s so close to the ocean??One disappointment was that both our Room hair dryer and those in大浴場were inexpensive models with weak airflow, so we used our own hair dryer from home. They don’t need to be trendy high-end dryers—but something a bit better would be nice…I heard coffee was available in lobby area , but we ended up leaving quickly and missed out on relaxing with coffee.We were also happy that they took a family photo for us at check-out!We’d love to stay again if we have another chance.