Meigetsuso

It had been a while since our last stay, but the hospitality was so wonderful that everyone in our family said, “As expected of Meigetsuso.” Although it was typical for this time of year, the snowy scenery was truly refreshing, we enjoyed delicious seasonal cuisine with all five senses, and the pleasant Onsen left both body and mind completely relaxed. In particular, the staff member in charge of our Room gave a fluent explanation of each dish, which heightened our anticipation for dinner and made it an especially memorable time. We would love to visit again in a different season.

My wife, our 2.5-year-old son, and I stayed for one night on Thursday the 5th in the “Hanada” Room. Our train-loving son had never ridden the Yamagata Shinkansen or seen a snowy landscape, so we thought Kaminoyama Onsen—where snowfall is usually not extreme—would be a good choice. We chose Meigetsuso because it offers in-Room dining and an in-Room Onsen bath. It was slightly over our budget, but we were more than satisfied. We also really appreciated that the Ryokan covered our taxi fare from the station.They handled our advance requests perfectly, and everything from arrival to check-in and being shown to our Room was smooth. The property has a wonderful atmosphere and is designed for a relaxing stay—our family even felt like we were on a little adventure exploring it.The view from the Room was outstanding: the Zao mountain range by day, and at night an actual “bright moon,” true to the name. The Room was spacious and separated into a bedroom, dining area, and living area, which made it very comfortable.The semi-open-air bath in the Room was great, but since we were there anyway, we also made a Reservation for a private family bath. It was a bit hot for us, but spacious and excellent. There was one stink bug that scared my wife and son, but that’s probably unavoidable at a nature-rich Ryokan like this. Besides that, there are also large public baths and private open-air baths—we regret that we couldn’t try them all.Dinner featured local ingredients, and both the food and drinks were delicious. If I had to mention one thing, there were slightly long gaps between courses. As we got fuller over time, the final steak—while very tasty—felt quite heavy.After our child fell asleep at night, my wife and I took turns enjoying the in-Room bath. We opened the window to get an open-air feel as well. In the morning we used the large public bath; since no one else was there, we could soak slowly in peace.Breakfast was also served in-Room. The two types of rice cooked in individual pots each had their own character and were delicious—best of all, I got to enjoy crispy scorched rice again for the first time in ages.At checkout they called us another taxi as well. Everything from start to finish was truly excellent.A couple of small points: Are the garden lights set to turn off automatically by time? I would have preferred them turned off a bit earlier. Also—and I understand this may be due to legal restrictions—I think many guests want a beer right after bathing. Room service is fine; however if alcohol can’t be sold on-site otherwise (or if options are limited), would it be possible to install paid beer taps/dispensers in or near the post-bath lounge?That said، these are not complaints that lower my evaluation of your Ryokan—more like minor requests. The bigger “problem” is that other Ryokan may not feel satisfying after this stay. I’m not sure what to do!