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Reviews of Satoyu Mukashibanashi Yuzanso Ryokan

3.5 out of 5
Satoyu Mukashibanashi Yuzanso Ryokan
1-9-28 Ogoto, Otsu, Shiga-ken

Reviews

8.8

Excellent

Rating 10 - Excellent. 127 out of 237 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 75 out of 237 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 24 out of 237 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 8 out of 237 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 3 out of 237 reviews" "

9.0/10

Cleanliness

8.8/10

Staff & service

8.0/10

Amenities

8.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

9.0/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Jason

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
It was a relaxing stay. Food was amazing. Convenient and easy for non Japanese people to get to and also very accommodating staff. My only complaint with my stay would be the fact the beds were not that comfortable. Especially considering the prices being asked.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

Hannah, Coeur D Alene

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The staff was extremely nice and accommodating and our dinner was very fancy!
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

Cedrick

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024

10/10 Excellent

Annaleta

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
very good ryokan, we had the private onsen and it was excellent. cleaners kept taking away the tatami room's bedding, it was a bit annoying. understandably English isn't their first language but i would expect slightly better business English in a hotel with non-japanese speaking guests. kaiseki was exquisite.
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2024

10/10 Excellent

James

Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Amenities
The spring water is not satisfying, Seems like it is not a pure one .
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2020

10/10 Excellent

F, Singapore

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very spacious and comfortable ryokan to stay. A lot of Japanese local food was served during dinner. We had very pleasant interaction with the two attendants that served our dinner. One lovely elder lady who tried to speak English to us and a younger lady that accompanies her; kept us entertained throughout dinner. Transportation provided to and from the nearest train station. Overall very nice stay. Also offer halal menu.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2019

10/10 Excellent

Michiko

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Our room was spacious with a good view of the lake. The 12 course meal was excellent, though too much to finish. The futon were a little hard and we missed having chairs to sit on. All in all, however, we found the hotel, food, and service tro be excellent.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2019

10/10 Excellent

Shirley

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2019

10/10 Excellent

Samia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing dinner
Amazing halal traditional dinner was one of the highlights of our trip!
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2019

10/10 Excellent

YAN

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Overall, lovely
Wonderful atmosphere and beautiful room. The hotel staff are very sweet but they can be quite obstrusive. I think it's cultural. You cannot miss the breakfast slot or they'll call your room and even come up personally to check on you if you miss their call. Overall, a lovely stay. Thank you!
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2019

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This was by far THE WORST property I have ever stayed in. I understand I’m in a different country, but NO ONE spoke English not even a tad it was all hand gestures and that would have been ok if everything else wasn’t AWFUL. We checked in at 3 and were on top of hill with nothing surrounding and had been traveling all day. We wanted something to eat before dinner but NOTHING was open until 8pm. They had a gift shop in the lobby but it was mostly food items to take home, i opted for an ice cream. We went back to our room which was DISGUSTING i took pictures that i wish i could load because it was AWFUL we tried to get another room but again there was a language barrier. So 8pm rolls around and we’re ready for dinner... they served me a frozen pizza that was taken out of the wrapper and STILL cold, my husband got some sort on fish oh and we had bar nuts, our bill was 50$! You’re joking me, right !? I honestly cannot stress the fact of how AWFUL, GROSS and OUTDATED this hotel is. NEVER AGAIN
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2019

6/10 Okay

Jennifer

Liked: Staff & service
We had a private onsen but it was 'occupied' with green flying flies throughout the night, thus we did not have a chance to use it.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2019

8/10 Good

Tsung Tang

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
A nice day out
A 15 minute walk from the station. the hotel oversees the Biwako lake. The room is a bit small but sufficient for a night. the breakfast and dinner are satisfactory with local delicacy.
Stayed 1 night in May 2019

10/10 Excellent

Tera, Vancouver, BC

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Amazing food, futon, and bathing facilities. Private outdoor tub with good view that can accommodate two adults. Great place to relax for singles, couple, or family.
Stayed 1 night in May 2019

10/10 Excellent

Mel, New Jersey

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very easy access as you can call hotel for free shuttle pick up when arrive at Ogoto Onsen Station. It's located in a residential neighborhood & decor is old fashioned. Friendly & welcoming staff. Our room is spacious w/a separate sitting room overlooking Biwako. The private open air bath is very open than expected. Enjoyed the tatami beddings. Public baths are clean & very relaxing. There are a family mart & a noodle restaurant at the bottom of the hill. Take about 20-min walk. Breakfast is great. Overall, we had a pleasant stay!
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2019

10/10 Excellent

Rnb, Honolulu Hawaii

Travelled with family, Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Enjoyed our open air bath. Dinner and breakfast was a true kaiseki experience with so many dishes to try.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2019

8/10 Good

Linda

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Great for a one-night onsen stay experience!
Nice ryokan onsen stay for a night with nice dinner! The onsen is nice: must try the outdoor onsen. Staff are friendly and helpful. Easy getaway from Kyoto / Osaka and very convenient & fast by train.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great experience. Took the train to Ogoto Ibsen station. There is a cell phone on a chain to contact numberous hotels, don’t need a pay phone. Called the hotel and was picked up by shuttle bus in 5 minutes. Staff greetings and instructions were excellent. We had the private in suite Onsen and kaiseki dinner and breakfast. Would visit again
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2019

6/10 Okay

Ron

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Ryokan experience
Great experience of staying in a ryokan
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2018

2/10 Terrible

Ben, Los Angeles

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hotel needs 100% renovation and Half board meals were nothing to eat. It's not Ryokan Kaiseki meals. Nobody could speak English. I don't recommend this Ryokan to anybody.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2018

10/10 Excellent

Wesley

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent!
Great private open air onsen with a gorgeous view of lake biwa.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2018

10/10 Excellent

Lee

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent.
Stayed 1 night in May 2018

10/10 Excellent

Amanda

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
5/5, would come back again!
Absolutely wonderful stay. There is free pick-up/drop-off from the local station (Ogoto onsen -- you will have to call them yourself and you may need someone to speak Japanese to ask them, I've heard you can ask the station staff to call for you). Definitely do this, because the hotel is located at the top of a very, very steep hill (read: basically a mountain). While this affords gorgeous views of Lake Biwa and the surrounding mountains and town, it is NOT fun to try and hike up! Check-in was smooth and we were personally escorted to our room, where we were given an explanation of the facilities and mealtimes (in Japanese). I believe they have English-speaking staff as well, but it might better to have someone who speaks Japanese with you. Dinner and breakfast were scrumptious. The portions are small, as is traditional Japanese cuisine, but the taste was delectable and presentation was beautiful. We booked a private half open air bath in our room, which I highly recommend doing if you can afford to splurge. The night air was great and the view was beautiful. Our room itself was very clean and spacious. The public baths are a bit small but come with everything needed. You are given a yukata and slippers, towels, etc. There is an outdoor bath and indoor bath. There is also a gift shop on-site if you're looking for omiyage for friends/family. I'm really sad we only stayed one night -- wish we could have stayed a second! Highly recommended!

8/10 Good

Pui Ki

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Spacious room, relaxing atmosphere
Hotel provides a shuttle service to and from Ogoto-onsen station, it was easy enough to contact them using the payphone located just outside the station. They allow you to choose dinner and breakfast timing from a few pre-determined time slots, and of course it was very reassuring to have the option of Halal meals. We had an in-room outdoor onsen bathtub which was nice, and quite an interesting experience. Apart from the small cafe, giftshop and library there's not much else to do - which is kind of the point, to relax and do nothing :)
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2018

10/10 Excellent

ABDUL RAHIM

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Wileeza

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2018

6/10 Okay

M, Chonburi, Thailand

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Nice ryokan near Lake Biwa
The rooms were clean and nice. Good onsen facilities. The food was okay, not as good as expected. The hotel staff were friendly. Overall okay.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2017

10/10 Excellent

Haj A. , A

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Unbelievably incredible staff, comfort and views!!
Honestly the best hotel I have ever stayed at!! The room was perfectly spacious, the bath which overlooked otsu city near Osaka was a dream! The hot springs were very comfortable, clean and relaxing. The food was authentic Japanese so it's very different from the western norm. Regardless I highly highly recommend.
Stayed 3 nights in May 2017

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great ryokan experience
Great traditional Japanese room, excellent meal and service. Worth money

10/10 Excellent

Mitchell

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
You get what you pay for
Pricey hotel but service is excellent and personalized. We had a halal breakfast and dinner set, food was wonderful. Private onsen was great but had expected it to be a bit bigger, too small to fit two adults comfortably, we had to go one at a time

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Kaiseki dinner and breakfast were good. Staff was helpful and kind. Onsen was clean and quite. Room was a bit old.

10/10 Excellent

Chiew Hua

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Private onsen and halal food option
The stay was memorable because of the private onsen for our room as well as the halal food choice

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Relaxing getaway from the city
The package that like we chose came with Halal dinner & breakfast. Food wise, you would not be left hungry after both dinner and breakfast. The servings might be small but there were about 8 courses in total (plus rice and desserts!) We had shabu shabu and crab here which were luxurious. The room was spacious. The futon was comfortable too. The staff were very friendly and accommodating too! No complaint at all (:
The view.

10/10 Excellent

Caroline

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
The worst Japanese male manager at the reception I have ever encountered. Very impolite and have big attitude problems.

10/10 Excellent

Nas, Singapore

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent choice
Halal food was delicious and well served. Room was clean and spacious.

10/10 Excellent

Liana

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Good family stay, nice staff and great dinner
Quick breakdown, I only had one week to book a hotel and I was looking for a true Japanese B&B. Staff was amazing and very nice. Location is 10 minutes (car ride) from JR station. When you get to the station, ask the person in the station to call for your hotel ride. DO NOT attempt to go up that hill with luggage. There is not a walkway. The transport to and from hotel is included in price. Hotel grounds are large, you can tell that this place used to be very popular. Public bath is a++ for me. There's an outdoor one and indoor one. Grounds are kept clean. The highlight for me was the dinner. There was a lot of care put into the food. I had ordered the upgraded meal but Im not sure if I got it. Either way, I really enjoyed the meal. I loved it so much that I may come back! This was my second time trying a Ryokan and I enjoyed this one a lot. Downside, there is nothing in the area, so if you come here, you come here to relax and bath 3x a day. We only stayed one night and it was perfect. About 30 minutes from Kyoto.

6/10 Okay

Niloufar, US

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Liked the experience and the spa .hotel is huge.
The room was nice . Balcony was old . The Hotel intrance needs to be renovated .

8/10 Good

Shanna, Canada

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Awesome place to stay at!
First off, it was a great experience! The room was Japanese style with tatami mats and the futons were very comfortable (and I can compare it to a not-so-comfortable futon we had at our later lodging). We had the open-aired bath on the top floor so we had a magnificent view of the mountains and trees. We stayed for 2 nights but were out most of the days so we didn't really explore the facilities other than the first floor and bath area which had a sauna, outdoor and indoor onsen. We had the kaiseki ryori twice and I must say it was quite a surprise. The second meal was better in our opinion but only because the first meal had a lot of unique traditional Japanese dishes that we just couldn't really stomach. But our hostess, Matsumoto-san was absolutely the best! She tried very hard to explain to us what everything was, was very sweet and even took our pictures for us. We would go back just for her! Very sweet older lady. All in all it was a blast and we'd definitely visit again if in the area. The shuttle service was also extremely helpful. Just know that you have to call the shuttle to pick you up at the station (there's a payphone at the station for those whose phones are on airplane mode :P)

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Awesome stay
I enjoyed my stay! Spacious room, remarkable service! Free shuttle service from nearest station to the ryokan. Just have to give them a ring when you reached the station and the bus will be there in 5 mins. Very convenient. Nothing much in the neighborhood, but you won't have to go out as there are many entertainments provided in the hotel.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Staff & service
Disappointed.
Service is really poor. No one can speak proper English. I have to make 2 calls to ask for shuttle bus from station because the staff member couldn't understand English. Staff will put extra charge on your room bill without telling you because they don't know how to explain. Make sure you check your bill before you pay. Only recommend to Japanese speaker.

8/10 Good

Yoon Kyung

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The best of best. All was perfect.

8/10 Good

Becky, Brisbane

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice and relaxed!
Nice and relaxed! Was sad that we could only stay one night due to our schedule. Loved the private bath tub, room was huge, all services were great, food was yummy! Would definitely visit again!!

8/10 Good

Sam, Hong Kong

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice ryokan with in-room hot spring
Overall a nice hot spring experience. Breakfast and dinner are served in the private banquet room.

8/10 Good

Sze, london

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice room
Our room has private open air bath which is nice. Room is spacious and clean.