Kagaya ryokan in Wakura Onsen is over 100 years old and voted the best hotel in Japan at one point. I was annoyed by the price during reservation until I got to my room and saw how big it was. I believe it is bigger than my suite at Gora Kadan if that was possible. I stayed in Taiho-no-Hagi with an ocean view.
While it’s a ryokan, the property is multiple stories high and next to the water so it looks more like a resort hotel. The shuttle that runs between the station and ryokan was a full size coach bus! The first impression is important and they delivered when the bus pulled up to the entrance and a line of at least 20 staff bowed in tandem. Each passenger stepping off immediately had an attendant which made checkin a breeze.
I think they were still making final touches to my room because they served the welcoming tea and wagashi in the lounge area on the first floor. I didn’t mind considering the space and view were fantastic.
There’s no easy way to describe the room. It’s just massive. Similar to Gora Kadan, it’s multiple rooms except laid out like an apartment. The foyer alone is divided into two sections. Then you have a giant living space with an adjacent half bath. Both purposely tiled so shoes are allowed. To the left is a western bedroom with carpet. To the right is a Japanese tatami room that converts to a bedroom at night. They left another piece of wagashi here as well as a flag of your nationality. A full bath with shower and cypress tub rounds out the place.
Windows line the entire wall from the western bedroom to the living room and continues into the Japanese room so the stunning view is always available. They included a fancy massage chair that I didn’t care to try.
Won’t touch much on food except to say presentation isn’t as pretty as Gora Kadan but certain portions were cooked at the table which was cool. The room I booked has dinner in the dining hall whereas better ones are served in room. And while I was eating, they laid out the futon for sleep.
My room lacks a private onsen so I visited the public one. There are indoor and outdoor facilities with the former much larger than the latter. They have water outside the locker area and a manned beverage station outside the entrance which was convenient.
Kagaya is so large they have a map display that you usually find in train stations. There’s an arcade room, a bar, a club, meeting/banquet rooms, more elevators than I can count, water fountains, a shopping arcade, mini shrine, and a morning market. Definitely more resort than ryokan. I think this is partly due to its location in a small town with not much to do so they don’t want you to get bored.
While this was the cheapest out of the four, I never found it lacking in service or amenities. When I had a question about heat, they sent someone to my room literally in two minutes. Staff spoke enough English to not have any issues.
They have different tiers in rooms and I enjoyed my stay so much I wish I had booked one with a private onsen. You can book directly via their website.
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