Ryokan Sensyoen

we stopped at this ryokan as we planned to visit asahikawa zoo. we had a rental car, so its location was more accessible to us. The room was a tatami mat traditional japanese style with futons for the 4 of us. modern toilet facilities were available, the icing on the cake was the inhouse 'onsen' bath. Guests at the ryokan does not have to pay a fee for its usage. As it was rather late when we checked in, we had the bath all to ourselves. breakfast was again a traditional Japanese style set, but my family is not used to eating salmon in the morning. Regardless, it was laid out beautifully and I had a hearty meal. The service at this hotel is excellent, the staff pays attention to the smallest details. Imagine our surprise to find that we didn't have to brush the snow off our car despite the heavy snowstorm the night before. I don't think it's their job to do so (brush snow), and I am in awe of their service attitude and the extra mile they run for their guests. I highly recommend senshoen, for its service, comfort level, professional staff, bathhouse, and its beautiful garden.

The room is spacious and clean (no tv but stable wifi). The bathroom and toilet are separated (which is convenient for our 3 people group). The onsen is small but enough for our need. There are normal temperature onsen, a lower temperature than usual onsen, an outdoor onsen (no outdoor view though). When you come out from the onsen, there is a resting area where you can look out to their Japanese garden. The Japanese traditional breakfast is a lovely touch to complete the ryokan stay. Parking is available here. The location is a bit far from the city but we rented a car hence it was not a problem for us. Some staffs do not speak English but they are always helpful and trying to understand :)

My family wanted to try a ryokan- most of them were pretty expensive so we decided to go with this one which was fairly affordable compared to the rest. The photos on the booking site looks pretty old and kinda ugly. But we were pleasantly surprised! Loved the huge room (6 of us) that was covered with tatami. It had a big sitting area with a large tv too. Also really liked the futons- thick and fluffy. The place was a little old looking, but I thought that was perfectly fine since I wanted something traditional anyway. Be sure to go for the breakfast! Had a really hearty one with a lot of variety. Same for the dinner they provided in kaiseiki style. But don't expect a super good one if you've been to a more expensive ryokan. If Basically a really nice place to chill. We spent a lot of time sitting around staring at the artificial waterfalls. Granted, the private dinner area was kinda old and sparse. But the food made up for it! The onsen area wasn't as well equipped as the other places I've been to. They do provide the bathing stuff, but don't expect combs, lotions and the extra stuff you might find at some higher end onsens.