Noboribetsu Onsen Kyo Takinoya

Very beautiful modern ryokan. Do not be scared by the arrival in Noboribetsu with those huge ski resort-style hotels; the small town has a nice shopping street and this hotel is totally isolated from the rest: all the large rooms face the forest, the feeling of nature is total, absolute calm. The outdoor onsens are very pretty and large (and always with few people, easier for modest Westerners!). Good kaiseki in the evening, service with little English as always. The only downside common to all these hotels in the evening is that kaiseki is mandatory and one might want something else sometimes (and fish in the morning too...). Something to know for those who are tired of it: ask for a kids menu (even for those who are no longer very much kids), it is shorter and "easier" (pastries in the morning, soup in the evening).

There is an open-air bath next to the pond. It makes you feel very close to nature.

Anyway, the food had a good reputation, so I was expecting it. The countryside around the front desk after arriving at the inn, the indescribable way it was made when you walked into the room, but ignored everything because the food was good, and it was the most disappointing time to eat when you expected it.︎ Anyway, it tastes bad, and where can you say an inn famous for its delicious food? I heard that the landlady here is a famous landlady who is usually away for lectures and the like. It is tempting to worry, as an old woman, that I should think about my accommodation rather than something else. Finally, the filth of the bath, which makes me laugh, is great. You're the first inn I don't want to go to again when asked!