Seikiro Ryokan Historical Museum Hotel

We have spent over 10 months in Japan last 3 years driving all over including Hokkaido few times, hence the review is from people very well aware with Japanese accommodations of any type including ryokan style. We have always been in wow of Japanese service, hygiene, amazing cleanness, up until we went to this place. I only booked it since it was listed as 4 stars, a culturally approved museum & based on description & pic- all absolutely misleading. We paid $210 for 2 nights meals not included. Next door Fairfield by Marriott was $190 for same time & perfectly new; I could have booked with points for $0 due to status but … wanted to support the local family business - wring move. BTW I have been on booking for 25 years and never gave this far such a low review nor had been in such an awful place. I am also a pulmonologist- lung doctor, very well aware of black mold, dampness, etc and their health ramifications. A day would not be enough to list all I want to say about the place. I tool enormous amount of pics to support my review but unfortunately won’t be able upload all. - An old lady w/ an eye of an eagle met us & made sure we park by millimeter in the parking lines (after apparently allowing a large Toyota SUV to freely park mostly in our spot). She watched us take off our shoes (we did and lined them up to perfection) & assigned room 32 which she changed shortly to 33. Walked us up to show us the view from the room & a dangerous electric switch that was not in the wall but rather rested on a table. - Shortly after she was gone we looked around to see: the ceiling was leaking (it was raining that day); the moisture of many prior leaks warped and lifted up the plywood planks on the ceiling that were detached from rest and dripping on tatami floor; fridge outside was unplugged; heat pump off & set up at 30’C but barely working as broken & freon leaking on its right side and dripping down the wall (they tried fix it w/ … silicone 🤯); remote for heat pump with dying battery & screen visible only at a certain angle; huge dead spiders (took pics) in the closet; dust everywhere; stains on the tatami floor; almost holes in the walls by the doors from God knows what; some weird heating device under the comforter as ways too cold; a TV with the size of a large MacBook; insane electric system with dangerous of electroshock sled made electric switch ladies on a table, a light that need be unplugged with no switch on/off, rear lights to be managed from the foyer switch - super inconvenient; fire alarm on ceiling removed; pillow with smaller size than for a baby and filled with some plant hard particles - abate torture to sleep on- & we are very used to their traditional pillows but with a reasonable size; foyer floor with likely at least 100 year old red carpet that changed to faint pink; all closet doors with stains from prior leaks; carafe left filled with icy water or rather ice - unclear why as usually hot water inside (thankfully there was an electric kettle); 3 doors in foyer -1 to storage; another locked and 3rd to bathroom. Oh well the bathroom- 100 year old toilet seat that once was while and now crappy yellow color from age and dirt; the seat itself covered ( to cover dirt) with fluffy pink material - absolutely disgusting and unsanitary! For Christ sake - most men pee standing & they used that fluffy cover. No tissues or sanitizer. A little toilet paper left so we ding overuse. Size super tiny even for thin people like us. 1000% of all public toilets in Japan 100% better, cleaner and more sanitary than that. We paid for private bathroom to use the shared being disgusted by the private. See pics. The whole 2nd floor was flooded showing easily in old carpet color & fully wet to walk on it. No slippers provided! some socks that are not of course water proof. The so called museum was few shelves with strange exhibits with no explanation. Floors saggy and cracking- I get it it’s 300 years old but thee is something called maintenance tarnish completely lacking here. And we stayed at 350 year old places in perfect condition fully sanitary. They claim they are ryokan - but one needs pay additional for breakfast and dinner & even got coffee. No bottled water; not even green tea they list as being provided. Hair and particles in the set up floor bed/ mattresses. For the high price paid we got nothing. Everything is from cheap to cheaper! They try to save from everything at the expense of guests experience. They also turn off the hot water at 9pm until 9 am the next morning. So as we get up at 5 am for go see sunrise we had the “pleasure” wash our faces with ice cold water at the outside since with hot and cold taps, both providing by ice cold in the morning. And on to the “onsen”! Oh My. I’m an onsen snob!but not that onsen. Its foyer is super cold, dirty, covered 100+ years old linoleum that is dirty and lifted up at all corners so it looks like a basin, 2 work off mats smacked randomly and unicorn. 2 two taps sinks with only cold water; cotton Q tips; soap; hat drier that has seen better days super dirty tattered with a chain to jot stolen ( it’s disgusting to use it let alone take it); nothing else provided. Inside the onsen as decrepit as anywhere else. I dipped in the “spring onsen” Just to test but didn’t stay long as tiles too dirty. Not sure if it was just warm water not spring as advertised. The shared baths on 1at ans 2nd floor mix cleaner and nicer w/ bidet & sanitizer, especially c/t the private yucky fluffy pink one we had with no bidet and leaking flushing system. And the smell- it’s suffocating, stuffing, musty of old expensive mold and dampness, pungent! It’s is unclear to me how they padded inspections & are in business!!!! And in Japan!!! not some 3rd world country let alone for that price. They not concerned about guests but also about their property. From experience - a mobile camp tent in the middle of nowhere in Africa is more sanitary & healthy! To me this was the most ridiculously spent $210! I totally wish we could fund something else & leave but arriving in the evening that was not an option. If that was possible I would have requested a refund as misleading description and dangerous accommodation. Even $20 a night is too much. They also not responding to questions & inquiries - like when we asked where to park our car, but did respond to equation about coffee ( as it operated on a room service base but … much later in the morning than we needed it) & that green tea was provided - that tea was in a box under the table that we found on the way out as no one ever showed us and it was strategically hidden to not be seen. WOULD NEVER RETURN OR RECOMMEND TO MY WORST ENEMY!!!!

Have you ever toured a historic home and wondered what it would be like to stay there? Well this is it. Built in 1690, and still run by 13 generations of family, you may see some wear and tear, but you will also be treated to 13 generations of hospitality (they're currently training the 14th generation). Obviously, not much is original to 1690, but you can see each generations upgrades through the years. I was amused by the early 1970s Japanese bathrooms and lighting and hope they keep it, it's just as much apart of history as the rest of it. After a long day of travel, to get here, we ate a great sushi dinner near by and came back, showered and put on kimonos in this room, well it turned into a total photo shoot, because the room is that cool. Slept great on the mats and woke up and had coffee delivered to the room to while looking at the gardens. We loved it so much, we wanted to stay another night. But they were sold out. This is when Seiichiro, the owner really made a difference. He called someone during an almost sold out weekend and got us another room. We were sad to leave, but will never forget his kindness. Before we left Seiichiro took us on a tour of the hotel to show us the artwork and amazing craftsmanship in the oldest parts of the hotel. This was truly a highlight of entire time in Japan.

Came here for a one-night stay on my first trip to Japan. The accommodations and location were lovely, but that's not why I'm writing this review. While riding bikes, my passport fell out of my pocket. When I realized this the next morning, the owner went above and beyond to help us get it back. He called the police station, informed us that someone had turned in my passport, and even drove me there to pick it up without being asked. Getting my passport back would have been far more difficult without his help, so I'm writing this as thanks. He didn't have to go so far out of his way to help us, but he did anyway and it saved us a lot of headache. ほんとうにありがとうございました！