Yawaraginosato Yadoya

Our 1 night stay at Yadoya was outstanding! You definitely get a taste of a traditional onsen property, that’s perfect in size. It’s definitely not a large hotel setting where you run into other guests. Every employee was gracious and welcoming and really made our stay enjoyable. Now let’s talk about the food! The meals were FABULOUS! We had the wagyu beef sukiyaki as our main entrée which just melted in our mouth but props to the beautifully presented “appetizers”. Every morsel of food was perfectly seasoned. Being from Hawaii, our tastebuds are more in line with Kyushu flavor bomb cuisine. Here at Yadoya, we were blown away how Chef and his Chef team wife, has managed to take simple foods and turn it into a flavor bomb! Take for example, a simple steamed shiitake mushroom topped with a salty, crunchy garlic topping…WOW!!! Breakfast was another whole experience with peaceful views of the countryside mountains, with hundreds of dragonflies dancing around…magical! Raw eggs with dark orange yolks are whisked on top of perfectly steamed rice to make the best TKG “tamago kake gohan” we’ve ever tasted! The rest of the meal was again beautifully presented…fresh steamed vegetables with the most delicious dipping sauce that I wanted to drink! I mentioned to Chef that he should bottle it and sell it…it was that delicious! Special MAHALO to Seika-san for helping us arrange our shoyu and sake purchases and to the front desk gals, Eiko and Mizuta san. Mahalo nui for a wonderful stay! Until next time, ALOHA!!!

This is an interesting place. A cross between a small tradition ryokan and an old fashioned guest house with superb personal service that was given in the good old days. Great location in Yufuin with plenty of on site free car parking. And a good spot to explore the region. We stayed in a larger room with both a bedroom plus a tatami room as a bonus. Either way the rooms are spacious. Bathroom is an add on with a separate toilet and shower either side of the entry which are not modern but much appreciated. It’s an old style hotel with multiple onsens which are simply stunning in style and for relaxation. Highly recommend you stay here for a Japanese experience. Book a dinner if you want to lash out, you won’t regret it either, a meal to remember. We stayed for 3 nights and would have loved to stay longer as it was like a 'home away from home.

I really enjoyed my stay here - the staff is super friendly from top to bottom. Good location. Super nice private onsen that can be reserved and public onsen is nice in that they offer a warm and a hot option (hot is for Japanese people that like 42+ but I am American and I like 40 which is 104F).