Baien

Baien is truly the best. The private open-air bath and the large public bath are both excellent. (Note: Be sure to confirm the private open-air bath when booking your ryokan stay.) The ryokan is spacious, so walks around the property are lovely. Both breakfast and dinner (kaiseki) are also superb. However, there's no entertainment nearby, so if your sole purpose is to enjoy the hot springs, you definitely won't regret it. I'd love to visit again in winter.

The hotel room was clean and the food quality was excellent. However, there was no private bathroom, and the private onsen was only available by luck.

The room was very pleasant and spacious, and the in-room onsen was very convenient. Both the public and private onsens were excellent, with beautiful views and hardly any other guests. The breakfasts and dinners were delicious; I highly recommend getting the half-board option. The hotel is located in a green area, perfect for walks.

Overall, my stay at Yufuin Baien was quite disappointing. I originally wanted to book a room with a private onsen, but none were available, so I had to stay in an annex building. To my surprise, for a hot spring ryokan that wasn't cheap, the independent rooms in the annex didn't even have basic showers. We had to use the shared family bathrooms. There were only two family bathrooms for multiple guest rooms, operating on a first-come, first-served basis with no reservations or time limits, and no staff cleaning in between uses. After dinner, I waited over two hours in 4-5 degree Celsius weather to get my turn. While changing after showering, I found a stranger's women's underwear in the laundry basket, which was absolutely disgusting and unsanitary. The ryokan's location is a bit remote, about a 10-15 minute walk from Yufuin's main shopping street (Yunotsubo Kaido). There was no shuttle service provided, and a one-way taxi ride costs about ¥1000. On the positive side, the surrounding environment of the ryokan is beautiful, with fresh air, and the Japanese decor created a nice atmosphere. There was a complimentary drink bar in the evening, the food was decent, and the staff were generally polite. In conclusion, the facilities, hygiene, and transportation convenience of this ryokan were somewhat lacking. Compared to other hot spring ryokans in Yufuin at a similar price point, the value for money is low, and there are definitely better options available.

Absolutely amazing! The food was delicious, and it was a perfect family trip. We especially loved the Kaiseki dinner, it was so much food that we even had some sashimi left over!

This was my second visit since 2017, and it was just as wonderful! It was a hot spring trip with my mom, and everything was excellent from the start. We stayed in the annex, and they moved our luggage for both check-in and check-out, which was incredibly convenient. What really stood out was how they carried our heavy suitcases instead of just dragging them. The main bathhouse was fantastic, of course, and we were lucky enough to use the private family bath three times. We only had to wait once, and the other two times we got right in! My mom absolutely loved it and said we have to come back again. The staff were truly exceptionally kind. Thank you so much~^^

I chose this place because I wanted to visit a hot spring ryokan with my parents! It was a bit of a distance from the center of Yufuin, but it was only about a 20-minute walk, so it wasn't too strenuous! We enjoyed the scenery of the surrounding village and arrived in no time. The room condition was really great, and the hot spring bath was fantastic. My parents absolutely loved it!