Watarase Onsen Hotel Himeyuri

We stayed at the Hotel Yamauri. The hot springs boasts one of the largest hot spring bath on the West side of Japan. On the men's side, there was one large bath with three smaller ones. What I found unique was each bath had a gentle and proportionate mix of water to hot spring. All the typical hot spring types were available for you to soak in. In the same complex were four private onsen, great for couples, families, or groups. The dinner had top quality wagyu beef at a reasonable price. There is a short order kitchen but they did run out of many of the foods by the end of the day. If you take the smaller and more Japanese style bedrooms, you will be closer to dinner and the onsens. The further building houses more western style furniture. Generally, the hotel is a nice collaboration between modern and traditional Japan

This is a great place. The hotel is part of a complex which includes 3 hotels and onsen baths. A bit difficult to get to without a car but well worth the drive. The walking trails of kumano kado are near by and worth a walk. We went with the half board option. Both breakfast and dinner were superb and served as the benchmark for our trip. The staff were amazing. Although they spoke hardly no English we managed to communicate and get by. We opted for the western style rooms however may have been better off in the Japanese rooms as the beds and pillows were a bit on the hard side. The private onsens were great and always seemed to ve available. This was a really great experience that I'd highly recommend.

There are four private hot springs available (first come first serve), we didn't have to wait. The staff were very friendly and helpful :-). We brought our own food so I can't comment about the restaurant. To improve: Instant coffee in the room would have been nice. And the hot springs should include conditioner next to the shampoo.