Arima Hot Spring Ryokan Kotori

It was exactly as described and reading previous reviews, we knew that we would have to walk up the street to the neighbouring sister hotel to have dinner and use the "golden" onsens. Dinner and breakfast were amazing. I loved the many different dishes. They were delicious and beautifully presented. My husband and I booked the private onsen which at the time was available at no extra/minimal charge. The room was clean and comfortable. (traditional tatami mat room with futons).

The staffs are very friendly and helpful. Although they can't speak much English, but they still manage to explain or answer my questions in simple words or through google translations. They have the services of picking you up from the Arima Onsen stations. The dinner and breakfast were superb and amazing! We really enjoyed them so much!! The traditional japanese room was nice and clean. They set up the futon beds while we were having dinner and putting them away while we were having breakfast. The toilets has to be shared with other guests. But luckily the time that we came, there wasn't many guests. There is no bathroom in your room. So you have to book the private bath and have shower after having the hot spring bath. We enjoyed our stay very much and don't mind going there again.

Overall the stay exceeded our expectations and was enjoyable and relaxing. Kotori is very charming and cosy with the decorations throughout the building. The private onsen is great and you can book it for 45 minutes use. The staff are very helpful and attentive, and the rooms are well equipped. Dinner is in the sister hotel Hanamusubi which is a 2 minute walk from Kotori, and the staff were able to accommodate for my dietary needs, although they noted they cannot prepare food without fish so it may not be suitable for vegan or vegetarian dietary requirements. Breakfast is served in the Kotori building and is excellent too.

Good communication before booking and organised a bus shuttle to pick us up. We travelled in a group of 5 and one member of our family has a tattoo but they helped us organise a reserved area to enjoy the hot springs and it was very easy to organise. The Ryokan is on the smaller side however it makes the establishment feel more homey and more comfortable with lots of little wooden birds in cages and doll houses around to decorate the lobby. A great view of the arima mountains and a comfortable traditional tatami room was amazing. Also had a regular hotel room which was spacious and cosy. You can also experience Japanese television or link up YouTube to the flat screen tv. The onsen and kaiseki dinner is in their sister ryokan Hanamutsubi (1 minute away) so you also get to experience the fancy hotel dinner and two different spring waters onsen. the 7 course meal uses different ingredients from all of the prefecture including Kobe beef and every meal was amazing, something new or something traditional everything was exceptional. I also had an accident in the Ryokan where I had a smaller epileptic attack however the staff were quick to inform my other family members and make sure I was okay. They also called me an ambulance just in case and wheeled me in a wheelchair back from Hanamutsubi to Kotori Ryokan. All the staff will also welcome and say good bye to you when you leave and enter and are very polite and truly make you feel special.

Absolutely beautiful Ryokan, my room was western style but very comfortable, the included private onsen time was wonderful. We had half board which was a Japanese style dinner, at a hotel a few steps from the Ryokan, this was amazing, food was prepared at the table. Breakfast the next morning was Japanese style as well. Shuttle collected our luggage on arrival and we were shuttled to train station on departure.