Arima Hot Spring Ryokan Hanamusubi

Luxury meets comfort. Though they offer shuttle bus transportation services, we decided to walk the town and make way to the hotel on our own, which proved to be quite an exercise that we did not repeat as it sits very near the top of a hill in this lovely town. The staff was warm and welcoming throughout our stay. We donned our yukata and geta (we had to wear the men’s shoes because the ladies’ option was entirely too dainty for our feet) and previous lesson learned, took the shuttle bus back into town. Everyone in town seemed excited to see us in traditional clothing and was kind enough not to point out that I wore my yukata incorrectly. We enjoyed the foot bath and when the weather changed rather suddenly to wintry rain/snow mix, we called the shuttle bus back to pick us and barely had to wait five minutes. The staff escorted us to and from the vehicle with umbrellas. The food was an amazing, traditional Japanese kaiseki meal served in our room which slightly overwhelmed some of our less adventurous eaters, but they tried everything at least. Note, this was a seven course meal and by the end, we wished we had taken the earlier dinner option as dinner ended two hours later. Even though we booked the room with the private open air spring, we wanted to try the public spring following dinner. And I am so very glad we did! Though the private bath is amazing and accessible, the night sky in the open air public bathing area was sublime. The next morning we extended our stay by an hour because my husband was not feeling well. The staff were super sweet in their concern, even asking about the rest of our party. The actual hospitality of the entire staff almost brought my best friend to tears as they bid us farewell.

Samquia