Okutsusou
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Fast facts
Check in from: | 15:00 |
|---|---|
Check out before: | 10:00 |
Pets | Pets not allowed |
Amenities
Wi-Fi
Parking
Air conditioning
Spa
Front desk 24 hour
Restaurant
More about Okutsusou
Okutsusou
Okutsusou in Kagamino provides adults-only accommodation with free bikes, a garden and a bar. This 3-star ryokan offers a spa experience, with its hot spring bath and spa facilities.
Reviews from 
Family traveller
Comment: 20 Oct 2024
Stayed in: Jul 2024
The hot springs are of the highest quality
Okutsuso is a registered tangible cultural property of Japan and the facilities are old, but the quality of the hot springs is the best. The open-air bath with a room is always filled with freshly sourced hot spring water, so you can enjoy the hot spring to your heart's content. The number of rooms is small, and it is nice to have a private bath anytime. The rooms are clean and atmospheric. The food is high, so you can enjoy both dinner and breakfast.
Couple
Comment: 24 Aug 2024
Stayed in: Aug 2024
Adult hot springs inn, Buttigieg wants to keep quiet
I used the hot springs "standing bath" and "kagi bath" bubbling up from the bottom of the river for the purpose. Kagiyu is famous for its hot springs, to the point where the lord of the domain locks them, but when I went there, it was a hot spring that even I wanted to lock and take care of. There were also 8 rooms, 2 of which seemed to have baths, and I enjoyed all the baths to myself during my stay.
Before I went, I felt it was a slightly more expensive inn, but when I went there, the hot springs exceeded my expectations, it was a quiet, laid-back adult inn, the food was polite, and the price was convincing. The area around the inn is also a good walking course.
Speaking of desire, the temperature of the hot springs is 42 degrees Celsius, so it is nice to have a drinking fountain server in the dressing room in summer.
The main building is also designated as a registered tangible cultural property. Please note that if your purpose is to stay in a cultural property, it will only be in a room in the main building. The room we used was a separate building connected by a corridor, and this was a simple Showa retro room. If you don't care about cultural assets, you can feel comfortable in your well-cleaned room with a massage chair overlooking the Yoshii River.
Before I went, I felt it was a slightly more expensive inn, but when I went there, the hot springs exceeded my expectations, it was a quiet, laid-back adult inn, the food was polite, and the price was convincing. The area around the inn is also a good walking course.
Speaking of desire, the temperature of the hot springs is 42 degrees Celsius, so it is nice to have a drinking fountain server in the dressing room in summer.
The main building is also designated as a registered tangible cultural property. Please note that if your purpose is to stay in a cultural property, it will only be in a room in the main building. The room we used was a separate building connected by a corridor, and this was a simple Showa retro room. If you don't care about cultural assets, you can feel comfortable in your well-cleaned room with a massage chair overlooking the Yoshii River.
Solo traveller
Comment: 3 Jan 2024
Stayed in: Jan 2024
Arrived safely
We were worried about snow since it's deep in the mountains, but we made it there safely.
The building had a nice atmosphere and the hospitality was great.
The arrangement of the stones at the bottom of the bath was also interesting.
The building had a nice atmosphere and the hospitality was great.
The arrangement of the stones at the bottom of the bath was also interesting.
Couple
Comment: 3 Dec 2023
Stayed in: Nov 2023
Excellent
The staff are very friendly and fluent in English. There is high quality environment and meals. The onsens are spectacular. Rooms are spacious. Near to Okutsu which is famous for red leaves. Highly recommend it to everyone!
Other
Comment: 13 Mar 2022
Stayed in: Mar 2022
Did not meet our (lofty) expectations
Through extensive research, mainly via Japanese review sites, blogs and articles, I learned that OkutsuSo is - among luxury Onsen (hot springs) Ryokan enthusiasts - among the highest rated properties in all of Japan, particularly as a result of its food and Onsen quality. Being that it would not be much of a detour during our Western Japan road trip, we decided to visit this renowned ryokan located in the Okutsu Onsen area of Okayama Prefecture. For what it's worth, the three most famous Onsen areas in Okayama are Yunogo Onsen, Yubara Onsen and Okutsu Onsen. Having now visited two of the three (Yunogo being the other), they are not as "developed," crowded or action-filled as places like Kinosaki Onsen or Kusatsu Onsen. The three towns in Okayama are far sleepier, which is a plus or minus, depending on what you liked. Given that our main purpose was to find out if OkutsuSo was worthy of "destination ryokan" status, our decision to visit the area was an easy one.... and we came away somewhat confused (as to what the fuss is about) and disappointed.
OkutsuSo is located in the heart of Okutsu town and is set along the banks of the Yoshii River. It's a convenient location, but the drawback is in its lack of any semblance of property grounds. No gardens, no pond, nothing. While there are certainly top ryokans that forgo such visual splendor, they generally overcome such a shortcoming by making it up via great food, service, Onsen and rooms. In OkutsuSo's case, it did not deliver in many of those aspects.
It's a small, family-owned ryokan that was established in 1927, and the main building (and interior layout and decor) is well preserved in its original form. This is definitely a "traditional" ryokan in the truest sense, which will please guests looking for an authentic Japan experience. It's also very small and intimate - just 8 rooms call OkutsuSo home, with 2 of them being "Hanare" detached Villa-style structures, offering a bit more privacy (including from noise) and space. We stayed in one of the Hanare rooms - ours was named "Seikantei", which is described by the ryokan as a "detached cabin special room with outdoor open-air onsen bath." It had a separate bedroom and living room as well as an Onsen bath on its deck - some rooms don't have Onsens and many only have one main room that is used as both a living room and (by rolling out Futons at night) the bedroom. The room was reasonably spacious, although some of the drawbacks at similar old properties are evident here. This includes the lack of a shower in the room (which is weird, since that means people would jump into the in-room Onsen without cleaning up first, which a is very un-Japanese thing to do), just one sink, and the semi-hallway that runs between the living room and the deck, as well as the entrance foyer, get very cold at night in the winter. The bedroom and living rooms benefit from heaters, but not the hallways that connect the rooms to the bathroom, entrance, toilet as well as the rooms themselves. This is partially made up for by the presence of the open-air Onsen bath, which is nice, although this is not something that's exclusive to OkutsuSo (many top ryokans offer this.)
We were the only guests staying at OkutsuSo at the time we were there, with the main benefit being the ability to try all of the Onsen baths (not counting the one in our room.) Given that we're hot spring freaks, we tried all of them... two are of the gender-segregated variety (they alternate between women and men depending on the day), and two can be rented, free of charge, for private use. They were all interesting and unique, although I wouldn't consider it as necessarily superior to other Onsen baths that we've tried. For one, if you enjoy open-air bathing with wonderful outdoor scenery or nature, you won't get that here. Three of the baths are indoors without any views whatsoever, while one of the rental baths ("Kawa-no-yu") is semi-open-air. Kawa-no-yu is not completely outdoor; it really just lets air in by having the windows open, but the view of the river is obscured by railings. This is unfortunate but understandable - across the river is a road and several buildings, so they really can't have a completely exposed outdoor bath for privacy reasons. The indoor baths, however are very nice - the gender-segregated baths ("Kagiyu" and "Tachiyu") are not smooth - they are lined with somewhat large rocks that come from the Yoshii River, giving it a rough, natural feel to them (unlike cement, tile or even hinoki wood.) They are pretty small baths as communal ones go, so if there's even 2 other people using it, it's going to feel cramped - not a good thing during COVID times, especially indoor baths. While we couldn't tell the difference, the quality of the hot springs is supposedly among the best in Japan, and the Onsen is sourced from very nearby. It's free-flowing, and there's an abundance of it.
The biggest disappointment came at dinner; it was definitely the lowlight of our stay. It was not inedible, and some of the servings were decent. But in a country where food is - on average - incredible, "decent" doesn't cut it... and definitely not at ryokan that commands the type of room rates that they charge their guests. While we appreciated the fact that many of the ingredients were locally sourced, there was some creativity and uniqueness to the dishes, and there was a Spring theme to the plates and some of the food (for instance, "Hinasushi" is a type of Sushi that's often served during Girl's Day, which takes place in March), none of it was particularly memorable. We were particularly surprised that their so-called "Meibutsu" Speciality dish, which supposedly has been continually served since the ryokan's founding, was so unremarkable. It's called "Joyomushi" and it consists mainly of steamed Japanese Mountain Yam, served custard-style. They went to great lengths explaining how it was steamed at the Hot Springs source. Okay, nice. But the taste was incredibly bland, and the texture was nothing to write home about. Even something basic like "wild caught" Sea Bream sashimi didn't taste as firm and fresh as ones we've had at other places. Towards the end of the meal, I began to wonder whether some of the kitchen staff (especially the head chef) were on leave given that we were the only guests there. Or, potentially more damaging - if there had recently been damaging turnover among them.
Which is highly possible (if not probable) when we realized that one of the three primary ryokan staff members we interfaced with was a trainee, and another was an intern. The third member (the "veteran") had only been at OkutsuSo for about a year. On top of that, the "Okamisan" (Proprietress) was nowhere to be found. The "Waka-Okamisan" (which usually means the daughter-in-law of the Proprietress and the future Proprietress) was there, but seemed very indifferent and not particularly engaging. It's possible that either 1) COVID was very damaging to Okutsu Onsen and OkutsuSo, and they either had to cut back on staff (and replace them with cheaper new staff) or lost employees that relocated; 2) the lack of visitors has sucked the life out of OkutsuSo; or 3) the quality of the entire operation has gone down. While the service was warm and welcoming, it lacked the sophistication and polish that we've experienced at other ryokans elsewhere. Although the rooms aren't on the same level as many other top ryokans, I can see how amazing food together with the high quality Onsen had previously helped place OkutsuSo on a pedestal. Not anymore.
It's still a pretty good place. But our sky-high expectations and high price led to a downer of an experience. And the town does not serve as enough of an anchor point to entice is to choose OkutsuSo over other top ryokans in Japan that are vying for our repeat visit.
OkutsuSo is located in the heart of Okutsu town and is set along the banks of the Yoshii River. It's a convenient location, but the drawback is in its lack of any semblance of property grounds. No gardens, no pond, nothing. While there are certainly top ryokans that forgo such visual splendor, they generally overcome such a shortcoming by making it up via great food, service, Onsen and rooms. In OkutsuSo's case, it did not deliver in many of those aspects.
It's a small, family-owned ryokan that was established in 1927, and the main building (and interior layout and decor) is well preserved in its original form. This is definitely a "traditional" ryokan in the truest sense, which will please guests looking for an authentic Japan experience. It's also very small and intimate - just 8 rooms call OkutsuSo home, with 2 of them being "Hanare" detached Villa-style structures, offering a bit more privacy (including from noise) and space. We stayed in one of the Hanare rooms - ours was named "Seikantei", which is described by the ryokan as a "detached cabin special room with outdoor open-air onsen bath." It had a separate bedroom and living room as well as an Onsen bath on its deck - some rooms don't have Onsens and many only have one main room that is used as both a living room and (by rolling out Futons at night) the bedroom. The room was reasonably spacious, although some of the drawbacks at similar old properties are evident here. This includes the lack of a shower in the room (which is weird, since that means people would jump into the in-room Onsen without cleaning up first, which a is very un-Japanese thing to do), just one sink, and the semi-hallway that runs between the living room and the deck, as well as the entrance foyer, get very cold at night in the winter. The bedroom and living rooms benefit from heaters, but not the hallways that connect the rooms to the bathroom, entrance, toilet as well as the rooms themselves. This is partially made up for by the presence of the open-air Onsen bath, which is nice, although this is not something that's exclusive to OkutsuSo (many top ryokans offer this.)
We were the only guests staying at OkutsuSo at the time we were there, with the main benefit being the ability to try all of the Onsen baths (not counting the one in our room.) Given that we're hot spring freaks, we tried all of them... two are of the gender-segregated variety (they alternate between women and men depending on the day), and two can be rented, free of charge, for private use. They were all interesting and unique, although I wouldn't consider it as necessarily superior to other Onsen baths that we've tried. For one, if you enjoy open-air bathing with wonderful outdoor scenery or nature, you won't get that here. Three of the baths are indoors without any views whatsoever, while one of the rental baths ("Kawa-no-yu") is semi-open-air. Kawa-no-yu is not completely outdoor; it really just lets air in by having the windows open, but the view of the river is obscured by railings. This is unfortunate but understandable - across the river is a road and several buildings, so they really can't have a completely exposed outdoor bath for privacy reasons. The indoor baths, however are very nice - the gender-segregated baths ("Kagiyu" and "Tachiyu") are not smooth - they are lined with somewhat large rocks that come from the Yoshii River, giving it a rough, natural feel to them (unlike cement, tile or even hinoki wood.) They are pretty small baths as communal ones go, so if there's even 2 other people using it, it's going to feel cramped - not a good thing during COVID times, especially indoor baths. While we couldn't tell the difference, the quality of the hot springs is supposedly among the best in Japan, and the Onsen is sourced from very nearby. It's free-flowing, and there's an abundance of it.
The biggest disappointment came at dinner; it was definitely the lowlight of our stay. It was not inedible, and some of the servings were decent. But in a country where food is - on average - incredible, "decent" doesn't cut it... and definitely not at ryokan that commands the type of room rates that they charge their guests. While we appreciated the fact that many of the ingredients were locally sourced, there was some creativity and uniqueness to the dishes, and there was a Spring theme to the plates and some of the food (for instance, "Hinasushi" is a type of Sushi that's often served during Girl's Day, which takes place in March), none of it was particularly memorable. We were particularly surprised that their so-called "Meibutsu" Speciality dish, which supposedly has been continually served since the ryokan's founding, was so unremarkable. It's called "Joyomushi" and it consists mainly of steamed Japanese Mountain Yam, served custard-style. They went to great lengths explaining how it was steamed at the Hot Springs source. Okay, nice. But the taste was incredibly bland, and the texture was nothing to write home about. Even something basic like "wild caught" Sea Bream sashimi didn't taste as firm and fresh as ones we've had at other places. Towards the end of the meal, I began to wonder whether some of the kitchen staff (especially the head chef) were on leave given that we were the only guests there. Or, potentially more damaging - if there had recently been damaging turnover among them.
Which is highly possible (if not probable) when we realized that one of the three primary ryokan staff members we interfaced with was a trainee, and another was an intern. The third member (the "veteran") had only been at OkutsuSo for about a year. On top of that, the "Okamisan" (Proprietress) was nowhere to be found. The "Waka-Okamisan" (which usually means the daughter-in-law of the Proprietress and the future Proprietress) was there, but seemed very indifferent and not particularly engaging. It's possible that either 1) COVID was very damaging to Okutsu Onsen and OkutsuSo, and they either had to cut back on staff (and replace them with cheaper new staff) or lost employees that relocated; 2) the lack of visitors has sucked the life out of OkutsuSo; or 3) the quality of the entire operation has gone down. While the service was warm and welcoming, it lacked the sophistication and polish that we've experienced at other ryokans elsewhere. Although the rooms aren't on the same level as many other top ryokans, I can see how amazing food together with the high quality Onsen had previously helped place OkutsuSo on a pedestal. Not anymore.
It's still a pretty good place. But our sky-high expectations and high price led to a downer of an experience. And the town does not serve as enough of an anchor point to entice is to choose OkutsuSo over other top ryokans in Japan that are vying for our repeat visit.
Location
Okutsu 48, Okutsu, 708-0503, Chugoku, Japan|0.8 km from city centre
Check in and check out
Check in from:
15:00
Check out before:
10:00
Good to know
Pets not allowed
Children require an extra bed to sleep in the room.
Please contact the hotel for details about adding extra beds.
Okutsusou: FAQs
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