Araya Totoan

“Peaceful location with excellent service”

The place is well kept and has character, the lady who runs it is very kind and attentive. We liked the location, if you want peace and quiet. The hot springs experience is very pleasant. Our rooms were spacious and had amazing attention to details. Kaiseki and breakfast were served in a private ro… more

The place is well kept and has character, the lady who runs it is very kind and attentive. We liked the location, if you want peace and quiet. The hot springs experience is very pleasant. Our rooms were spacious and had amazing attention to details. Kaiseki and breakfast were served in a private room. Food the second night was much better than the first night, (I had some problems the first night). I was given a lovely continental breakfast, or if you want you can have Japanese breakfast. Lovely place! I would go back.

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“An Excepetional Japanese Ryokan Experience”

Our itinerary planner, Scott Gilman, of JapanQuest Journeys booked us in this ryokan for 2 nights during our private tour of the interior of Japan. Experiencing this unique Japanese experience was so lovely. Our room was huge and we had our own private open air bath fed by a mineral spring. The fu… more

Our itinerary planner, Scott Gilman, of JapanQuest Journeys booked us in this ryokan for 2 nights during our private tour of the interior of Japan. Experiencing this unique Japanese experience was so lovely. Our room was huge and we had our own private open air bath fed by a mineral spring. The futons were very comfortable. At 76 and 91 sleeping on the floor would have been difficult. The attention to beautiful Japanese detail and service made for lovely meals and, when we asked for “Western Breakfast” on day 2, it was provided happily so we didn’t have to waste food that was not to our liking. Here, in the land of tea, the lattes from the Nespresso machine were wonderful. Even more special was the tour of the magnificent renovated quarters where the Imperial family stayed long ago conducted by the senior member of the family who has run this inn for generations. We were treated as friends and honored guests. We so highly recommend two things…have Scott plan your Japanese holiday and have him book you at this beautiful historic and serene ryokan.

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“Historic Kaga-style luxury ryokan ”

We were after the most traditional luxury ryokan experience we could find in Ishikawa prefecture. The prerequisite was that it be aimed predominantly at Japanese clients (why bother coming to Japan if you’re after an experience for foreigners?). Araya Totoan did not disappoint. We had a private b… more

We were after the most traditional luxury ryokan experience we could find in Ishikawa prefecture. The prerequisite was that it be aimed predominantly at Japanese clients (why bother coming to Japan if you’re after an experience for foreigners?). Araya Totoan did not disappoint. We had a private bath, but one of the highlights was using the ryokan’s three shared (‘public’) onsen baths. As we stayed on a Monday night, while I can’t be certain whether there weren’t other guests around, we were very lucky to have all three onsen to ourselves. Two of them had baths set in a Japanese outdoor garden setting. Oh, yes! This is the dream you had of Japan - sitting in the outdoor hot spring by yourself and having a drink float towards you. Other than the excellent art, which you should read up on and appreciate, the kaiseki meal was excellent. It was comparable to ones at the high-end ryotei in Kanazawa. Araya Totoan appeared to have the traditional management structure - we met the Okami on arrival and the Waka-Okami at check out. Our stay started with a tea ceremony - we apologise for our lack of manners as we didn’t learn how to do a Kaga-style ceremony until we had a lesson in Kanazawa a few days later! One minor issue was that my request for the courtesy shuttle from Kagaonsen station wasn’t picked up. This was most likely JTB’s fault (the ryokan’s English booking agency). However this didn’t turn out to be a problem, as the local tourism officer at the train station (Alexander the Frenchman) greeted us on arrival and called the ryokan. A quintessential experience if you are in Ishikawa.

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“Excellent local seafood”

The guest room is very good - no much to complain. There is no nature view from the guest room due to the restriction of the area. But from the half open-air bath there is japanese garden style view for you to look at. Also you do not need to worry about privacy. However, not that special and the b… more

The guest room is very good - no much to complain. There is no nature view from the guest room due to the restriction of the area. But from the half open-air bath there is japanese garden style view for you to look at. Also you do not need to worry about privacy. However, not that special and the bedroom was not at comfortable size. (Bedroom is too small and living room is large - but the aircondition is not adjustable independently - thus you will have one side too warm and the other side too cold. The dinner is the climax, with no doubt. But this is what you pay for it.

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