Kannawaen

“Beautiful ryokan next to the Hells of Beppu”

I wanted to visit Beppu and experience the hot springs. I booked a room at Sanso Kannawaen after watching a video on the facilities. The room, hot springs, food, and service definitely met my expectation for a highly rated ryokan. Its location is perfect for visiting the Hells. Umi Jigoku is li… more

I wanted to visit Beppu and experience the hot springs. I booked a room at Sanso Kannawaen after watching a video on the facilities. The room, hot springs, food, and service definitely met my expectation for a highly rated ryokan. Its location is perfect for visiting the Hells. Umi Jigoku is literally a 5 min walk from the entrance of the ryokan. From Beppu station, it was a short 15 min taxi ride (longer by bus) and cost 2200 yen. Our taxi ride to Oita airport (50 min) was arranged by the ryokan and cost 10200 yen. The surroundings have some restaurants but since I got the dinner and breakfast option, I did not venture outside the ryokan. The room I got was a Japanese Western room in the annex. It was a wonderful room with tatami mats and western beds. It was roomy with a great view of Beppu city and the ocean. There was both an indoor and outdoor tub with the incredible hot spring water of Beppu. The indoor tub was made of wood while the outside tub was made of stone. Both were comfortable and could easily fit 2 people. There were water, tea, coffee, and snacks in the room. The community hot springs were on the rooftop of another building and had gorgeous views of the city. The view is particularly striking at night when the city lights up and the steam of the hells can be seen visibly throughout the city. There were both outdoor and indoor hot springs and both were very large. When I was there, there were very few guests so it felt like a private hot spring. The hospitality of the staff was exceptional. We arrived before check-in time and they gladly held our luggage while we visited the hells. When we checked--in, there was a welcome drink (yuzu tea) that was excellent. Our bags were already taken to our room too. Dinner was kaiseki and had a fixed time that was provided at check-in. We ate at the dining room together with other guests. The food was high quality as expected of a ryokan of this caliber. There were two options for breakfast and I chose the Japanese option. Like dinner, it was exquisitely presented with most of the dishes inside a 3 drawer box that you open like a present. Everything was delicious and beautifully presented. I wish I had time to stay more than 1 night as Kannawaen was excellent throughout my stay. If I go back to Beppu, I would definitely stay at Kannawaen again.

less

“Beautiful rooms, perfect location”

WOW! This was our first visit to the Beppu area and we couldn't have chosen a better place to stay. Location is ideal, only a few minute walk to all the 'hells' - but the hotel itself was just the best. We traveled as a party of 8 (2 families) - and they were proactively fantastic in getting us nei… more

WOW! This was our first visit to the Beppu area and we couldn't have chosen a better place to stay. Location is ideal, only a few minute walk to all the 'hells' - but the hotel itself was just the best. We traveled as a party of 8 (2 families) - and they were proactively fantastic in getting us neighboring rooms and seated together for meals. And the rooms - gorgeous and so very clean and thoughtful ammenities. We stayed in the half Japanese/half western rooms - and all i can say is we were spoiled - the service was fantastic and very accomadating to a couple of random kid requests. My kids (all 3, 7-13yo) loved it and were so sad we were only staying 2 nights. The japanese breakfast there is also a must and the public bath onsen was enjoyed by all. We loved it - looking forward to our next stay!

less