Miyama Sanso

“Fantastic Onsen Experience - A Ryokan Gem in Kyushu”

This Kyushu self-drive trip was incredibly packed with experiences. We stayed at three different hot spring resorts along the way, and I'll introduce them one by one. Before heading up to Mt. Aso, I'd recommend spending a night at the Kurokawa Onsen area to really relax and unwind at the hot spring… more

This Kyushu self-drive trip was incredibly packed with experiences. We stayed at three different hot spring resorts along the way, and I'll introduce them one by one. Before heading up to Mt. Aso, I'd recommend spending a night at the Kurokawa Onsen area to really relax and unwind at the hot springs before continuing on your jam-packed itinerary. There are tons of ryokans to choose from in Kurokawa, and this time we picked a more remote one located up in the mountains called "Yamamizuki Bettei Miyama Sansou". With only a handful of rooms, it provides a wonderfully serene and peaceful stay. The Japanese-style and Western-style accommodation package with 1 night and 2 meals comes out to about 34,000 yen per person. The service, food quality, and overall resort standards are all absolutely top-notch. Highly recommended! ✨Check-in✨ The check-in process was very smooth. After completing check-in, the staff even drove us to our accommodation in a golf cart - a really fun experience! ✨Japanese-Style Room✨ Our room was a standalone cottage with two separate spaces, occupying a huge area with excellent layout. The room has both Japanese and Western-style elements, with a very comfortable Japanese-style living room. The room has a huge private onsen, surrounded by a private Japanese garden for maximum privacy. We could take a stroll in the garden and enjoy coffee while admiring the river views in the morning. ✨Kaiseki Dinner✨ The seasonal ingredients used in the multi-course kaiseki dinner were beautifully presented and delicious. The highlight was the perfectly-cooked wagyu beef, with the fat evenly distributed and seared to a medium-rare perfection that just melts in your mouth. They also have a great selection of Japanese sake at reasonable prices - we enjoyed a couple of small cups. ✨Japanese Breakfast✨ Breakfast was a pleasant surprise! Instead of the usual buffet-style spread, it was a carefully curated set menu. The delicately steamed seasonal vegetables were incredibly sweet and tasty, accompanied by Japanese rice and other side dishes - a wonderfully nourishing start to the day. P.S. The resort is located deep in the mountains, so I'd recommend it for self-driving travelers. Just be very careful driving on the mountain roads, and try to arrive before sunset.

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“매우 깨끗하고 편안한 온천”

직원들이 매우 친절하고 영어구사 능력도 괜찮은 편입니다. 특히 한국어를 이해할 수 있는 직원도 있어요(근데 듣는건 잘해도 구사는 못합니다^^). 객실과 대욕장 모두 청결도는 5성 호텔 급이고, 온천물 질도 매우 좋습니다(유노하나가 엄청나게 떠다녀요^^). 중심부에서 좀 떨어진 호텔임에도 불구하고 매점에서 왠만한 것은 다 구할 수 있습니다. (가격이 문제지^^;;) 또한, 자매 료칸인 야마미즈키(근거리)나 신메이칸(쿠로카와온천 중심부)의 노천온천도 무료 이용할 수 있는 장점이 있어요. 음식의 질도 왠만한 5성호텔 뺨칠 정도로… more

직원들이 매우 친절하고 영어구사 능력도 괜찮은 편입니다. 특히 한국어를 이해할 수 있는 직원도 있어요(근데 듣는건 잘해도 구사는 못합니다^^). 객실과 대욕장 모두 청결도는 5성 호텔 급이고, 온천물 질도 매우 좋습니다(유노하나가 엄청나게 떠다녀요^^). 중심부에서 좀 떨어진 호텔임에도 불구하고 매점에서 왠만한 것은 다 구할 수 있습니다. (가격이 문제지^^;;) 또한, 자매 료칸인 야마미즈키(근거리)나 신메이칸(쿠로카와온천 중심부)의 노천온천도 무료 이용할 수 있는 장점이 있어요. 음식의 질도 왠만한 5성호텔 뺨칠 정도로 맛있고 좋습니다. 꼭 단점을 꼽자면, 중심부에서 약 2.4km 정도 떨어져 있다는 점인데, 오히려 그 점이 조용함을 극대화 했고, 위에 적었듯이 매점에서 왠만한 것은 다 구할 수 있으므로 큰 단점은 아닙니다. Very friendly staffs. Especially, Korean language understaing staff available(but cannot speaking Korean language ^^). Room and big bath are both clean as 5-star hotels, and quality of hot spring water is perfect. (There are floading yunohanas in the water^^). I could buy anything to need despite far from city center. (but price is not reseanable ^^) And I could use outdoor hot spring in affliate ryokan - Yamamizuki and Shinmeikan. Quality of foods are also 5-star hotels class. Just one weakness is far from Kurokawa Onsen City Center. but it is not big weakness. It makes more silent place :)

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“A private ryokan”

Miyama Sanso is located in a small onsen town named Kurokawa Onsen 黒川温泉, it is known to be one of the most beautiful onsen town in Japan. There are many ryokans in this town, some with their own private onsen in their room and some has public baths in the ryokan. There are also many public bathho… more

Miyama Sanso is located in a small onsen town named Kurokawa Onsen 黒川温泉, it is known to be one of the most beautiful onsen town in Japan. There are many ryokans in this town, some with their own private onsen in their room and some has public baths in the ryokan. There are also many public bathhouses in town that you can visit with your yukata and geta sandals on. Location Kurokawa, Japan Style Onsen ryokan Check In Signage was quite weak as there are many onsen ryokans in this area and we made a mistake in driving to other ryokan’s car park. We were directed to the right car park at last which seem wuite empty. They greeted us immediately and like all ryokan customs, all staffs bows while they wait for you to get out the car and help you offload luggage. We took a long time to offload the luggage and the staffs were all waiting which I felt really bad for that. The reception was at the front and a lady who spoke Mandarin checked us in as we are Chinese. She was very polite and kind, talked us through the facilities eg. the public onsen on site and at their sister’s ryokan next door. She told us where we will be having our meals, told us the options for breakfast and time, then gave us our keys and showed us to our rooms. The only thing I dislike was she assumed we all understand Mandarin which I could barely understand, I hope they would provide English or gave us an option Room A2 room – Western Room + Indoor-Bath We picked the A2 which is the Western style of the room and A3, the Japanese style room. In the A2 Western style rooms, the living-room has a big sofa, an armchair with a footrest. I really liked the western style room, there is a balcony with 2 chairs and a table outside where you can relax and enjoy the nature. Although there is no sea view or mountain view, it was still great to see the beautiful greenery. Every room or suite I would say includes a long hallway, living-room, bedroom and a big bathroom with onsen. Hallway So we were led to our little suite/room, and as Japanese traditions we will need to remove our shoes at the entrance and change into the slippers provided. There are traditional Japanese geta provided for walking around the site too but you cannot wear it inside, strictly for outside. Living room The first room you enter on the right of the hallway is the living-room which was very spacious and has the view of the balcony. A large sofa that can fit almost 4 people on, and very comfortable armchair with a footrest. There is also a large wooden coffee table where there is a booklet introducing the facilities onsite, however there was no English, only Japanese which isn’t very convenient There is also a map of the Kurokawa onsen town which makes it easier if you are out to explore on foot. Balcony A wooden table and chairs were provided outside on the balcony, although there are no sea view, it was still very relaxing and tranquil outside. The view is directly looking down at the restaurant where we will be dining for dinner and breakfast. Bedroom The room adjacent to the living-room was the bedroom, the bedroom was lot more simple than I expected. There is no door in-between the bedroom and the living-room except a little doorway, however they do have seperate air conditioner in each room which also provides heating as it does get very cold at night. There were two singles bed, two bedside tables and a wardrobe, nothing more. At Miyama sanso western beds are provided instead of tatami which is better for elderly who has trouble getting up. Most onsen ryokan provides yukatas for guest, however Miyama Sanso provides these lounge wear which I did not like, it looked more like uniform for staffs here. Pink for ladies and yellow for men, they provided the wrong sizes and it definitely did not make me look pretty unlike wearing the yukata Bathroom + onsen Upon turning left at the end of the hallway is the bathroom and washroom. You will find the coffee machine, kettle next to the sink where the toiletries are. There is a sliding door on the right side which leads to a big bathroom where the onsen tub is. In the western room a big rectangle onsen tub is provided, hot water was running continuously. The tub is so big you can fit a family of four in there easily, there is a button to stop the running spring water but I did not stop it as I liked the sound of the water. There is also a shower on the left which you are supposed to shower before going into the tub. This was my favourite room indeed, having a dip while watching the reflection of the sun through the wooden windows was as Japanese as it gets, so soothing. I strongly recommend going for an onsen right away during sunset time then a morning dip, the atmosphere is completely different. A3 – Japanese Room + Indoor-Bath Every ‘house has two rooms – a Western room on one side and a Japanese room on the other side, so if you are in a big group like we did and chose both of the rooms, you will get a choice to connect the two and becomes a bigger house. Living-room With the Japanese room you do not get a sofa or an armchair but a big wooden table at the centre with two tatami seating. There isn’t a balcony but a large window overlooking the greenery too with two comfortable chair by the side of it. Myself prefers the Western room as I can relax on the sofa while watching TV, with the Kapanese room it is quite hard to sit on the tatami seat cross leg and watch TV for a long period of time Bathroom + onsen In the Japanese room it also has it’s own private onsen, however instead of a large rectangle tub, it is a smaller circular tub with hotspring water coming through. The circular tub is a lot smaller and can only fit one person at a time, although the circular tub is more photogenic, I still prefer the bigger rectangle tub where I can stretch out my leg. Breakfast and restaurant Surrounding and exterior Like most ryokans, two meals are provided on site – breakfast and dinner and it is called 一泊二食. A traditional kaiseki meal is served at dinner on the day you arrive and breakfast on the day you check out, this is the real way to stay at a Japanese ryokans. The restaurant here is named Aze and it’s the place for both of our meals. It was a good 5 minutes walk from our room where we were staying and you will have to walk downhill, you can also call them to drive you down in their golf cart, however we opted to walk to enjoy the scenery. Food – Breakfast Just like the rooms, Miyama Sanso gave us the choices of the Japanese breakfast or Western breakfast. Japanese Style Breakfast The Japanese breakfast came in a bento box with grilled egg rolls, sausage and bacon, pickles and vegetables, a grilled fish, miso soup with clams, bowl of rice and a small dish of fruits. You get to choose a drink of course from coffee, tea or fresh juice. Being a non seafood person, I regret choosing the Japanese breakfast as the grilled fish was too fishy for me and had too much bones. The miso soup was very rich in flavour, however had too much clams so I gave the two dishes away. However the taste and presentation of the Japanese breakfast was above average comapred to the other ryokans I have stayed at. Food – Breakfast Just like the rooms, Miyama Sanso gave us the choices of the Japanese breakfast or Western breakfast. Japanese Style Breakfast The Japanese breakfast came in a bento box with grilled egg rolls, sausage and bacon, pickles and vegetables, a grilled fish, miso soup with clams, bowl of rice and a small dish of fruits. You get to choose a drink of course from coffee, tea or fresh juice. Being a non seafood person, I regret choosing the Japanese breakfast as the grilled fish was too fishy for me and had too much bones. The miso soup was very rich in flavour, however had too much clams so I gave the two dishes away. However the taste and presentation of the Japanese breakfast was above average comapred to the other ryokans I have stayed at. Verdict PROS Privacy as this was not busy Western beds Choice of Western or Japanese rooms Delicious dinner Dinner at private room Fantastic service Spacious room Private ensuite onsen CONS No English verbally or on paper No yukata provided Weak signage Lots of dust Breakfast was average Pricey This is my second time visiting Kurokawa onsen town and I wish I found Miyama Sanso the first time round. The pictures I found online does not do justice for Miyama Sanso. The pictures I found online makes this ryokan old and has no character, whereas the real Miyama Sanso has so much character. The ryokan was elegant, relaxing and natural, the setting for the private onsen was remarkable. My only regret was not having the time to visit the public onsens on site and only complaint was there was too much dust in the rooms. The rooms were pricey but to have your own private onsen in room with a 7 course dinner, this was a lovely experience and far better than other ryokans I have stayed Another great thing about Miyama Sanso is you can book it on Hotels.com, most traditional Japanese ryokans is not available on booking sites but you must book via their website which is not English friendly so you will either have to know Japanese or using Google translate. Would I go back again? Why not Rating from my brain (out of 5 hearts): ♥♥♥♥♥ Rating from my heart (out of 5 hearts): ♥♥♥♥ Overall rating (out of 10 hearts) : ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 9/10

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“A good place for relax”

It was my second time to Aso district. This time my wife and I spent some quality time to Miyama Sanso. It is a beautiful place for chill and relax. The staff are super friendly and nice. I strongly recommend visitors to go and feel their Zen Environment.