倭乃里日式旅館(Wanosato)

Un lieu enchanteur au milieu de la nature, une immersion au coeur de la culture japonaise. Un accueil charmant, une cuisine raffinée… Une expérience inoubliable, et la neige qui a ajouté de la magie à ces délicats instants. La possibilité de privatiser le onsen était très appréciable.

Tra la visita di Kyoto e quella di Tokyo la tappa al ryokan Wanosato è stata una pausa magica nella natura. L’ubicazione fuori dalla città, il servizio ineccepibile, la qualità del cibo e la cura nella presentazione, la possibilità di provare l’onsen da soli, tutto questo ha reso la notte a Takayama un’esperienza indimenticabile.

Wanosato is located next to a picturesque rock strewn river surrounded by old pine trees. The setting is quiet and relaxing with just the sound of flowing water. If you’re planning to explore Takayama you will need transportation for the short drive there. The well established ryokan has several baths available and they are all enjoyable. Our room was spacious and clean with good AC and a small refrigerator. There is a charge for non alcoholic drinks from the refrigerator which is different from other ryokans on our trip. Meals were excellent without fail and the service level is very good. Staff are friendly and accommodating. Shuttle service to and from the train station. Very pleasant stay.

Helaas is de prijs kwaliteit van deze ryokan niet ok. Het eten is prima maar als je iets wilt bestellen moet je wachten tot je volgende gang, omdat ze vertrekken na het brengen. Zo zit je soms een hele gang te wachten voor je kunt vragen of je wat zout mag of iets kunt drinken. Je mag zelf je koffers via een niet begaanbaar pad sjouwen en bij vertrek is niemand te vinden en kun je je koffers weer omhoog sjouwen. We klaagden over een stank in onze kamer, maar daar werd niets meer aan gedaan maar wel wordt er elke keer gevraagd of je iets uit de minibar hebt gedronken (voor deze prijs hoeft dat echt niet) Geen aanrader meer. Er zijn zoveel goedkopere en betere opties Jammer dat je een dure 4 persoons kamer kiest, Maar er dan achterkomt dat gewoon extra bedden krijgt in de woonkamer waar geen airco is… Jammer dat je een sake proeverij krijgt maar dat er gewoon twee flessen klaar staan met een kaartje erbij en succes.. Jammer dat je een stinkende kamer krijgt (vonden zij ook) maar dat ze er dan niets meer aan doen, maar wel blijven zeuren over of je iets uit de Minibar hebt gehaald… biedt dan iets aan… Gemiste kans, op naar een betere ervaring (zoek even verder voor iets anders)

We felt cheated. This was our second visit to Wanosato and we stayed at the same suite (Tenryu), but the experience was completely different. The room smelled strongly musty (our clothes in the suitcase still smelled the same mustiness for days after leaving Wanosato). There were cobwebs and balls of dust in the room. As a result, our dust allergy was so severe that my wife had to keep a face mask on in order to sleep. It was clear that Wanosato was short of staff. Rarely anyone at the counter; even the dinners were toned down/reduced from our last stay 4 years ago. It was not the staff's issue. They worked hard and had a good attitude. It was the issue with the management/owner. Faced with staffing shortage, the management apparently chose to maximize profit by making available more rooms than the staff could handle, and in the process the service standard deteriorated significantly. To be charged 250,000 yen per night for the suite, we expected better (at least a clean suite). The steadfast commitment to quality by luxury ryokans and hotels in Japan is the reason we keep coming back. Such trust is lost with Wanosato. We will not revisit in the future.

Despite some flaws, we really enjoyed our stay at Wanosato. The meal service was the highlight of the trip - the chef was excellent as was the server (same every night). The room was a bit dated but the was overcome by the amazing setting right on the river and traditional rooms. The flaws were the shuttle bus was very rigid (except when they decided we had to wait for other passengers) and we had to take multiple taxis to the train station because it wasn’t running. They had no idea how we would do a hike in the area so we ended up on a road walk. They also have no lunch so we had to go to town for lunch which ended up being a 3 hour excursion because of the shuttle.