BOSENKAN - Gero

Lovely place, Nice Osen, Fantastic welcome dinner. The location might be a little far from the center and may hear the far JR train pass by in the night, but the facilities and accommodations are excellent. Plus, the near by local liquor store have an outstanding Sake!

We arrived at night after dinner. The reception was very nice & helpful! They understood English and that was refreshing. The room entrance was like an entrance to a traditional Japanese house. We booked 2 rooms and they were huge. We'll equipped with amenities, although the furniture was a bit weathered. But the place was cozy and nice. The beds or tatami was layed out and the kids had a great time running around. Definitely a place to come back to again. The view from our room was awesome! And there was a little garden outside. The onsen, well, that's the reason we came here. It's the top place for Onsen in Japan! The outdoor onsen was great! I've not been to other onsen here, but I was enjoying myself lying in the hot pool and breathing cool air at the same time. Looking forward to do it again tonight.

While I don't have anything extremely negative to say the facility is definitely aging and I was disappointed in the size of the bath house in comparison to other ryokan I have stayed at before for the price. The pool was also closed for several weeks of cleaning and with 90+° weather that was a big disappointment. On the plus side the staff was lovely, the food was what one should expect at a nice ryokan and they also have a beer garden with a wonderful view of the mountainside at night. If you can get a good deal on a room I would definitely recommend.

Spacious, traditional rooms with all the expected amenities of an onsen. Some have mentioned they didn't seem clean, but that was not the case at all. Comfortable futon to sleep on, even for my 70 year old parents. Baths were beautiful and comfortable, though the train is as little loud when it passes. Breakfast was Japanese, and delicious, and very filling. Staff are very attentive and speak English as best they can. Altogether a lovely experience. Glad we came.

We fell in love with this town <3. At first we doubt that visiting this place could be a wast since it takes time taking train from Kyoto to Gero. But once arrive, things change — we love this small and cozy town. Nothing much, just a small onsen town to chill and slow down your busy trip. This hotel provide you a free shuttle from and to the train station. Hotel locates up on the hill by the river and you can see river and beautiful mountains view from your room. Hotel is in a walking distance to the public Onsen and souvenirs store. The hotel staff make you feel comfortable even they are not very good in English but I don’t have problem in communication at all. They even take you to the room after checking-in and sit down to make you a traditional Japanese tea! Hotel also provide you a rope in Japanese style or Yukata and sock and slippers. Onsen is good and roomy and clean. They also have an outdoor foot-onsen for you to round-up with your friend or couple. I really recommend you to try the dinner and breakfast here as well, as it is very much Japanese style. And I love learning the culture. Can not say enough good thing ... you have to try visiting Gero and stay here.

Gero is full of these places and there’s something good to find in all of them. The river views are stunning, the rooms are dark, cosy, moodily lit and homely. Staff are professional and helpful, if not particularly warm. The private baths, which you have to book on check-in for a certain time, are wonderful. The public baths are a little small, and not as elaborate as some other places I’ve been to around here, but again there are stunning views of the surrounding mountains, and if (like I was), you’re lucky enough to be in the outdoor baths during a thunderstorm, it doesn’t get much better. There’s also an outdoor foot bath which is worth a look! Food is standard ryokan fare, includes a bit of the local Hida Beef (though I was kind of expecting a bit more), as well as some excellent sushi, nabe and other treats. All in all not a bad place. But there are one or two negatives! The hotel is clearly a very old building and is in need of some renovation. The carpets all around the hotel are worn and in some places there are quite large visible spill-stains and other blemishes. When compared to some other ryokan in this area the place looks positively dilapidated. There’s also a little problem with sound traveling - there was a group of noisy University students on our floor and you could hear them at the other end of the corridor. Luckily they calmed down pretty early so it didn’t really spoil anything. And as mentioned before, I’d have liked a bit more Hida beef in the dinner. I don’t want to get too down on the place though as we had a genuinely great time here.

Definitely get the room with the private outdoor bath! I booked the 山水亭 type room for two people (¥18.000) per person per night + two meals included with it. The room might be a little bit dated, but the outdoor bath was too die for as it was just renovated in 2019! We bathed multiple times and enjoyed the amazing view. The meals were very good too and the staff were attentive (some can speak English!). If you decide to come all the way to Gero, I definitely recommend spending a bit more to get the private onsen room and enjoy the full experience.

One of the oldest in Gero onsen area from 1818. Despite the oldness, delicious Kaiseki given very reasonable price with good range of variety including Hida beef. Very friendly staff. 1 open air bath & 1 public bath. About 1km from Gero station (walkable) but ryokan offers shuttle. Gero area is nice walk-around with plenty of footbath areas. Great relaxation.