Musouan Biwa

The rooms, baths, and meals were all superb. Most of the staff were foreigners, but they were very helpful. While there were some minor issues with their Japanese, it wasn't a problem. I was so satisfied that I wanted to stay for several nights. I would definitely like to stay here again.

My husband and I visited on our wedding anniversary. It's a fairly luxurious inn, with every room featuring an open-air bath. Unfortunately, it was cloudy on the day of our stay, but the location was wonderful, offering views of the sunset over the Nishiizu Sea from our room. The open-air baths in the guest rooms have a rare, natural spring water that isn't heated or diluted (the private open-air baths are recycled). It was wonderful. A variety of amenities were provided, including a Refa hair dryer, which is a welcome addition for women, and a carefully selected selection of cosmetics (including lotion and milk), shampoos, and treatments, which may be their own brand. There were also plenty of towels provided in the room, so we went to the private open-air bath empty-handed. Apparently, most of the staff are from Nepal, but they all spoke fluent Japanese and were very friendly and polite. Overall, it was a lovely inn, but I would like to mention a few concerns. I was running late for the check-in time I had specified when booking, so I called the inn several times, but couldn't get through. I also couldn't get through to the operating company. Since I made the reservation through Ikyu.com, they also contacted me, but they said they couldn't get through no matter how many times I called. When I arrived, the place was open as usual, but it's hard to believe that an inn that you can't contact at all is so... Also, when I made the reservation, there was a food questionnaire where I could write down any ingredients I didn't like, so I filled out a list of wild game, spicy foods, ginkgo nuts, and coriander (which aren't often found in Japanese cuisine, but just to be safe), but at dinner, duck meat and cherry meat were served without any mention of them. I don't think the questionnaire was really helpful. Overall, the food was delicious, but the final dish, mushroom rice, which I thought was supposed to be seasoned rice, was just a regular bowl with egg-covered shiitake mushrooms sprinkled on top, and the taste was a bit off. I would have preferred plain rice. The room was nice, but instead of a bed, it was a raised, wooden-floored space with a thin 5cm mattress, which was painful and uncomfortable for me, as I have a bad back. We stayed in a maisonette-type room, and while the open-air bath in the guest room was on the first floor, all of the clothes changing facilities were in a closet next to the bedroom on the second floor, which made movement difficult. Also, the sofa in the room was small compared to the size of the room, and too small for two people to relax comfortably. It seemed that the hotel had taken other reviews written by others seriously and made improvements, so we have taken the liberty of writing detailed comments. Thank you for making it a wonderful anniversary.

We stayed in the Sumire room on February 23rd. Everything from the reception to our room was quaint, and the view of the ocean from the hilltop was stunning. The ocean breeze was pleasant while soaking in the open-air bath, and the starry sky was also impressive. The design was thoughtful, so you wouldn't have to worry about neighboring rooms. Check-in was at 2 p.m., so we were able to relax. The dinner, which we had high hopes for, was a bit disappointing compared to the quality of the accommodation. Even though it took us a while to pack in the parking lot on our way home, the staff saw us off properly, which really showed us how thoughtful they were. My husband also said it was a great stay.