🇯🇵We splurged to stay at the largest Hokkaido onsen

…𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨

We stayed for one night in Noboribetsu Onsen in our Hokkaido summer roadtrip. Stopping in an onsen town was a no brainer as the entire family loves onsen and kaiseki meals. Selecting Noboribetsu was also a no brainer as it is undisputedly *the* top onsen town in Hokkaido and Top 10 in the entire Japan. Choosing an onsen ryokan though, was difficult. The question was - to splurge or not to splurge?

🧐 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲?

1. For the fam - It was our first trip as a couple with my side of the family to Japan. Parents and sister love onsen. Parents are also getting old so we thought “it might be now or never”

2. The best of limited choices - nice onsen and at least kaiseki dinner were a must for us. Somehow when we were making our bookings, yes there were cheaper options, but Dai-ichi Takimotokan was the only one that clearly denoted Kaiseki Dinner. And then the onsen - most other places only have one indoor bath and one outdoor bath, then you have Takimotokan’s Grand Bath. Nothing else really came close.

3. Consistently ranked the best - if you try Googling “best ryokans noboribetsu” and any variant of it, Dai-ichi Takimotokan is consistently the #1 recommendation. japan-guide.com actually ranked it 🔴🔴🔴 Best of Japan / One of a kind in the world. In the history of Noboribetsu, Takimotokan is actually the first onsen ryokan in the area and arguably the one that founded Noboribetsu Onsen Town

✅ 𝗜𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻… 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲💸

Our benchmark: 9 other onsen ryokan stays before this

🏨 FACILITIES: all the entertainment facilities you have seen in onsens in anime and J-drama - name them, Takimotokan have them - except being able to choose your own Yukata. All visitors are dressed in their trademark melon-patterned yukata.

I can see how Takimotokan is great for all types of travellers. Bars (and Karaoke Bars) for the drinkers. Arcades for the younger visitors. Swimming pool for children. And the list goes on. It does have something to cater for everyone.

🍚 FOOD: slight above average of the standard level of Japanese onsen ryokan food

> 🍲 KAISEKI DINNER - it was good, and was pleasantly surprised we got snow crab (half peeled, this was way easier to eat than what we had to peel in Kinosaki Onsen). Overall tasty, ingredients were fresh, but not out-of-this-world-delicious. I would say this is only slightly above the standard level of tastiness you’d expect in any self-respecting onsen ryokan serving kaiseki; we have had better kaiseki in other ryokans, but Takimotokan’s is Top 5 (out of 9) for us

> 🍳 BREAKFAST BUFFET - very wide variety, you’d get the standard western AND japanese breakfast fare, plus local specialties such as Katsugen and Hokkaido Milk Soft Serve (yes, for breakfast). All well executed

♨️ THE ONSEN - HUGE OMG 🤯 Highlight of our stay. The only bigger onsen we have been to is Hakone Yunessun - but that one is a theme park, so not comparable. It’s so huge and there are so many baths. Although there were many people you don’t feel its crowded. There will always be a bath somewhere that’s empty or close to empty.

In the outdoor bath you can order sake to drink in the bath (yes, you order naked). First time we saw this in an onsen ryokan. It’s manned by an old lady - in case you were wondering.

I can’t comment on the efficacy of each of the mineral bath, but i can tell you all the baths that has sulphur in it smelled like rotten eggs and took a while to adjust to, and that I felt light and relaxed after my bath. There were variation in temperatures across baths, so rest assured there will be one that matches your heat preference

🛏️ ROOM: standard. We saw Google reviews saying that the futon smells, but our experience was great. No frills, clean, the Takimotokan pillow was interesting. It’s nice that all 5 of us could stay together in one room - in other hotels you would have to split into two rooms

👣 LOCATION: walking distance to major attractions in Noboribetsu - more details in pic. It was drizzling when we came, so we only walked to Jigokudani and then went straight to the onsen

✨𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲-𝗶𝗻-𝗮-𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲

It costs us S$1,176.96 all in - definitely the most expensive onsen ryokan stay we have done so far. But we are glad we did it. This was Buns’ parents’ most favourite part of the trip - and like most Asian parents they are not easily pleased. We felt we maximized our Noboribetsu visit and won’t have any regrets not returning.

Between how hard it is to get to Hokkaido AND Noboribetsu AND how pricy Takimotokan can be - we don’t foresee returning. If we do get back to Hokkaido and want to do onsen, we are now freed to try the lesser-known onsen towns 😁

🤫𝗧𝗶𝗽𝘀

☀️DAY ACCESS IS AVAILABLE from 0900-1600:

If you are going in a group and sunset is after 1800 (usually all seasons except winter), I would recommend going for “The Grand Bath late visit ticket” which is cheaper at 1,700yen per adult but valid for 1600-1800 only (price for 0900-1600: 2,250yen). Seeing Jigokudani from the baths is pretty but its not the same level of serenity from seeing sakura or Mt Fuji while bathing in an onsen. If you are in groups you will be chatting and won’t pay too much attention to the views anyway. I also think you will overheat from staying too long at the onsen, so 2 hours should be more than sufficient.

⛰️FOR THE SPORTY PEOPLE: Trek at nearby Jigokudani first before cleansing yourself at Takimotokan

🛜 CHECK THEIR WEBSITE takimotokan.co.jp/en/ - it has more details than what is in booking websites ans have the latest details

If you need Hokkaido itinerary ideas, look at our post here Tried & Tested 7D6N Hokkaido in Summer itinerary

As always, let us know if you have any questions in the comment. Hope this post is helpful!

#summerdiary #Japan #japantravel #hokkaido #noboribetsu #itinerary #onsen #ryokan

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