Location: Aomori Prefecture Ryokans
Top Hotels in Aomori Prefecture Ryokans
Top Things to do in Aomori Prefecture
- 1. Oirase Mountain StreamJapan National Tourism OrganizationNature in Aomori
- 2. Tachineputa No Yakata
- 3. Gonosen
- 4. Hirosaki Park
- 5. Nebuta Museum Wa RasseJapan National Tourism OrganizationMuseums in Aomori
- 6. Misawa Aviation & Science Museum
- 7. Tanesashi Beach
- 8. Hotokegaura
- 9. Mt. Osore Bodaiji Temple
- 10. Tappizaki Cape
10 Ryokans in Aomori Prefecture: Best hotel deals for 2023
Discover the best Ryokans in Aomori Prefecture, Tohoku including Sukayu Onsen Ryokan, Hoshino Resorts Aomoriya, Koganesaki Furofushi Onsen, Lamp no Yado Aoni Onsen, Hotel Pony Onsen, Hoshino Resorts KAI Tsugaru, Tsubakikan, Suigun no Yado, Makado Kanko Hotel, Yanagi no Yu.
Things to do in Aomori Prefecture
1. Sukayu Onsen Ryokan
Overall Ratings
4 based on 317 reviews
Parking:150
Great experience!
Reviewed By filipnorrI have stayed in a couple of different hotels in Japan but no other compares to this one. It is not the most luxurious hotel but you really experienced the Japanese culture at this place. Only negative thing is that you do not have your own bathroom. Great food!!
2. Hoshino Resorts Aomoriya
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 875 reviews
Experience Aomori's folk culture with live shows based on festivals such as the Nebuta - a fete famouns throughout Japan. Regional cuisine and a vast open bath also await your enjoyment.
Didn’t convince me
Reviewed By bixiergSecond time for me to stay in a Hoshino resort. For me the last time. The concept might be appropriate for different target customers, but doesn’t meet my expectations. If you consider the Hoshino group or this hotel high-end Japanese hotel, you might be disappointed. If you compare this hotel for example with Sekaie (Atami) or Koshinosato (Niigata) you will agree that they are in a different and higher league. It is a huge hotel where you have to walk a lot. The reception design is not very welcoming, overall the design until the room doesn’t convince me. The room is OK. If you come by car it is very difficult to find. If you input the address correctly which is stated on the homepage of the hotel, or on the third-party reservation pages, you will be guided to nowhere. Without assistance you will never get to the hotel. Your navigation system will guide you different. We tried it with Google maps, Apple maps, Mercedes Benz original navigation. You also cannot call them for assistance as they don’t have a phone number of the hotel on their homepage. So you cannot even call them for directions. If you call the group service center they are not of any good assistance. There are also no direction signs on the way to the hotel when coming from the highway. I only can imagine that this hotel is good for families with children. But I don’t recommend to book this hotel if you would like to have a “classy” stay. And finally complaining on high level: There is no valet parking.
3. Koganesaki Furofushi Onsen
Overall Ratings
4 based on 242 reviews
Koganesaki Furofushi Onsen is an excellent choice for travelers visiting Fukaura-machi, offering a romantic environment alongside many helpful amenities designed to enhance your stay. Given the close proximity to Slope Car Shirakamigo (1.6 mi), guests of Koganesaki Furofushi Onsen can easily experience one of Fukaura-machi's most popular landmarks. Guest rooms offer air conditioning, and Koganesaki Furofushi Onsen makes getting online easy as internet access is available. In addition, guests can enjoy an on-site restaurant during their visit. Travelers looking for a place to eat close to Koganesaki Furofushi Onsen can head to Furofushi Onsen Main building Japanese restaurant (0.0 mi) or Ramen 101 (0.5 mi), all of which are within walking distance. If you’re looking for something to do, The Hill with Windmill Shirakami Observation Deck (1.0 mi) is a nice way to spend some time, and it is within walking distance of Koganesaki Furofushi Onsen. Enjoy your stay in Fukaura-machi!
Once in a lifetime
Reviewed By danielyongIf you are into hotspring, this is a must. It is so unique and is fun experience to enjoy hot springs and waves in front of you! The facilities are good for day trippers so I will also recommend that as there isn’t much to do at night, so just drive back. Quality is good. Tip: go in just before sunset
4. Lamp no Yado Aoni Onsen
Overall Ratings
4 based on 175 reviews
Welcome to Lamp no Yado Aoni Onsen, your Kuroishi “home away from home.” Lamp no Yado Aoni Onsen aims to make your visit as relaxing and enjoyable as possible, which is why so many guests continue to come back year after year. In addition, while staying at Lamp no Yado Aoni Onsen guests have access to a gift shop. You can also enjoy an on-site restaurant while staying at Lamp no Yado Aoni Onsen. Need a place to park? Free parking is available at Lamp no Yado Aoni Onsen. Looking to explore? Then look no further than Kuroishi Fire Brigade 3rd Minute Fire Station, which is a popular Kuroishi architectural building – and it is conveniently located a short distance from the onsen ryokan. Lamp no Yado Aoni Onsen puts the best of Kuroishi at your fingertips, making your stay both relaxing and enjoyable.
Overrated ryokan
Reviewed By nassienasLamp no Yado fell short of our expectations. We didn't feel its no electricity is extraordinary/uniqueness of traditional Japanese onsen. Out Of four facilities, only one with waterfall view is standout. Unlike other ryokan, no shampoo and cool water provided so you have to prewash using hot water only. On top, no futon turndown service. You have to arrange on your own. Room 103 is tiny which it is acceptable by Japanese standard but the bad part was the loud walking noise from the room upstair given its wooden floor and I was certain that westerner guests won't be familiar with. Foods were just basic and small portion. Unlike other full service ryokans, they didn't wait till you show up and serve but most of the set menu were on the table (of course cold except the hotpot). Rice, miso and drink were self-service. So limited interaction with its staffs indeed.
5. Hotel Pony Onsen
Overall Ratings
4 based on 63 reviews
If you’re looking for a romantic onsen ryokan in Towada, look no further than Hotel Pony Onsen. While staying at Hotel Pony Onsen, visitors can check out Todo Seihyo Monument (2.2 mi) and Shimin Koryu Plaza Tower (2.3 mi), some of Towada's top attractions. The rooms offer a flat screen TV, a refrigerator, and air conditioning, and getting online is possible, as free wifi is available, allowing you to rest and refresh with ease. Hotel Pony Onsen features baggage storage. In addition, as a valued Hotel Pony Onsen guest, you can enjoy a sauna and free breakfast that are available on-site. Guests arriving by vehicle have access to free parking. During your visit, be sure to check out a popular Towada kaiten sushi restaurant such as Kappa Sushitowada, which is a short distance from Hotel Pony Onsen. Should time allow, Towada Catholic Church and Former Kasaishi Residence are some popular historic sites that are relatively easy to get to. The staff at Hotel Pony Onsen looks forward to serving you during your upcoming visit.
Great bargain hotel for food and stay
Reviewed By Tom SMy wife and I recently took a vacation trip to Aomori and stayed around Towada area for enjoying the beautiful nature of red leafs and the most magnificent (Oirase Gorge) river stream coming down from the lake Towada. We stayed at Pony Hotel for 6 nights and the first 2 nights was in a double bedroom and the remaining 4 nights was in a twin room. The reason was cheaper to stay in double bedroom during the peak long weekend in Japan. We both love enjoying natural hot spring and this hotel offer both indoor and outdoor facilities for free when staying with them. The stay plan we reserved was stay with breakfast and we purposely did not choose to include dinner in the hotel. Surprisingly the additional charge set dinner course is only 1500 yen / person (need to notify the hotel front desk at least a night in advance) and the food is very delicious considering the great bargain price for set dinner. One of the hotel staff forgot to notify restaurant to prepare set dinner for us in one of the evening and we ran out of choice to pick from their a la carte menu because there are limited barbecue beef or horse meat selections and mostly are horse meats cooked in different style. We initially refused to try horse meat but under the influence and highly recommended pick from the hotel staff, we end up ordered the horse meat and it was cooked with lot of onion. It was very delicious and even now we still thinking of the horse meat while writing this review. Another great thing is: You can bring your own drinks to the restaurant such as beer, sake, soft drink, etc. free of corkage charge which is seldom allowed in other hotel’s restaurant. The hotel staff is also very friendly and helpful. One of the staff is very fluent in English who can well take care of all our needs and queries at the hotel when we can't speak Japanese. Besides there was a bit of smell from the bathroom in the twin room and a bit noisy from the cars access at the back of hotel, the overall of the room is clean and acceptable. If we were to return to Towada, we definitely will stay at Pony Hotel again!!
6. Hoshino Resorts KAI Tsugaru
Overall Ratings
4 based on 181 reviews
KAI Tsugaru: Unrivaled Hospitality in the Heart of Northern Japan KAI Tsugaru overlooks Mt. Iwaki, known as the Mt. Fuji of Tsugaru, and is surrounded by bountiful nature, including Fuji Apple orchards. Guests are greeted by dynamic scenery that changes with the seasons, along with soulful sound of the Tsugaru Jyamisen, a live music played with local traditional three-stringed guitars in our lobby.
Suffers from an identity crisis
Reviewed By KI-NRTI'm not sure what Hoshino Resorts Kai Tsugaru wants to be. Is it a hotel or a ryokan? Is it luxury or not? The answers to both questions are a bit complicated for a variety of reasons. While there is no solid definition of a high-end hotel or ryokan, generally speaking, they often differ in the following ways: Top ryokans: - Smaller, more intimate establishment with a small number of rooms (typically 30 or less.) - More intimate, personalized service - Shoes come off upon entering the property - For Onsen ryokans, they provide yukata clothing to wear while on property - More inflexible meal times (you can't simply choose exactly what time to make a reservation or when to show up.) - Half-board - Lacks full-service amenities of larger luxury hotels like gym, pool and laundry service - Top quality onsen, with some rooms even having private onsens. Top luxury hotels: - Larger footprint and more rooms - Slightly more impersonal service (understandable, since it's usually larger) - Shoes stay on - Meals are often optional - More flexible meal times - Has more on-property amenities such as gym, pool, business center, laundry service, etc. Unfortunately, in many ways Kai Tsugaru is a bit of a cop-out. It represents itself as a ryokan, but takes the worst aspects of both hotels and ryokans which left us confused as to exactly what it was. For starters, it's a rather large property at over 40 rooms. This, combined with the fact that it's owned and operated by the Hoshino group, would lead one to believe that it would offer the intimacy of a ryokan but with the convenience of a hotel. It did not. There is no full-time greeter/handler outside the property, with the exception of the second afternoon, when a young lady was waiting outside with a clipboard in hand - she was clearly expecting a guest to arrive and check in. Sorry, but just having people outside during check-in hours is not acceptable in my book (we arrived about an hour earlier than the standard check-in time, but no matter.) Each time we left the property or returned from an outing, the outside entrance was barren with no soul in sight. Even when entering, nobody was hanging out in the lobby area to greet us. The staff are strictly behind the front desk counter in a way that is much more reminiscent of a hotel - it left us cold. And when we were checking in, there were no welcome drinks or snacks, either at the counter or delivered to our room by a room attendant. And therein lies the service problem. Nothing about the service is personalized or intimate. In a ryokan, they often have room attendants assigned to you, and they come to your room shortly after checking in and deliver treats and tea. And, at some place, they will come to your room to escort you to the dining area when it's time for your meal (or, better yet, they bring the food to you.) Not one aspect of their service gave any indication that Kai Tsugaru was trying to be a luxury ryokan. Secondly, the meal times are very rigid. This is understandable at ryokans, where they serve elaborate, multi-course offerings that can last for several hours. It's not a scalable operation if people can choose whenever they want to have their meals. But at Hoshino, they take it to another level. It's either 5:45PM or 07:30PM - that's it. No other choices. And dining is in the restaurant, with no option to be served in the room like at nicer ryokans. Or, at the very least, they could offer each group of guests a private room, but even this is not available at Kai Tsugaru. And unlike just about every ryokan in existence, shoes do not come off upon entry. You can even wear them in the room. While some Westerners might prefer this arrangement, to us it's unsanitary, and unbefitting of a property that touts itself as a luxury ryokan. It's doubly disturbing in that the rooms are carpeted rather having wooden or tatami mat floors. The property itself is very bland - it's a place that could exist anywhere in Japan... nothing about it gives it a sense of place. As mentioned earlier, pulling into the parking lot and observing the (dead) entrance in no way exudes a sense that you'll be staying someplace special. Upon entering, you'd expect sprawling property grounds with a beautiful garden. There is a pond in the back of the building with nice views of it from the the lobby and restaurant; however, we didn't feel that it was particularly interesting. They tried to spruce it up by liberally placing lanterns in the walkway and in the pond itself - and then lighting them up at night. Cute, but it's a cheap way of dressing up an otherwise bland backyard. We choose to stay at Kai Tsugaru at the end of a 5-night trip in Aomori, and since we had some dirty clothes that we wanted cleaned (due to several days of hiking in the Shirakami-Sanchi area), we figured that Hoshino would offer laundry service. Nope. Just like a ryokan, they don't do it. What, then, are the advantages of Kai Tsugaru when compared with top ryokans in Japan? Not much. Impersonal service, no yukata (they offer "Samui" uniforms, which are less interesting and less stylish than Yukatas), smaller rooms in general (and only one suite), no opportunity to dine in one's own room, no hotel-esque conveniences (gym, pool, etc.), substandard toiletries (they didn't even have moisturizers in our bathroom.) While Kai Tsugaru does have a decent communal Onsen (natural hot springs) bath for both men and women, that's all they have. There are no rooms with private onsens, and unlike some luxury ryokans, they don't have onsens that can be booked for private use by couples or families. I'm just puzzled by the amount of reverence that is bestowed upon a supposed "legendary" Japanese luxury property chain that is the at the top of the hospitality pecking order. A few good things to say about Hoshino Resorts Kai Tsugaru: It's not as expensive as the best ryokans out there, and the food quality exceeded our expectations... they really put some effort into delivering a high quality dining experience. On the downside, the food quantity was much less than at many luxury ryokans. I'm not saying that you would go away hungry, but part of the appeal of a ryokan meal is the sheer number of dishes that are served, and in this respect, Kai Tsugaru comes up a bit short. This also applies to the Japanese breakfast as well. Advice on how to improve: 1) Get the staff out from behind the front desk counter, or at least add additional staff to warmly engage with the guests as they are arriving and departing each day. COVID-19 is not an excuse. We've stayed at well over 30 ryokans over the past year, and service was far more proactive and personal than anything we experienced at Kai Tsugaru. 2) Redo the rooms - currently they have only one suite room (that is currently being remodeled, so it wasn't even available for booking when we were there) is lame. This is the same problem I have with Hoshinoya Tokyo, by the way... the rooms are too darned small. You really don't feel like staying inside for any amount of time because it just feels to constricting by luxury ryokan/hotel standards. Also, do away with carpeted floors, and have people take their shoes off, and offer some rooms with private onsens. 3) Offer meals to be served either in one's own room, or at least in private rooms. 4) Have the server be the same person each meal. This would help make things a bit less impersonal. 5) Improve the toiletries 6) Offer laundry service 7) Add more character to the building (if that's all possible - it might be a case of putting lipstick on a pig) Look - we had a decent stay. There were no major service mishaps, the food was decent, and it was reasonably comfortable. It just wasn't a particularly memorable stay. And unless there is a reason to be in the area in the future, there would be zero reason for us to stay here again. For people who think Hoshino is on the same level as some of Japan's finest ryokans, or an Aman... if Kai Tsugaru is any indication... think again.
7. Tsubakikan
Overall Ratings
4 based on 57 reviews
See why so many travelers make Tsubakikan their onsen ryokan of choice when visiting Aomori. Providing an ideal mix of value, comfort and convenience, it offers a romantic setting with an array of amenities designed for travelers like you. You’ll enjoy relaxing rooms that offer a flat screen TV and air conditioning, and you can stay connected during your stay as Tsubakikan offers guests free wifi. For guests with a vehicle, free parking is available. If you are looking for some good spots to eat nearby, you may want to check out Iseya Sushi (0.2 mi), Moriya Shokuji Dokoro (1.1 mi), or Ajiten (0.1 mi), all of which are within walking distance of Tsubakikan. If you’re looking for something to do, Asamushi Umizuri Park (0.3 mi) and Asamushi Onsen Forest Park (0.8 mi) are a nice way to spend some time, and they are all within walking distance of Tsubakikan. At Tsubakikan, your comfort and satisfaction come first, and they look forward to welcoming you to Aomori.
Traditional Ryokan
Reviewed By Joe_AlohaIf you're looking for a traditional ryokan experience, this may be the place for you. The location is within walking distance from Asamushi-Onsen station; however the ryokan offers a free shuttle service. The downside is that English is not easily understood here, so trying to arrange for the shuttle could be a challenge, so walking is do-able (about 10 minutes). Tsubakikan shows up on google maps, so just enter the name into your smart phone and start navigating to the ryokan. Just don't bring large suitcases with you. An overnight bag is the way to go. Dinner was served in our room and breakfast in a dining room with other guests (sitting on the floor). Meals were plentiful and delicious. They appear to have a family bath available, but that option is not open to the public until April, so only the public baths (onsen) are usable. The onsen was typical and also had an outdoor bath to enjoy. Throughout the ryokan there are displays from the Nebuta Matsuri floats that make for good photo opportunities. As a side note, this ryokan is said to be one of the few in Japan that has onsen water that is actually drinkable. Drinking the water is supposed to be good for your health. The business is more than 400 years old and continues to be run by the same family. It's an impressive history.
8. Suigun no Yado
Overall Ratings
4 based on 58 reviews
Hotel
Nice old world style onsen
Reviewed By P_kun55Very tranquil and traditional style onsen/hotel. Pleasant boat shaped rotemburos (outside onsen). Onsen was full of locals which is always a good sigm. Easy walk from the station. Funny thing about walking around Ajigasawa was the extraordinary number of barber shops. Maybe something in the water makes hair grow quicker here.
9. Makado Kanko Hotel
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 61 reviews
Makado Kanko Hotel is an excellent choice for travelers visiting Noheji-machi, offering a budget friendly environment alongside many helpful amenities designed to enhance your stay. Makado Kanko Hotel offers guests an array of room amenities including air conditioning, and getting online is possible, as free wifi is available. The onsen ryokan offers a 24 hour front desk, shops, and baggage storage, to make your visit even more pleasant. The property also features a sauna and a lounge. Guests arriving by vehicle have access to free parking. If you are looking for a nearby place to eat, Makado Kanko Hotel is within walking distance of Restaurant Rameeru (0.0 mi), a popular restaurant in the area. Enjoy your stay in Noheji-machi!
Great hospitality, fantastic food, awesome baths
Reviewed By 522adrianomExcellent hotel to enjoy a real traditional Japanese style experience. Personnel is very friendly and helpful, even though most of them really don't speak foreign languages, which is never a problem. The typical Japanese menus are great, and so is the thermal baths part. Absolutely to try: the Japanese style rooms!
10. Yanagi no Yu
Overall Ratings
4 based on 20 reviews
Parking: 50
