Nonohana Yakeyamaso

The small ryokan has ~22 rooms with tatami mats throughout the building for barefoot walking. The size of the room was adequate but there was no attached toilet. Hence, several rooms on each floor shared a common toilet (with 2 cubicles) on each floor. I also used the shower/bath in the hot spring rooms. Next to the common toilet, there were 3 wash-basins with hot and cold water. Wifi was accessible from the room. I took a package of room + breakfast even though i would hv preferred that a package of room, breakfast + dinner if this was offered. There's no restaurant in the tiny onsen village that was opened for dinners in Oct 2023. Fortunately, the hotel management forewarned me a few days earlier and i brought along some instant noodles. As it was the last week of Oct, there's an annual fiesta held at the carpark (~ 50 meters from hotel) where I was also able to get burgers and pizzas before 4.30 PM. Breakfast was barely adequate and below my expectation / experience with other ryokans. I thought hotel could and should provide a more generous and filling meal for the price that was charged. The onsen pools (indoor and outdoor) were good. With the limited number of hotel guests, I was able to have the pools for myself on the two occasions that i used them. Staff was friendly even though they hardly speak English and I couldn't speak Japanese. Overall, my experience was average even though the accommodation price was a litte on the high side. If i am to visit Oirase Stream again, i will seriously consider staying at the larger/more populous Towada lakeside town even though the town is further away from Oirase Stream. There is a regular shuttle bus service (~ twice/hour) between Towada-Oirase Onsen carpark and as the local authority is promoting the use of shuttle bus service instead of private cars, i expect the shuttle bus frequency to increase in future.