Atami Sekaie
unscored · Ikyu 4.7 / 5no first-hand write-up in the thread
Atami Sekaie is a modern 25-room ryokan on the hillside above Sagami Bay, and bathing is its strength, with a private source-fed ocean-view rotenburo in every room plus a pool-size main bath, and the easiest access in Izu. Ikyu guests mark it 4.68 across 307 stays and mostly rave, with the bath their highest mark, while TripAdvisor's softer 3.8 cites train noise and English-service friction. The one drawback to know before you book is that the JR tracks run directly below.
Scores
Food
Dinner is restaurant-based modern kaiseki across two kitchens, Japanese at TSUKUSHI and a meat-focused teppanyaki counter at 1SHIO, and your plan decides which kitchen you eat in. Ikyu guests praise the teppanyaki and the griddle breakfast cooked in front of you; the teppanyaki draws the steadier praise, while opinion on the Japanese kaiseki is more divided. They put the food at 4.67, in the middle of their marks for the property.
Bath
Every room has its own source-fed open-air bath on the balcony looking over Sagami Bay, and that balcony bath is what Ikyu guests praise again and again. Behind it is the pool-size Koumei-no-Yu main bath with a sauna and a cold bath. Ikyu guests put the bath at 4.75, their highest mark for the inn.
Service
A free shuttle meets guests at Atami Station, about five minutes away. Ikyu guests describe natural, unforced service and small surprise gifts on anniversary and birthday stays, which make up a good share of the bookings, and put service at 4.65. Floor staff who work from a script are the complaint in the cooler reviews, and TripAdvisor's foreign guests report friction with English, part of why it fares far worse there than on the Japanese sites.
Room
All 25 rooms are modern and each has its own source-fed open-air onsen on a wide balcony facing the ocean, with the trees just below and Sagami Bay beyond, which guests single out as the highlight of the room, and even the reviews that fault the food or the staff call the room and the view good. Ikyu guests put the rooms at 4.72, second only to the bath among their marks. The recurring complaint is JR train noise from the tracks directly below.
Place
The inn perches on the hillside above Sagami Bay in Atami, and from the balconies the view is trees below and the open sea beyond. The one drawback is that it sits directly above the JR line, and train noise is the complaint that recurs, especially among the foreign guests on TripAdvisor.
Getting there
- Tokyo — 0h55, 0 transfers. Tōkaidō Shinkansen 'Kodama' Tokyo→Atami (~43–45 min; a few 'Hikari' ~35 min, 'Nozomi' skips Atami), then Sekaie's free shuttle (~5 min). The first Shinkansen stop out of Tokyo — the shortest Izu-area entry.
- Kyoto — 2h20, 0 transfers. Reverse of: Inn shuttle to Atami, direct 'Hikari' Atami→Kyoto (~1h57, one seat — but only ~3 Atami-calling Hikari/day; 'Nozomi' skips Atami), else 'Kodama' + change at Mishima/Nagoya (+1 tx).