Kifu No Sato
C · 6.8 / 10situational
Kifu no Sato is the top luxury ryokan in Yunogo Onsen, one of Okayama's three famous onsen towns, and KI-NRT later called it arguably the top ryokan in Okayama Prefecture; the family that runs it went on to open Naoshima Ryokan Roka. His own impressions from a 2021 overnight are lukewarm in the details, with a drab yellow exterior in a town that has seen better days, kaiseki he called pretty darned good, and a maybe on returning. He calls it a good option if you are looking to stay somewhere between Osaka/Kyoto and Hiroshima, although it is a bit out of the way.
Scores
Food 4 / 5
The kaiseki was pretty darned good in KI-NRT's brief account, served in his suite's own dining room, and the one dish he describes is a clear soup of tai (red sea bream) with white hair leek, where the cheek portion of the bream was full of awesome fat and flavor and the broth was light but umami-infused.
Bath 3.5 / 5
The Hiougi suite has its own open-air onsen bath, which KI-NRT called wonderful, and Yunogo is one of Okayama's three famous onsen towns (with Yubara and Okutsu). Nobody in the thread has described the water itself or the communal baths.
Service
Nobody in the thread has written about the service here.
Room 3.5 / 5
The Hiougi suite (the name means leopard lily), where KI-NRT stayed, is a nicely appointed 75 square metres with a living room, a dining room, a separate bedroom and its own open-air onsen bath. Nobody in the thread has described the interiors beyond that.
Place 3 / 5
Kifu no Sato is housed in a bland yellow building that could use a fresh coat of paint in a different colour, in a Yunogo Onsen whose postwar-boom structures were showing their age (and the town was dead during his pandemic visit), but things were better once he stepped inside, where very pretty bonsai and ikebana arrangements, including at the front entrance, help to dress things up. It is a bit out of the way between Osaka/Kyoto and Hiroshima.
Getting there
- Okayama — ~1h30, 0 transfers (estimated). ~90 min by car from Okayama Stn to Yunogo Onsen.
- Hiroshima — ~2h15, 1 transfer (estimated). Hiroshima to Okayama ~40 min Shinkansen, then ~90 min by car.
Sources
FlyerTalk review #1 · TripAdvisor 4★ (November 2020) · #92 (thread mentions)