Sanso Kannawaen
D · 5.6 / 10the evidence warns
A 30-room Beppu stalwart behind a grand thatched gate, with a lovely Noh-stage garden attached to a big-box building. KI-NRT was not quite impressed on his 2022 stay, which fell mid-renovation, and later downgraded his advice to calling it solid while recommending Yufuin instead, where the ryokans are superior, and the member who followed his original recommendation in 2024 was openly unhappy. The renovation may have changed the building since, but nobody has stayed to say so.
Scores
Food
The Kaede restaurant serves teppanyaki, which is rare among Kyushu ryokans, and KI-NRT names Kannawaen when asked where to find grill dining in the south. Nobody in the thread has written about the food itself.
Bath
Nobody in the thread has written about the baths here, though Beppu supposedly produces more hot-spring water than anywhere else in Japan, with steam rising all over the city.
Service 2.5 / 5
KI-NRT booked the top room, Special Room Shun, and was told only at check-in that the whole floor was closed for renovation and the room unavailable. Michaeljinnyc, who booked on his recommendation in 2024, wrote from the property that they were not too happy with it.
Room 3 / 5
The 30 rooms are in a building that looks like a big-box hotel. As of KI-NRT's 2022 stay the facilities were decent but could stand to be renovated, and a renovation was under way, so his impressions may no longer apply. The top room, Special Room Shun on the top floor, is a 143 square metre suite where meals can be served in the room, but its floor was closed for the renovation when he stayed.
Place 3 / 5
An impressive thatched-roof entrance gate leads to a wonderful garden with a Noh stage, a tea house and a koi pond, which gives the big-box building a decent atmosphere. Steam rises all over Beppu and you can smell the sulfur, but KI-NRT says in the end it is just another city, with the touristy Beppu Hells a bit fabricated, and he recommends Yufuin instead. Michaeljinnyc ranks Beppu among the least enjoyable places he has been in Japan.
Getting there
- Fukuoka — ~2h30, 0 transfers (estimated). Ltd exp Sonic Hakata to Beppu (~2h10), then ~15 min taxi to the inn.
- Kagoshima — ~4h20, 2 transfers (estimated). Shinkansen to Kokura, Sonic down to Beppu, then ~15 min taxi; no direct link.
- Nagasaki — ~4h45, 2 transfers (estimated)
Sources
FlyerTalk review #1 · FlyerTalk review by Michaeljinnyc #263 · TripAdvisor 3★ (March 2021) · #250 · #255 · #515 (thread mentions)