Sekiyo
unscored · Ikyu 4.8 / 5no first-hand write-up in the thread
A quiet nine-room retreat on the wooded slope of Mt. Wakakusa above Yugawara, a former villa dressed with antiques and local artists' work, with wide views to Mt. Iwato and the Jukkoku Pass. Its own free-flowing spring feeds the public baths and the in-room kakenagashi tubs in seven of the nine rooms, and the kaiseki leans on Sagami Bay seafood, with the Manazuru abalone course as the seasonal centrepiece. Ikyu guests rate it 4.77 across 51 stays, the rooms and the cooking their high marks. Nobody in the thread has stayed yet, though KI-NRT counts it with Yui as Yugawara's two top luxury inns.
Scores
Food
The kaiseki leans on Sagami Bay seafood from Manazuru and local organic vegetables, cooked to bring out the ingredient, and the Manazuru abalone course is the seasonal headline. KI-NRT says it is highly regarded for its food, and Ikyu guests put the meals near 4.82, among their high marks; repeat guests come back for it. Some 2025 and 2026 repeaters found the seasoning heavier.
Bath
The inn draws its own 76° sodium-chloride spring and runs it free-flowing through two public bath areas, each with an indoor and an open-air bath, which swap at midnight. Seven of the nine rooms have a private kakenagashi bath, but those are all indoors (Shiroyama and Midori have none), so the only open-air bathing is communal. KI-NRT notes that Yui has an open-air onsen in every room. Ikyu guests put the baths near 4.80 and call the onsen quiet.
Service
Sekiyo is a quiet, understated inn where the hospitality is personal, and Ikyu guests put the service near 4.71, singling out the considerate, unobtrusive attention and the spotless upkeep. KI-NRT has heard of incredible hospitality here, but two 2026 Ikyu reviews describe lapses at dinner service, and a FlyerTalk member's two emails went unanswered for two weeks.
Room
The nine wooden sukiya rooms sit in a former villa on a wooded slope, spread across a main building and detached annexes, dressed with antiques and local artists' work and open to garden and mountains. Seven have their own indoor onsen bath; Shiroyama and Midori do not, so avoid those two if the in-room bath matters. Ikyu guests give the rooms their highest mark and praise the serene seasonal detailing.
Place
Sekiyo sits on the wooded slope of Mt. Wakakusa above Yugawara Onsen, a former villa woven into the hillside with a tended garden and wide views to Mt. Iwato and the Jukkoku Pass. Plum and cherry bloom in spring and camellias in winter, and it is quiet up here, a short climb from the coast. Yugawara is a tiny onsen town, but KI-NRT says it has more good ryokans than its size suggests.
Getting there
- Tokyo — 1h15, 0 transfers. Reverse of: JR Ltd Exp 'Odoriko' Tokyo→Yugawara (~70 min, one seat), then a short taxi up Mt. Wakakusa to the inn.
- Kyoto — 2h20, 1 transfer. Reverse of: Tōkaidō line Yugawara→Atami (~7 min, one stop), then 'Hikari' Atami→Kyoto (~1h57; 'Nozomi' skips Atami). ~2h20, one change at Atami.