Ujo Soan
unscored · Ikyu 4.8 / 5no first-hand write-up in the thread
Ujo Soan is a six-room hideaway at Yuhigaura on Kyoto's Tango coast, with detached rooms that each have a private open-air onsen bath, winter snow-crab on the table and the sunset beach below. Ikyu guests rate it 4.79 across a modest 36 reviews and call the hospitality worth the premium, though softer notes flag a possible chef change and bath water that is trucked in and circulated instead of piped straight from the source. Nobody in the thread has stayed, so you book on the concept and the crowd's warmth.
Scores
Food
Dinner is built around the Tango coast's winter snow-crab and is served in private dining rooms, which KI-NRT notes as an advantage over Sumihei's semi-private ones. Ikyu guests put the food at 4.75, though the more critical reviews find the meals below the price and mention a chef change.
Bath
Every room has its own open-air onsen bath, the larger Soke house adds a mist sauna, and there are free-use private baths plus a large communal bath, which KI-NRT notes Sumihei lacks. The water is not piped from the spring. It is trucked in, circulated, heated and sterilized, as at Sumihei. Ikyu guests put the bath at 4.78, in line with their other marks.
Service
Service is what Ikyu guests praise most, at 4.83, and the warmest reviews single out the room attendants, who notice what a particular guest needs and act on it without being asked, and several reviewers are regulars who come back for exactly that. The critical reviews, a minority, fault lapses in basic follow-through between staff and the manner of newer hires, below what the price promises.
Room
The six rooms are five detached villa-style units plus the larger Soke house, each with its own open-air onsen bath, and check-in is 2 PM with check-out at 11 AM, an hour longer at each end than Sumihei, as KI-NRT notes. Guests under 13 are not accepted. Ikyu guests put the rooms at 4.72, the softest of their marks.
Place
Ujo Soan stands at Yuhigaura Onsen on the Sea of Japan coast of Kyoto's Tango peninsula, the same peninsula as Taiza Onsen Sumihei, and the view is the long sunset beach the resort is known for. The detached rooms are wrapped in bamboo and greenery, and the lounge in the annex building looks out over the coast. January brings heavy snow.
Getting there
- Kyoto — 2h30, 0 transfers. Ltd Exp 'Hashidate' Kyoto→Amino direct (~2h30). Snow-risk in January.
- Tokyo — 5h, 1 transfer. Reverse of: Amino→Kyoto (~2h30) + Shinkansen→Tokyo (~2h15) — a full travel day.