Zagyosoh (ABBA Resorts Izu)
unscored · Ikyu 4.5 / 5no first-hand write-up in the thread
A 50-year Ryokan Collection resort in Izukōgen forest whose three kitchens (kaiseki, a French restaurant and a teppanyaki counter) let you vary dinner without leaving the grounds, which directly answers kaiseki fatigue. Ikyu guests give it 4.55 overall and praise the villas, the six bath types and the French cooking, but service is the recurring weak point, with disorganized arrivals and check-ins. Book a villa over a main-building room, and expect some friction.
Scores
Food
There are three kitchens, kaiseki, a French restaurant and a teppanyaki counter, so you can eat differently each night without leaving the grounds. Ikyu guests put the food at 4.7 and praise the French menu most, with the washoku close behind. Room drinks are all-inclusive and the Häagen-Dazs is free.
Bath
The water comes from the Ukiyama spring source and there are six kinds of bath, from in-room onsen in the villas (the dog-friendly villa has a spacious open-air bath beside a reflecting pool) to two garden open-air baths and rental baths. The inn lists two large baths, each with a sauna, but the main bath is gone for now, and the garden rotenburo Aoi has no roof.
Service
Service is the weak point in the Ikyu reviews, at 4.33 against 4.77 for the rooms. The recurring complaints are disorganized arrivals and check-ins, staff who wait to be asked, and a level of care that the unhappy guests measure against the bill and find wanting.
Room
The modern villas are the rooms to book, and Ikyu guests give them the highest marks of anything here. The dog-friendly villa has its own spacious open-air bath and a reflecting pool lit at night. The main-building rooms are Shōwa-era and dated beside the villas. The top maisonette pool villa has a pool that takes hours to heat.
Place
The inn sits on 6,000 tsubo of national-park forest at Izukōgen, a large wooded resort compound. On a clear morning a short walk from the grounds gives views out to Izu Ōshima and Toshima.
Getting there
- Tokyo — 2h20, 0 transfers. JR Ltd Exp 'Odoriko' Tokyo→Izu-Kōgen (~2h, one seat) — or Shinkansen Tokyo→Atami (~40 min) + Izukyū Line — then the inn's free shuttle (~6–15 min, reserve).
- Kyoto — 3h45, 1 transfer. Reverse of: Izukyū Izu-Kōgen→Atami (~50 min), then 'Hikari' Atami→Kyoto (~2h; 'Nozomi' skips Atami).