As it's winter time Mrs Nouka and I like to nip off and visit onsens from time to time. Last week we went to Ashinomaki Onsen and stayed at the Ookawaso hotel. At this time of year you can often find they are running a campaign to encourage more guests and price are slashed in half, so right now it's only 8,000円 per person for the buffet (Viking, does anyone know why a buffet is called a Viking ?) plan. The rooms are a good size easily accommodating 3 or 4 people and they are well maintained with new toilets and bathroom features.
On the way we stopped off at the local michi no eki to take a few pictures of Mount Bandai
The lobby area of the hotel is really well done and they have a shamisen player to welcome guests in the early evening.
They have a nice lounge you can chill in and view the snow outside, the bar has lots of comfy chairs to relax in.
The men's bath is pretty large and very well maintained with lots of hinoki wood so smells great.
The main outside bath is arranged in several layers so it's like a mountain rice terrace, was absolutely awesome sitting out there with snow falling all around.
They also had a much older outside bath which was pretty nice but personally I loved the new rice terrace one.
They also have a sauna which on the men's side is a pink Himalayan salt sauna. I've never been in one like this before and it was pretty relaxing.
We were on the buffet plan which can sometimes be hit and miss as some hotels use it as an excuse to serve frozen food or cut some corners but the Ookawaso really shines in this area. They have a BBQ pit with yaki negi, shiitake and chicken wings all accompanied by a variety of sauces.
They also have a sushi chef preparing fresh sushi and sashimi along with a tempura chef frying up fresh tempura to order and a steak chef cooking up sizzling steaks along with a good variety of fresh salads and other accompanying dishes.
Their website is here Ookawaso
Details of the campaign are here on Jalan.net
And you can find them on Google Maps
Ashinomaki Onsen Ookawaso
- Zasso Nouka
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Re: Ashinomaki Onsen Ookawaso
(Viking, does anyone know why a buffet is called a Viking ?)
weeeell I am guessing because its fooking hard to write smorgasbord in katakana.
weeeell I am guessing because its fooking hard to write smorgasbord in katakana.
- Zasso Nouka
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