Ryokan in Arima Onsen

Six inns are reviewed, and all offer kinsen, the rust-red, iron-rich and very salty water people come to Arima for; it can run hot and irritate sensitive skin. Four are a few minutes' walk from Arima Onsen Station (Kinzan sits up a steep slope and runs a free shuttle), while Arima Onsen Gekkoen Korokan stands on the far, quiet edge of the old town above the Taki River, facing Mt. Ochiba, a steep 10–15-minute walk away, so most guests take its free shuttle (8:00–19:00). Motoyu Ryusenkaku sits on high ground above the town, about 10 minutes' walk uphill from the station, and picks guests up free when they phone (15:00–21:00).

Tosen Goshobo (classic) is the smallest and most atmospheric: 16 rooms in dim wooden wings, kinsen straight from the source, and a half-mixed bath that divides guests; expect thin walls and stairs with no lift. Hyoe Koyokaku (classic) is the big all-rounder, with 126 rooms, three bath houses and a live-cooking wagyu buffet, but its kinsen is heated and partly recirculated, the layout is a maze, and guests with tattoos can't use the baths. Gekkoen Korokan (classic) brings in-room dining down to a classic price: in its Japanese rooms both dinner and breakfast are kaiseki served course by course in the room, every room but the singles faces the mountain, and guests can do a circuit of three bath houses fed by the inns' own heated kinsen well, including the sister building's riverside outdoor tubs, for about ¥26,400–46,200 per person with two meals (¥47,300–62,700 with an open-air bath), and children are welcome. But it's a modern block where you fetch your own yukata, the in-room open-air tubs and three private baths aren't onsen, and guests in its 13 Western rooms eat in a restaurant. Motoyu Ryusenkaku (classic) is built around families with small children: 27 tatami rooms with dinner served in the room — seasonal kaiseki or Kobe beef shabu-shabu or sukiyaki — more than 50 baby and child services, a heated indoor pool and brown kinsen from its own source, at about ¥27,800–65,300 per adult with two meals in a standard room and a flat ¥9,900 for primary-school children on the kids' plan. But its shared baths are heated and recirculated, the bookable family bath and every room bath outside the four family suites aren't onsen, the outdoor baths and pool are reached by an outdoor passage with about 30 steps, parts of the building are dated, and with families everywhere it is lively rather than quiet. Nakanobo Zuien (premium) is a polished inn of about 50 rooms with partly recirculated large baths; book a room with its own kinsen or ginsen bath, and note that children under 13 aren't accepted. Arima Onsen Kinzan (premium) is a 31-room 'ryotei ryokan' for food-first stays, with Kyoto-style kaiseki served in your room and standout service at about ¥49,000–79,000 per person with two meals in a West-wing room; its shared kinsen baths are partly recirculated, only the 14 renovated East-wing rooms and suites have their own ginsen bath, children of primary-school age and younger are admitted only in set periods, and guests with tattoos can't use the shared baths.