Ryokan in Gero Onsen

All six reviewed Gero inns are classic-tier houses using Gero's alkaline simple spring, and Hida beef is at the heart of dinner at each; five are large, while Sasara has 44 rooms. At Suimeikan, Yunoshimakan, Bosenkan and Yamagataya the large baths are partly recirculated; Ogawaya does not say whether its shared baths are free-flowing or recirculated, and Sasara says every bath uses source water, though one booking site lists its spring as diluted, heated and recirculated without saying which baths.

Gero Onsen Suimeikan is a 264-room resort three minutes' walk from JR Gero Station, with three large baths open to all; book the Rinsenkaku wing for an onsen bath in the room and in-room dinner, and expect tour groups and tired budget rooms elsewhere. Yunoshimakan, on the hillside above town with a free shuttle, is a 1931 registered wooden building full of atmosphere, with spring water in every room bath; recent guests report a persistent musty smell, a maze of stairs and thin walls. Gero Onsen Bosenkan, founded in 1818 on the Hida River about 15 minutes' walk from the station (free shuttle), is the family pick, with shallow children's baths, a play space, 1,000 manga, a big riverside open-air bath and Hida beef hoba-miso in private dining rooms; the building is old, the large baths are down steep stairs, and trains cross the bridge outside from early morning. Ogawaya, on the Hida River in the centre of town about seven minutes' walk from the station, is the bath-hopping pick, with a roughly 100-tatami bath floored with soft tatami, five shared baths, nine private baths at extra cost and A4-grade Hida beef kaiseki; it is a 120-room maze of linked buildings, and 2026 guests report check-in queues of 30 minutes or more and uneven service. Gero Onsen Sasara, a self-styled 'art inn' opened in 1986 on a small hill across the Hida River from the onsen town (free taxi from the station), is the pick for privacy and character: antique-filled lobbies, 20 of its 44 rooms with their own open-air bath, Hida beef in every plan served in your room or a private dining room, and a top-floor bath looking over the town lights; breakfast is a plain make-your-own tray many 2026 guests found underwhelming, the Moriyama wing is a long walk with stairs from the baths, and renovation noise runs until the end of 2026. Gero Onsen Yamagataya, founded in 1804 and now an 89-room house of three linked buildings on the Hida River a minute or two from the heart of town (about 13 minutes' walk or a free shuttle from the station), is the pick for a recently renovated room with its own onsen tub: the Roshōkan rooms redone in 2024, river-view suites with semi-open-air onsen baths, and seven bookable riverside open-air private baths; but the private baths now cost ¥4,400–5,500 per 45 minutes, the large baths don't swap between sexes, breakfast is now a half-buffet, 2025–2026 reviews are split on dinner, and two-meal stays ran about ¥14,000–30,000+ per person in 2026.