Ryokan in Noboribetsu Onsen

All six reviewed inns are at Noboribetsu Onsen in Hokkaido, a town of sulphur springs, so expect a strong sulphur smell; Takinoya and Hanaya both pipe their water from Jigokudani (Hell Valley). Takinoya, more than ninety years old by its own account, is three minutes' walk from the bus terminal below Jigokudani and draws four different spring types — salt, iron, radium and sulphur — into a top-floor bath and a basement garden bath. Its annex, Takinoya Bekkan Tamanoyu, is a separate 24-room inn in the middle of the onsen street, also three minutes' walk from the bus terminal, with its own small baths of milky sulphur water that one booking site lists as free-flowing with some water added. Noboribetsu Onsen Kashoutei Hanaya bills itself as the smallest inn in a town of big hotels: 21 rooms at the quiet entrance to the resort beside the Kusurisanbetsu river, by the Tsutsujibashi bus stop about 10 minutes by bus from JR Noboribetsu Station, with milky, acidic sulphur water it calls 100% free-flowing (a 2022 blogger was told it is watered down in summer). Oyado Kiyomizuya, a former kappo restaurant that is now an inn of around 30 rooms, backs onto a stream at the quiet edge of town about ten minutes' walk from the bus terminal (itself about 15 minutes by bus from JR Noboribetsu Station), with a single spring of milky sulphur water it calls 100% free-flowing. Ryotei Hanayura, in the middle of town with the Park Hotel-mae bus stop at its door, is the smallest and most upmarket inn of Toho Resort, the company behind the big Hotel Mahoroba, and is joined to its sister Park Hotel Gatei. Bourou Noguchi Noboribetsu, opened in 2006 as the flagship of the Noguchi Kanko group, stands at the quiet upper end of town beside the Kusurisanbetsu river, across the road from its sister hotel Sekisuitei and about 15 minutes' gentle uphill walk from the bus terminal, with its own shuttle buses from Sapporo Station and New Chitose Airport.

Takinoya (premium) suits those who want an upmarket stay with a choice of waters: valet parking and matcha on arrival, tatami corridors you walk barefoot, and kaiseki in private dining rooms from a Japanese head chef working with a French chef, with local flounder and Tokachi beef or abalone shabu-shabu, from about ¥81,400 for two with two meals. Only the twelve D and DW rooms have their own open-air bath of flowing spring water (around ¥100,000 for two); other rooms' baths use ordinary water, and reviews mention odours, worn fittings, no free drinks and a small top-floor bath that closes at 9:00. Noboribetsu Onsen Kashoutei Hanaya (classic) suits anyone who wants a small, food-focused stay: seasonal kaiseki and breakfast both served in your room, free draft beer, highballs and sake in the lobby throughout the stay, and a free shuttle from JR Noboribetsu Station booked by the day before, with two-meal plans from ¥24,500 per person. The indoor and outdoor baths each hold about three people, only the Botan room has its own onsen bath, and 2026 reviewers mention thin walls, an ageing building and low tables that are hard on older knees; exterior repair work runs from 7 September to 10 December 2026. Ryotei Hanayura (premium) sits between Hanaya and Takinoya on price and suits anyone who wants a private bath without Takinoya’s top-room prices: 27 of its 37 rooms have a hinoki open-air bath of free-flowing sulphur water, the shared baths offer three springs (partly diluted and heated) and guests can also use Park Hotel Gatei’s baths next door, and kaiseki is served in private dining rooms, from about ¥61,000–75,000 for two with two meals (¥74,000–89,000 with a room bath, October 2026). Most of the recent evidence is booking-site reviews (4.3 across 512 on Jalan), and 2026 guests mention a dated building, room baths too hot to enter at first and rushed dinner service. Bourou Noguchi Noboribetsu (premium) is the one to choose if you want an onsen bath whichever room you book: all 40 suites, 50–100㎡, have a big bath of milky sulphur water you can use at any hour, so its basement baths are almost always empty. It is adults-only (no guests aged 12 or under) and not a classic tatami ryokan, since most suites are 'wa-modern' twin-bed rooms, and it suits anyone who wants to do nothing in a quiet suite: Japanese-French kaiseki in private dining rooms, free drinks in the lounge including draught beer and highballs in the afternoon, and two-meal rates on Ikyu from ¥81,856 for two in a Junior Suite (October 2026), close to Takinoya's starting price. The inn calls its water free-flowing but Jalan lists it as diluted, the 20-year-old building shows wear (2026 guests mention mould in an in-room bath and a broken air conditioner), some rooms are designated smoking rooms, and the Japanese-French dinner divides opinion more than at most top inns. Oyado Kiyomizuya (classic) suits anyone who comes for the food: the former kappo restaurant serves a 13-course kaiseki in your room at both meals, with a 'couple's set' for any pair in which three dishes differ so you can share, and drinks at pub prices (draft beer ¥660, August 2026), for about ¥38,000–66,000 for two with two meals. As with Hanayura, most of the recent evidence is booking-site reviews (4.35 across 579 on Rakuten Travel, dinner 4.64), and the catch is the old building: 2025–2026 reviews mention peeling wallpaper and black mould, insects, a fan instead of air conditioning in some rooms, and small, hot baths and changing rooms. Takinoya Bekkan Tamanoyu (value) is the budget way into Takinoya's style: as its annex it shares touches such as the lobby incense and simmered tofu at breakfast, guests rate its warm service highly (4.6 across 1,614 reviews on one major site, service 4.7), dinner is a long meal at shoji-screened tables in the Hatsune dining room, and the family bath can be booked, from about ¥35,200 for two with two meals (most 2026 reviewers paid ¥17,000–21,000 per person). The baths are small, only three rooms have their own bathroom, twin rooms look onto a wall and the building is old, and like Takinoya it warned in October 2026 that its booking system may have leaked guest details.