Gero Onsen Suimeikan

Gero's grand ryokan since 1932: four wings, three big baths of silky alkaline water and Hida beef everywhere — choose the Rinsenkaku wing for onsen in your room, and expect crowds and tired rooms elsewhere

Suimeikan opened in 1932 beside the Hida river, two years after the railway reached Gero, and has grown into a 264-room resort in four wings on more than 10,000 tsubo of grounds — complete with a noh stage, five restaurants, a pool and a restored 1953 sukiya annex, Seiransō. The water is Gero's famous alkaline simple spring (pH 9.4), piped from the town's central supply; the inn's own legally required notice says the baths are free-flowing with partial recirculation, cooled with tap water and chlorinated as Gifu rules require. All guests can use three large baths — the hinoki Shimodame-no-yu, a rock-built open-air bath and a ninth-floor view bath — and it's three minutes from the station. Japanese guests rate it 4.36 across 6,295 reviews on one major site and 4.3 across 5,158 on another, with the baths scoring highest. The key to a good stay is the wing: every room in Rinsenkaku has an onsen bath, the top-floor rooms were renewed in 2024 and only Rinsenkaku offers in-room dinner, while the budget Hisenkaku and Sansuikaku rooms mostly have ordinary bathrooms and draw complaints about age and smells. Hida beef steak is the dinner everyone remembers. Expect tour groups, busy breakfasts, long walks and occasionally cold front-desk service. Weekday rates start around ¥16,500–20,350 per person with two meals.