Kotohira Hananoyu Koubaitei
湯元こんぴら温泉華の湯 紅梅亭
Area photo — not the ryokan itself · Kotohira-gū (Konpira-san), Kagawa · Toto-tarou / CC BY-SA 3.0
A big, family-friendly onsen hotel below Konpira-san with 15 baths — rose-petal tubs, a garden bathhouse, a summer pool — and a decorated chef's stone-grill kaiseki; the water is heated and recirculated, and 2026 reviews flag upkeep slips
Koubaitei is a 69-room onsen hotel in Kotohira, sister to the Kotohira Grand Hotel Sakuranoshō, and the house is built around bathing: 15 baths in three areas, fed by two springs — the inn's own Yumoto Konpira Onsen Hananoyu, a sodium chloride spring, in the main baths, and Kotohira's Chikōin spring in the open-air, private and in-room baths. Women's baths float roses in the evening and orchids in the morning, a garden bathhouse with a foot bath sits outside, and a garden pool opens in summer. Dinner is in the Maruchū kappō dining room, built with 300-year-old beams and run by a head chef named a 'Contemporary Master Craftsman' in 2020; its stone-grilled seafood and beef and house-tofu hotpot are the signatures, and summer and autumn plans swap the kaiseki for a buffet. Japanese guests rate it 4.6 across 1,101 reviews on one major site, 4.58 across 1,772 on another and 4.53 across 158 on a third. Bloggers from 2022 to 2026 praised the open-air baths of the Hana Club rooms, the free lounge with draft beer, and a breakfast buffet with smoothies from all four Shikoku prefectures. The catch: a booking site lists the water as heated and recirculated, the building is dated, and 2026 reviews report a messy lounge, a dirty pool, insects at the garden bath, an in-room bath in the dog-friendly annex, Toraume, that ran dry one morning, and split views of dinner. Two-meal stays in 2026 ran from about ¥15,000 to over ¥30,000 per person; an open-air-bath room cost ¥83,600 for two in 2022.
Room Selection Guide
What the guests who stayed here actually recommendRecommended
Hana Club (花くらぶ) rooms with an open-air bath — Japanese rooms or Rakuwa twins
Twelve rooms themed on the Man'yōshū poetry anthology; those with an onsen open-air bath also come with lounge access and one free 45-minute private-bath session. A March 2022 blogger paid ¥83,600 for two with two meals and found the bath 'quite roomy for a room bath' (though the only washbasin is in the indoor bathroom); an April 2026 family called it big enough to share. A May 2026 blogger in a 7th-floor Rakuwa room found it clean and fine. One September 2026 guest found the fittings old and the stone bath's steps steep.
Corner suite Sansōka (山草花) or living suite Kunshikō (君子香)
The four corner suites, renovated in March 2024 in four styles, have an onsen open-air bath, a living room facing Mt Iino ('Sanuki Fuji') and a view over town from the bath. Kunshikō rooms, renovated in March 2023, have Simmons semi-double beds, a terrace and an onsen open-air bath; one universal version has fewer steps for wheelchair users. The hinoki-bath VIP suite (Kihinshitsu) doesn't take children.
Request To Avoid
Standard Japanese rooms (8–15 tatami) and 'room assigned on arrival' plans
No private bath, no lounge access, and the private open-air baths cost ¥3,850 for 45 minutes. 2026 reviews of these rooms mention an odd smell on arrival that faded once the air purifier ran, a smell on the guest floors, and a building that feels old, though cleaning is generally praised. Assigned-on-arrival plans can be a pleasant surprise — guests in 2026 were moved to top-floor or larger rooms. Drinks in the fridge are paid.
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Dining Deep Dive
Breakfast Consensus
4.5/5A Japanese-led buffet of about 60 dishes in Maruchū: dashimaki omelette cooked in front of you, rice from a traditional kamado, fresh tempura, udon, marinated sashimi and smoothies from Shikoku's four prefectures — consistently the most-praised meal, though a May 2025 blogger found it less memorable than dinner
Since April 2026 Maruchū dinners run in two sittings (17:50 and 19:10), set by your plan — pick the early one if you want time for the baths. Book a Hana Club or suite room for the free lounge (beer on tap, spirits, snacks), but don't expect it to be tended: a July 2026 guest found used glasses piled up and snack baskets empty. On rainy days you'll get wet walking to the garden bathhouse — use the basement baths instead.
Dinner Insights
4.1/5Kaiseki in Maruchū, a kappō-style dining room with 300-year-old beams, under a head chef who trained under Ōta Tadamichi at Arima's Nakanobō and received the Medal with Yellow Ribbon in 2021. Signatures are the 'sankai hōraku-yaki', beef and seafood you grill on hot stones, a house-made tofu hotpot and a choice of Sanuki udon to finish; bloggers in 2022, 2025 and 2026 loved the udon, the tofu and the lobster or conger-eel courses. Some plans use the open-kitchen Sanka Sanka private rooms instead, and summer and autumn plans offer a 30-dish buffet, praised for its seafood and a straw-grilled bonito show. But 2026 reviews are split: some found the portions too small or the beef limited to a small sukiyaki pot, one called most dishes puzzling and poor value, and another went to a convenience store afterwards.
Onsen & Wellness Realities
Two springs: the inn's own Yumoto Konpira Onsen Hananoyu (sodium chloride spring) in the main baths, and Kotohira's Chikōin spring in the open-air, private and in-room baths. A major booking site lists the water as heated and recirculated with filtration; a notice photographed by a May 2026 blogger gives the inn's own well as 25.5°C, pH 7.4 and 111 litres a minute, and lists heating, recirculation and chlorine.
Hanasumika in the basement has hinoki indoor and outdoor baths, a bubble tub and sauna; the women's side adds a flower bath (roses 15:00–23:00, orchids 6:00–10:00) and a jar bath with citrus at night — a July 2026 guest's son was sorry the roses are women-only. The garden bathhouse Hanaterasu has two baths, Ukigumo and Soyokaze, with standing and waterfall tubs, that swap between men and women overnight, plus a foot bath. Two private open-air baths, Tsukiyu and Hoshiyu, are on the 8th floor. Reviewers love the variety and the free sake and ice lollies after bathing, but there are no views, a June 2026 family met insects at the garden bath, a September 2026 guest found sauna towels unchanged, and another had a cleaner walk into the men's changing room.
The official site says tattoo cover stickers are sold at the front desk so that guests with tattoos can use the baths; no size limit is stated — ask the inn. Rooms with their own open-air bath avoid the issue.
Local Warnings & Nuances
- 01
Check-in 15:00, check-out 10:00. Main baths 15:00–23:00 and 6:00–10:00 (the garden baths close at 9:00); private baths ¥3,850 for 45 minutes, bookable on the day at the front desk.
- 02
Cancellation for up to 14 people: 30% from 3 days before, 50% the day before, 100% on the day or no-show.
- 03
A large hotel that takes tour groups: a September 2026 guest had to stand at check-in among a crowded group, and another found the dinner buffet staff hurried them.
- 04
Children are welcome, with a summer pool and festival-style events; from 1 October 2026 children aged 0–5 pay a ¥2,200 facility fee.
- 05
There's no covered drop-off and the 70-space free car park is a walk from the entrance; in June 2026 swarms of winged insects covered guests' cars overnight.
Sources
The real blog posts and stay reports this article draws on
- 今回は紅梅亭に泊まってきました。 (4travel.jp)
- ルーツは仕出し割烹！絶品の食事が楽しめる『紅梅亭』に泊まる♡ (4travel.jp)
- 『湯元こんぴら温泉華の湯 紅梅亭』宿泊記 (4travel.jp)
- 【香川 琴平】《湯元こんぴら温泉華の湯 紅梅亭》花くらぶ露天風呂付のお部屋宿泊記 (えりお@フリーランス女医)
- 湯元こんぴら温泉華の湯 紅梅亭 - クチコミ・評判 (一休.com)
- 湯元こんぴら温泉華の湯紅梅亭 クチコミ (じゃらんnet)
- 湯元こんぴら温泉華の湯 紅梅亭 クチコミ・レビュー (楽天トラベル)
- 湯巡り 花すみか (紅梅亭 公式サイト)
- 湯元こんぴら温泉華の湯 紅梅亭 (公式サイト)
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Photo credits: Kotohira Kadan, Kotohira · 663highland / CC BY 2.5 / Hiiragiya — the frontage on Anekoji-dori, Kyoto · Mariemon / CC BY 3.0 / Mukaitaki in the snow, Higashiyama Onsen, Aizu-Wakamatsu · Fumihiko Ueno / CC BY 3.0
Kotohira Hananoyu Koubaitei
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