Ryotei Hanayura
旅亭 花ゆら
Area photo — not the ryokan itself · Jigokudani (Hell Valley), Noboribetsu Onsen, Hokkaido · Calistemon / CC BY-SA 4.0
The quiet 37-room top tier of a Noboribetsu hotel group: 27 rooms with their own free-flowing milky sulphur bath and kaiseki in private dining rooms — but the building is dated, the room baths run hot and 2026 reviews call dinner service rushed at times
Ryotei Hanayura is the smallest and most upmarket inn of Toho Resort, the company behind the big Hotel Mahoroba and Park Hotel Gatei in Noboribetsu. It has 37 rooms, and 27 of them have a hinoki open-air bath fed with free-flowing sulphur water — the inn calls it one of its proudest features. The shared baths offer three of Noboribetsu's springs (sulphur, simple sulphur and an iron-bearing salt spring known as the 'fertility spring'), partly diluted and heated, and guests can also use the baths of Park Hotel Gatei next door. Dinner is kaiseki in private dining rooms, with a smaller-portion menu for lighter eaters. Two bloggers who stayed in 2023 and 2024 are the only recent first-hand write-ups we found, so most recent evidence comes from booking-site reviews. Japanese guests rate it 4.3 across 512 reviews on Jalan (baths 4.6, breakfast 4.4) and 4.10 across 184 on Rakuten Travel. They praise the soft, milky water, a room bath you can use any time, how quiet it is for Noboribetsu, attentive staff and free beer and capsule coffee in the room. The complaints in 2026: a dated building with an odd smell on arrival, room baths too hot to enter at first, rushed or brusque dinner service, starters already set and drying on the table, portions some found small for the price, a lounge without coffee because of staff shortages and a washing station out of service. In October 2026 one booking site listed starting rates for two with two meals of about ¥61,000–75,000 in a standard room and ¥74,000–89,000 with a room bath.
Room Selection Guide
What the guests who stayed here actually recommendRecommended
Japanese room with open-air bath (54㎡, 12 tatami — 23 rooms)
The reason to book here: a hinoki tub on the veranda filled with free-flowing milky sulphur water, plus a separate indoor bath with a washing area. A blogger who stayed in October 2024 found the room very spacious and spotless despite its age, with an air purifier, free drinks and the inn's own dorayaki; 2026 reviewers loved being able to soak in it whenever they liked. The view from the tub is mostly screened, and the water needs cooling before you get in.
Special Japanese room (82㎡, one only) or the three Japanese-Western rooms (74–96㎡) with open-air bath
The one special room has two connected tatami rooms with the room bath on the veranda between them; a group of six who stayed in August 2023 found it ample. The Japanese-Western rooms add twin beds and a separate living area. On one booking site they started around ¥110,000–112,000 for two with meals in October 2026.
Request To Avoid
Standard Japanese rooms (48㎡, 10 rooms) — and anyone expecting a new building
The ten standard rooms have no open-air bath, so you'd rely on the shared baths. Across the building, 2026 reviewers mention its age, a sulphur-and-chemical smell on entering a room (September 2026), a stale old-building smell and worn bathrooms. A June 2026 guest in a standard room was upgraded on a quiet Monday, but don't count on it.
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Dining Deep Dive
Breakfast Consensus
4.3/5A Japanese set (grilled fish, tofu and yuba) plus a half-buffet of salads, sashimi and Hokkaido vegetables, with a make-your-own seafood bowl, 7:30–9:30 in a restaurant with big windows — mostly praised, though a July 2026 guest found it disappointing for the price
Hanayura guests can also use the larger baths at Park Hotel Gatei next door; the passage from Gatei's lobby is open only to Hanayura guests. Beer and tea in the room fridge are free, and towels are provided at the shared baths. Reviewers singled out the Hokkaido asparagus at breakfast. Baby bath chairs, a Bumbo seat and nappy-changing mats are available.
Dinner Insights
4.2/5Seasonal kaiseki in 18 private dining rooms (18:00–21:00, last start 19:00), on a full menu or a smaller-portion one; crab can be added à la carte, from ¥4,200 for a boiled hairy crab, depending on the season. The October 2024 blogger, returning for the food, had matsutake dobin-mushi, abalone, Shiraoi beef and grilled crab and called both meals 'very satisfying'. In 2026 many reviewers praised the beautiful, carefully made dishes and the private rooms, but others felt rushed by staff, found starters pre-set and drying, or thought it small for the price — one family preferred dinner at the group's Hotel Mahoroba.
Onsen & Wellness Realities
Noboribetsu spring water: the shared baths offer three springs — sulphur, simple sulphur, and an acidic iron-bearing sodium chloride spring the inn calls the 'fertility spring' (kodakara-sen). The inn describes them as free-flowing, partly diluted and heated. The open-air room baths use free-flowing sulphur water; staff told the 2023 blogger the top layer runs hot, so you add tap water and stir with a wooden paddle.
Separate men's and women's baths with indoor and open-air tubs, open 14:00–9:30 (closed 3:30–4:00 for cleaning); no private family baths. Guests describe the water as milky and mild for sulphur, and the baths as uncrowded because the inn is small. The 2023 blogger preferred them to the bigger baths at Gatei. In 2026 some found the indoor bath or their room bath too hot to enter, and one guest was hurried out of the changing room by cleaning staff just before the 9:30 close.
No policy found on the official site or Japanese booking sites — contact the inn. 27 of the 37 rooms have their own open-air bath.
Local Warnings & Nuances
- 01
Check-in 14:00, check-out 10:00. The last dinner start is 19:00.
- 02
You go in through the lobby of Park Hotel Gatei, a larger hotel in the same complex; a passage leads from there to Hanayura and only Hanayura guests can use it.
- 03
The building is dated. In 2026 reviewers reported a washing station out of service in the shared bath, no coffee in the lounge because of staff shortages, and odd smells in some rooms.
- 04
The open-air room baths are fed with very hot spring water. Several 2026 guests couldn't get in at first, so plan time to cool the water with the tap.
- 05
The group's Mahoroba-go bus from Sapporo TV Tower costs ¥1,000 each way, must be booked at least 7 days ahead and doesn't run if nine or fewer people book. Parking is free.
Sources
The real blog posts and stay reports this article draws on
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Photo credits: Jigokudani (Hell Valley), Noboribetsu Onsen, Hokkaido · Calistemon / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Hiiragiya — the frontage on Anekoji-dori, Kyoto · Mariemon / CC BY 3.0
Ryotei Hanayura
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