Arima Onsen Gekkoen Korokan

Kaiseki served course by course in your room at both meals, a wall of mountain view and three bath houses of the inn's own kinsen — at a classic price, but it's a modern block where you fetch your own yukata, and the in-room and private baths aren't onsen

Korokan is the modern, multi-storey half of Gekkoen, a family of inns in business since 1952 on the quiet southern edge of Arima, linked by the Gekkō bridge to its older sister building. Its draw is one the inn itself calls rare these days: in the Japanese rooms, both dinner and breakfast are kaiseki served in your room, one dish at a time over about two hours, while every room except the singles looks straight onto Mt. Ochiba and the river below. Guests can bathe in three places: Korokan's own large bath with an outdoor tub and sauna, plus the sister building's two baths, including riverside outdoor tubs the inns describe as free-flowing. All use the inns' own sodium chloride kinsen well (31.2°C, heated). Most recent evidence comes from booking-site reviews: it rates 4.54 across 1,697 reviews on Rakuten Travel (dinner 4.66, facilities 4.36) and 4.33 across 90 on Ikyu. Reviewers in 2025–2026 praise the gentle Kyoto-style kaiseki with Ise lobster and Kobe beef, the three-bath circuit and, again and again, surprise touches for birthdays and anniversaries. The catches: 13 of the 33 rooms are Western-style, and those guests eat in a restaurant, not in-room; the in-room open-air tubs and the three private baths are not onsen, by the inn's own account; yukata and toiletries are collected from the lobby and towels carried to the baths; drinks are expensive; and 2026 reviews mention dusty or dated Western rooms, a confusing layout between buildings and, from one repeat guest, sullen service. Two-meal plans run about ¥26,400–46,200 per person, or ¥47,300–62,700 with an open-air bath.