Sanso Murata

Twelve villas built from relocated old farmhouses, each with its own onsen, and a bar with a 1930s theatre speaker — Yufuin's most atmospheric hideaway, if you don't need a view or a big bath

Sanso Murata started as a small tea house in 1983 and opened as an inn in 1992, built on the idea of giving old farmhouses a second life: several villas and Tan's Bar are Meiji-era houses moved here and restored (one guest's villa came from Shiga, 100 years old), and it's counted among Yufuin's three great inns with Kamenoi Bessou and Tamanoyu. There are just twelve detached rooms of 63–165㎡, each with its own free-flowing onsen bath — and no shared baths at all. Japanese guests rate it 4.78 across 20 reviews on one leading site (4.85 for service and baths), and praise staff who remember their names and past dislikes, a free taxi anywhere in town, and Tan's Bar with around 200 spirits, a 1930s Western Electric horn speaker and prices kept low at the late founder's wish (Macallan 18 for ¥4,000). Dinner is in your room or a private room, with seafood, a hotpot and Oita wagyu. Reviews on another site are cooler (4.33 across 128): guests mention no view, no large bath, too much food, windows dirty and grounds untended, a soft sagging sofa, a gecko and damp bedding, and one long-time guest felt it had 'become an ordinary inn'. Expect around ¥75,000–88,000 per person with two meals.