ACCOMMODATIONS Ryokan Sensui

My wife Sara and I had THE BEST time here! We had the friendliest staff. When we arrived, Mina greeted us happily and took our luggage for us as we had gotten there early. Mina was so kind and showed us all around the hotel. Her English was excellent and we loved her energy.

Later, another staff member, Nao, helped my wife and I with our yukata in order to dress for our dinner and Onsen time. Nao spoke excellent English as well, and she was very helpful during our multi-course dinner at the hotel by explaining each dish.

The private baths were very nice at the hotel, and the traditional style room was relaxing after a leisurely day.

Our experience here was our favorite part of our three week exploration of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Kinisaki Onsen Town.

Thank you so much!

Our stay at Sensui was so lovely. I cannot outdo all the glowing reviews that have been left here before me, so I will not try! I will only say a few things. The location is perfect. The structure and rooms are beautiful and immaculately clean. The design and aesthetics are beautiful. One bad point- the futon are very warm!- quite uncomfortable. But- The chef and the kaiseki - seasonal and beef- were both phenomenal. So, so beautifully presented and so,so delicious. And our server, Nao.. so gorgeous! Lovely smile all the time, very good english, great explanations, and she does the sweetest and prettiest drawings!! She really made our stay- Nao and the Chef.

Now that I’m back at home, I wanted to take some time to share our experience at Ryokan Sensui.
For my 30th birthday, we decided to stay in Kinosaki Onsen. We chose Ryokan Sensui for our stay, as the prices were incredibly reasonable, and the food looked amazing. The ryokan is a quick walk from the station, and we were greeted by incredibly kind staff who provided us with some tea and sweets during the check-in process. They carried our bags to our room, which was incredibly kind and unexpected!
When we checked into our room, we were surprised by how large it was. We had only experienced tiny hotel rooms in our trip so far, so it was lovely having so much space. It also included a guide book, with each page containing illustrations and suggestions from the various staff members. It was SO cute and charming.

Everything about this ryokan was great. It's one street back from the main street (but still close to everything), which I appreciated. The rooms are big, nice, and clean, the staff (Peco in particular) is amazing (and speak plenty of English), and the dinners are very, very good. They have a private sauna and two private baths and give free, self-serve sake tasting every night in the lobby until 11pm. It's a luxury place with a luxury experience and a luxury price. Zero complaints.

This was my first time staying in a ryokan style inn and it was surreal! The hosts were so kind and made it very easy to understand how to stay in the ryokan, use onsens, and get around town. The private onsens were perfect staying there as a couple. The dinner and breakfast were some of the best meals we had on the entire trip - they showcased local ingredients, were very creative, and were very light but had enough courses to still be a filling meal overall. All of the staff provided phenomenal service and we enjoyed chatting with Nao during the meal!

I couldn’t be more happy with my recent stay at Sensui onsen. Our host was incredible; staff Tomomi spoke excellent English and was so kind and polite! I would highly recommend visiting! The cute welcome pictures and the hand written notes are an amazing touch as well, thank you to our host, Tomomi, for making this one of the most memorable places we visited while in Japan!

We loved our stay at Sensui! It was really relaxing and we appreciated the attention to detail of the staff to take our bags before check in, give us a tour of the property and have a welcome tea at check in. The Japanese style room was very spacious and clean. Both the dinner and breakfast were excellent with a great selection of fresh, seasonal dishes. The hotel is conveniently located between the jr station and most of the bathhouses. The onsen occupancy technology was a cool idea, being able to see both if the in building private onsen were occupied as well as the occupancy rate of the public onsen. We really appreciated the hospitality of Iwai and the other staff. I also got to rent a pretty yukata for cherry blossom pictures along the river. Overall, it was a great experience and would definitely recommend.

The staff were so kind and accommodating. Even though they didn't have the best English, they kept coming to check in and ask questions during the dinner. Whatever you do, don't miss the dinner that comes with the stay. The food is delicious, and they try to make you feel like you're with family. The nearby onsens are also all amazing and well worth the visit.

everything from check-in to check-out was amazing!
the grounds were spick and span, spotless indeed! top notch Japanese standard, the staff were very friendly and thanks to my hubby who spoke Japanese, elevated the experience.
we would like to give a shoutout to Peco who took care of us during our kaiseki dinner, it was soo enjoyable and we had about 10 courses of carefully chef selected dishes, Peco explained to us in details each dish and we even chatted and she drew a little picture of us and gifted us and also wrote a little note which was gifted to us upon departure, this is what truly sets Sensui a notch above the rest.
after dinner the futons were laid out for us and i must say it’s one of the most comfortable sleep i have had this entire trip!
it might have just been a one night stay but we will return for sure and Sensui is a default choice.

Kinosaki Onsen Sensui is one of the finest hotels I have ever stayed at. This is a place that in my opinion is up there with any Forbes 4 or 5 star rated hotel, having had the chance to experience that level of luxury once or twice. The level of careful, personalized service, exceptional food, and beautiful and serene rooms, combine to make a perfectly relaxing experience that I am already dreaming of repeating. The location is very good, in the center of the town but on a quiet side street. Like any other place here, you get a yukata to borrow, as well as a pass to the Onsens in town. Good to note: the room we stayed in did not have a shower or a bath, which would have surprised me anywhere else but after bathing in multiple Onsens during my visit, a shower was the last thing I wanted. I also got a chance to use the private Onsen they have on site which was beautiful.

We loved our experience at the Kinosaki Onsen Sensui! I could not rate this place highly enough. The location, accommodations, food and staff are incredible. Peco was extremely friendly and helpful throughout our stay. We enjoyed visiting the various onsens and using the amenities within the hotels, too. The seasonal crab dinner was fantastic and one of our favorite meals in Japan. We will be back!

We loved our stay at Sensui, this a Japanese ryokan with traditional tatami flooring and futon which are made for you in the early evening.

The rooms themselves seem like they’ve been meticulously maintained since the 80s or 90s, including rotary dial phones! This was a positive for me and though I’m sure they are planning to renovate, I hope they keep some rooms as they are the nostalgia of an extremely well kept room from past decades is well worth experiencing. The rooms are large and come with yukata to wear around town at night. The futon were extremely comfortable in the cold weather during our stay.

There are no showers or baths in the rooms - these are not needed as the hotel contains two private onsen, which are open morning and evening. These are great for washing before heading to the towns other plethora of public baths. These cedar bath in particular smells amazing and should be experienced.

We did not experience the dining, but coffee machines tea etc are provided in the reception area, as well as sake tastings in the evenings. We can highly recommend the ramen shop a minute east named “China” on google maps, for cheap delicious and vegetarian food.

Kinosakionsen is 100% a great town to visit, for the onsen, tourist shops, people wearing yukata and geta - I would absolutely stay here again for our next visit

Amazing accommodation and second-to-none hospitality. Don't hesitate if you're looking for a traditional ryokan experience. A word to the wise, the kaiseki is beautifully presented but it may be challenging to a western palate. Our server was so friendly and very accommodating. The private onsens are a huge plus if you're travelling with a partner, as all the public onsens are gender segregated.

My husband and I had an amazing stay at Kinosaki Onsen Sensui! We stayed in a traditional tatami room, which was lovely, and had the crab and beef dinner for two evenings. Location is great—short walk to the train station and tucked away from the main drag of Kinosaki (but still close to everything you’d want to walk to!). Also, our host Kanako, was incredibly kind and helpful. I only wished we had stayed another night!

Two nights at Sensui weren’t enough for us! We were excited to stay at Sensui for the traditional Japanese room, but when we arrived, it exceeded our expectations. It’s a modern Japanese-style ryokan, located in a quiet back alley but still very close to the main road, making it a convenient location.

As for the food, meals were served in the dining room, featuring Tajima beef and Matsuba crab courses for dinner, while breakfast consisted of a rice set that changed daily based on the fresh ingredients available. Since we stayed for two nights, we had the chance to try both the Tajima beef and Matsuba crab courses. The food was absolutely amazing, there are no words to describe how delicious it was! The staff even inquired about any food allergies after we booked, which was very considerate.

The traditional Japanese room we booked was more spacious than expected and came with a toilet and essential amenities like a hairdryer, toothpastes, and toothbrushes. They also provided yukata with an extra thick layer for winter, along with socks, shoes, towels, and baskets for the onsen. The futons were surprisingly comfortable, we didn’t expect to sleep so well on futons!

Sensui also offers private onsens, allowing couples or families to enjoy onsen time together.

The staff were friendly and helpful, especially Peco, who took care of us at dinner for both nights, and another lady whose name I unfortunately forgot. We would like to express our gratitude to them and the rest of the team for taking care of us and providing such amazing service. We will definitely come back to Sensui again for more than 2 nights and we are looking forward to our second Kinosaki trip !!

However, one minor inconvenience is that they do not accept luggage storage on weekends, and any extra expenses must be paid in cash. So, be sure to have some cash on hand when you check out. If needed, you can store your luggage in the lockers across from the train station.

A special Ryokan that embraces its guests with warm Hospitality and a luxurious experience. A place where you rest and relax with your loved ones. One which became a highlight of my Japan trip

Our family of 3 stayed a night at Kinosaki Onsen Sensui during the winter season. It was a cosy place with free flow of coffees served at its lobby during specific hours. We enjoyed the quiet and serene atmosphere surrounding this place. The room was spacious and we enjoyed sitting by the window for small chats. Our stay included breakfasts at the dining room.

Very lovely inn and very warm and helpful staff, especially Kanako (all of them were actually but Kanako was so professional and accomodating to all our dietary requests at dinners she deserves a special mention).

Rooms were a large, warm and very comfortable. Location was good and near the onsens. Even its own private onsens were lovely.

The dinners were good, both the beef and crab menus.

Definitely a highlight of the trip

I have nothing but amazing things to say about Sensui. Our train was delayed due to the snow but the hotel was very accommodating and was able to check us in quickly for us to join dinner in time.

Dinner for both nights was absolutely delicious. We got beef for one night and crab for the other. I have to say we got spoiled by the food at Sensui and was not able to find any restaurants that can match its level during our stay in Kyoto. Bravo chef!

Our concierge Kanako was exceptional! She paid close attention to our food preference and applied them to our second night dinner. Her sweet attitude and attention to detail made our already amazing trip 10 times better. She was always ready to help and did everything to make us feel at home. The hand written note at the end is such a kind gesture.

I would highly recommend anyone to stay at Sensui. The location is great, super close to all 6 public onsens and I would totally return again for the delicious food and kind staff.