Hoshino Resorts KAI Kawaji

Wonderful place - great staff and the restaurant is amazing. Rooms are very nice. Onsen is nice and clean but a little tired.

We were the only foreigners at this very cool onsen inn. The meals( halfboard) were very fancy and very Japanese, which was fun for us as a family. Our Japanese-style room with tatami mats, a living area, balcony overlooking the river was comfortable and relaxing. The staff was super friendly and helpful. We loved our waiter, Tiger or Tiga, most of all. It was about 45 minutes drive to the main shrine in Nikko, and we found a nice hike in a canyon near our inn the second day. Three nights felt like the right amount of time to stay before moving on.

很好

Absolutely stunning hotel with very friendly staff and lovely onsen!

Great

溫泉非常好，環境十分舒適，員工服務態度非常好

Amazing experience - food, onsen and experiences (such as paper making)! Staff is incredibly friendly and helpful. The place is really stunning, especially at night where the atmosphere is just incredible. In particular, bathing in their open air onsen while snowing was just a dream. We loved every second! A suggestion to travellers from Tokyo: the most convenient way to get there (despite what google maps says) is the Tobu line service from Asakusa station to Kinagawaonsen, changing with a local service to Kawajii-Yumoto (the hotel will pick you up at the station). It may be slightly longer than other options but it’s very comfortable and easy.

It's our fault for booking a non-refundable hotel but given our cat got a blood clot and required daily supervision, we had to cancel our trip. Hoshino Resorts KAI Kawaji, with almost a month in advance, did not care about our situation and wouldn't even give us a voucher to reschedule and happily pocketed our $700. Again, it is our fault, but we will not do business with non-refundable hotels again. Lesson learned.

Wonderful experience. Nice staff and a very relaxing environment

A return visit. Kawaji Onsen is a quiet little town, with some great riverside hiking paths ( beware of monkeys!) and the Kai a welcoming refuge. Rooms overlook the Ojika River and a forested mountainside. Kaiseki meals, 24hr tea & good coffee in the lounge, ofuro & rutemburo. Free shuttle or a pleasant 10 minute walk from Kawaji Yumoto station on the Kagan Railway (no JR passes). Stop for local bus to the magnificent Ryuokyo Gorge and Nijmi Falls on road outside hotel (get off at Shiowara, walk south to Ryuokyo eki). Staff unusually helpful, even by Japanese standards. Good English spoken, despite very few gaijin guests. SF Täydellinen japanilainen kokemus. Kiitos!

Good food Good Onsen ..Employees were rather weak at speaking English but were very helpful and polite

飯店設施和服務人員素質都非常好，但是交通真的不便利。

This place is amazing! The view from my room was why I initially chose this ryokan, and the outside onsen is a must. The foot bath was a lovely surprise as it gives you a breathtaking view of the running stream and mountains in the distance. The half board was the best I’ve ever had—such thoughtful flavors (I especially liked the pickles)! Plus, the people are so nice here! (I was happy to hear there was a shuttle offered to go back to the Kawaji Yumoto train station though I did walk about 11 minutes going.) I would definitely come back to this ryokan if I’m ever in the Nikko area again. Thank you so much! Some things to note: there are some medium sized flying bugs that will glue themselves to the sliding door. Be careful opening/closing the door if you don’t want them to get in. (I hate bugs but I reminded myself that I am in nature and visiting their territory. ;p) Also, my intended train going back to Tokyo from Kawaji Yumoto was fully booked, so the station agent explained that I had to transfer a few times to get back to Tokyo. A minor inconvenience since I arrived 40 minutes later than my intended time. Not a lot of trains come through though, so you might want to keep this in mind when booking your stay.

寧靜舒適服務10分好，職員友善，食物一流十分滿意

We had an amazing time, the ryokan was beautiful, people extremely nice and the food was excellent!

Great and memorable stay!

員工服務很好，若加強送迎服務更好。

Absolutely 5-star service, great environment, our room was facing the mountains, giving us a calm and relaxing vibe, the hot spring experience was amazing with tasty lemon water, tea and popsicles. Definitely get the half board option, great food with a good variety each day, and there aren't many restaurants nearby. Amenities were kinda old but super clean.

Beautifully quiet isolated resort. Limited train service to the area and no taxis. Food service and onsen were excellent, after they initially could not find our reservation.

Great place to stay in for relaxation, the city around is abandoned

進來就不想出去了、讓人能好好放鬆的度假村、有足湯跟大眾池。房間很大。

好

The staff are very friendly and provides personal recommendations for sightseeing and dining. Food is delicious and thoughtful, with a great selection of sake at affordable prices. Room is spacious.

完整的設備，飲食、房間、景觀都好、特別是吹風機是我曾經住宿過的溫泉飯店最好的，2分鐘的交通車到火車站又近轉乘方便！

Fantastic environment and hospitality, and the foods are amazing!

Great Onsen Ryokan! I meant to book Nikko but ended up booking here by mistake but I feel like I found another great Onsen Ryokan! Transportation was bit inconvenient and communication about the shuttle bus to the station was amiss but overall, this place was a great place to get away and to rest and enjoy the natural springs and the nature.

Overall, good location, gorgeous drive in & out. Spacious and decent room (was in 708) on the top floor, with river and mountain views, would be stunning during autumn. I wanted to like this place, but there’s room for improvement: ~wifi was so pathetic that my cell phone loaded faster using roaming. ~Bathroom is ancient (I could have been in the Toto museum). Hotel door and safety deposit boxes require actual keys. ~mediocre dinner, carb heavy and cheap ingredients. You can cook good food with simple ingredients but it wasn’t the case here. For example, my beef appetizer was overcooked, the fried dishes were really oily. I wasn’t able to “upgrade” my meal as ended booking my room only the night before (had fo cancel my original hotel due to winter storm issues near Niigata). ~ this place was overpriced. I paid only 10% more for a ryokan 2 hour drive away that had much better food and room (ie wooden bathtubs with real hot spring H2O vs plastic bathtub) and 3 private onsens that you can book to have a private soak. ~Room literally came with one tea bag only, no toothbrush available in room. I know Kai is not Hoshinoya, but, it would take very little to enhance the overall experience. This was my first Kai and I still hope to try the other ones, just hope this Kai was an exception to the rest.

Very nice onsen hotel. We love the one night stay there.

Friendly staff and clean surroundings.

It was amazing, quiet surrounding

The ryokan/onsen experience fulfilled to perfection. Kawaji is a lovely little town with some great walks along the river and through scenic woodlands, and the train ride to get there is a delight in itself. Hotel shuttle service to the station, or a ten minute walk. (NOT Kawaji Onsen station, but the next station north up the line. Kawaji 'something' - sorry, forgot name). Bus to Kinugawa Onsen stops right outside the hotel. Hotel KAI is not inexpensive, but worth every ¥!

Beautiful hotel in a beautiful natural surrounding. Excellent food and staffs go out of their way to help and provides amazing experiences to guests. Will definitely stay here again and will look for all other KAI hotels when I visit other parts of Japan.

The setting, the rooms, the service, and the food are all top-notch at this beautiful little Japanese in. Every area is tastefully decorated and the room sizes are very large. When eating your meals, you were in a slightly separated area from other families so there is a sense of intimacy and privacy. If you come with family, there are also activities for your children to engage in that are culturally tasteful and from the local area. There are also areas around the hotel where you can hike. All rooms face the mountain and so during Cherryblossom or autumnal leaves seasons, it is beautiful. I would strongly recommend a stay at this hotel where the service is outstanding.

Lovely and spacious room where you can relax while watching the greenery! Dinner is very delicious in all local ingredients! The hot springs is very nice too! Also, the COVID-19 precaution is very good - the check-in service at your room, individual room for dinner/breakfast and social distancing for all cultural trial sessions!

The Beautifully Designed Entrance raised our Expectations for this famous Hoshino Resort. Being in the KAI-Brand, it specializes in Onsen- a passion of mine. The staff member promised, "The foot-bath will be open in the morning." Not a good beginning...The rooms are large & well-appointed with comfortable beds. The Relaxation Area was calm with good explanations of the health properties of various Onsen. But the bath waters were not very hot... Dinner Time-Due to Corona Virus they had partitioned the large Dining Hall to create individual rooms-not a problem. But there were no decorations so it felt like eating in an Oshiire (futon closet) with a light bulb dangling. Put up a poster, or origami birds, or how about some of the lovely carved gourds (found in other areas of the hotel)! The food was good, not outstanding, served in lovely Mashiko-yaki pottery but the atmosphere became a little claustrophobic. Nothing else to do in the area so went to the baths again. A little bit warmer... The view out the window is nothing to remark about... The alarm went off at 5 AM which we had not set... We left early.

Pros -big spacious room -great, friendly service -dinner is up to par, looks good and taste good, the food temperature maintain very well - semi private dining room -clean and beautiful onsen - nice salt lemon water and small ice bar after onsen at resting area - comfy meditation pillow at resting area -2 activities available, making kinako and washi -enjoy ginger tea at lounge -ordered massage, masseuse is very professional, he can speak a bit of English Cons - location is a bit off if traveling by public transport - check in at 4pm, only left room facing the parking lot - for the massage, they change my bed to a massage bed which is fine during normal time but due to Covid, you need to wear a mask and there is no hole for the breathing, can’t really enjoy the massage

連泊しましたが、部屋のソファー・堀炬燵・ベット・温泉がとても快適で、ゆったりと出来ました。朝夕食とも手間の掛かっているお料理で、美味しく感動しながら頂く事が出来て量も十分でした。土鍋のご飯が特に美味しかった。 スタッフの皆さんの笑顔と挨拶が、居心地の良さを倍増させていると思います。

不錯的體驗, 傳統的日式建築, 很棒的經歷.

Having previously had a wonderful time at Hoshinoya Karuizawa, our family of four felt we could trust their brand and devised a driving holiday which took us from Kawaji over to Nagano. KAI Kawaji was the first of four Hoshino branded resorts that we stayed. Even before we arrived pretty much everyone who worked there seemed to know about our plans despite making separate bookings which tells me the management team is really on top of things when it comes to looking after their guests. We were greeted upon arrival and taken to the main lobby which was very reminiscent of Karuizawa and instantly made us feel both welcome and at home. Of all the KAIs we stayed at, Kawaji probably has the most impressive and functional lobby area with sake tasting, a travel library, a large shop, and other activities all centred around it. The room was a great surprise; I had expected a fairly standard affair where all four of us would be sleeping but was presented with a large room that had a separate sleeping area for the parents; there was only a thin sliding door between the main living space and the sleeping area but it offered a really welcome sense of privacy. The room itself was a little dated and worn in places but still very comfortable and had a great view of the river next to the property. The main selling point of all the Hoshino resorts are the onsets and their dining and these both lived up to expectations. We very quickly settled into wandering around wearing the gowns supplied by the resort….not a massive fan of candles (or flip-flops as I called them growing up) but managed ok. The food was especially good; again I’d say KAI Kawaji has a slight edge in terms of overall food quality for the standard meals compared to the other resorts, but a very slight one. Food was served in a private room in the main dining hall and each course was wonderfully presented and explained by our waitress Mee. All in all we had a wonderful time and it really set high expectations for the rest of our journey; would definitely recommend this location.

非常非常棒的酒店，服务贴心，酒店环境很好，交通略微麻烦，但是酒店接送做的很好

Great stay beautiful location

Fantastic Onsen with friendly staff and authentic Japanese food all wrapped up into one amazing package in a small village with nice day walks around. Best place to getaway from it all for a few days and a perfect contrast to large city experiences, you could not ask for more, an amazing place to unwind, loved every minute and hope to get back one day.

The friendly staff and the environment make you feel home. Very nice.

Hotel bldg. is old, already 50 years old, they renovated the hotel 5 years ago. But still feel old and smelling! Room with balcony is good, but cannot go outside, many bugs around, what a pity! The most surprise we got is the food,, excellent food at Dinner and Breakfast !

安靜的小城市，古典的渡假旅店，服務週到，附近沒有便利店，要吃的零食等等最好自己先準備好

サービスは抜群に良く、食事も素晴らしい。 何度でも行きたくなるお宿です。 １つだけ難を言えば、麻の浴衣の肌触りが良くなかった。でも本当に良いお宿でした。

Upea ryokan keskellä luontoa. Rakennus hieman vanha, eli kulumaa pinnoilta löytyy, jos haluaa etsiä. Yövyimme kolme yötä, ja saimme joka päivä ainutlaatuisen päivällisen sekä aamiaisen. Henkilökunta erittäin ystävällistä. Sängyt todella mukavat. Näkymät huoneesta henkeäsalpaavat.

Tip: if you want to participate in paper making, reserve ahead of time as space is limited

Great onsen resort in the mountains past Nikko. The location is a bit remote, but this makes it more peaceful and full of nature (and less crowded with tourists). Food and service is excellent. Bathroom fixtures are a little bit dated (early-1990s style maybe?), but everything is clean and functional, and the rest of the facilities are stylish and well-maintained. River-view rooms have few obstructions of the pure natural beauty of the mountains and trees. Good Wifi.

After a really winding road with signs showing the number of sharp turns along the way, we arrived at Kai Kawaji 界 川治, the first of the three Kai ryokans we would be staying in Tochigi. It is a riverside hot spring ryokan that pays homage to pastoral Japanese scenery. Large windows offer scenic views of nearby hills and a river that runs past the ryokan's outdoor baths, while the traditional kaiseki dinners highlight unique Tochigi cuisine and the cultural activities offer an inside look at the customs of the past. Rooms are designed to allow guests to fully soak in the area's majestic scenery. Each room features a custom-built sofa that invites guests to lie back and enjoy the views, looking out from the room's spacious windows like a private art display. We had booked the Signature Room 野州麻紙の間 featuring Yashu Hemp paper ornaments. With only seven such rooms located on the top floor of the ryoakn, each showing different scenery of the four seasons of Satoyama 里山, like the image of the rice ears during the village’s harvest. The paper is made by hemp grown in neighboring farms, with the strong fibers interwoven to become the paper. It is dyed with natural material to illustrate the gentle flow of the Oga River flowing into Kawaji Onsen. The Kai ryokans are famous for its cultural experience to the guests. We were also invited to use a small rotary quern to grind a variety of soybeans—red and green, small and large—into a flavorful flour called kinako 黄粉, which is used in Japanese confectionery. There is also a workshop showing how to make paper from different materials, such as fallen leaves picked from the ryokan courtyard. The final product is then provided as a souvenir for guests. Unfortunately, we arrived the ryokan too late and missed the workshop. Before dinner we decided to go to the public bath. There is a spacious indoor bath hall and another riverside outdoor one fed by the Kawaji onsen. The outdoor one is made from natural granite called 御影石 offering a warm ambiance, with the hotspring style being Simple Onsen 単純温泉. The hotspring is said to be particularly effective for healing wounds, with the history saying Toshizo Toshikata 土方歳三, the famous vice captain of Shinsengumi 新選組 in the Bakumatsu era 幕末, came here to take care of his war wounds after the Utsunomiya battle 宇都宮の戦. After the bath I took a rest at the Yuagari Lounge, which is located between the men’s and women’s bath halls, providing complimentary cold tea and refreshing popsicles to cool off from our dip. Returning to the room, we took a short rest before moving to the dining hall for dinner. The dinner is served in semi-private booths, where we had a great meal with dishes prepared from locally sourced ingredients, such as river fish and konjac—a type of yam that is grated and then jellied to create a local delicacy. We had pre-ordered a special main dish 和牛の味噌土手鍋, prepared in a mashiko-yaki 益子焼 pot. The hotpot was heated with miso, and then adding the vegetable and beef ‘shabu-shabu’ style. The miso brought up the intense flavors and rich texture, and we both enjoyed the dish very much.

The service is very good, very warm hospitality. Not only a hotel for stay, you can also have the outdoor hot spring, great Japanese food and try traditional Japanese activities, such as making paper and grind soybeans powder which you can take home as souvenirs. We cannot speak Japanese, they arranged English speaking staff for us. The room is big and have a nice view of the lake, laying on the couch. It was our honeymoon. During the dinner. They served special desert to congratulation us and took photo even printed it out! We will definitely come back and stay in KAI in other cities of Japan.

Liked the interior and the attention to little details they provide. However, food quality can be better; had better food at other onsen.

I am a fan of Hoshino resorts and had visited a few of the resorts; Kai Kawaji is one of them I recently visited and recommended! The ryokan location is not easy to access as it's quite far away from Tokyo. We had taken about 3.5 hours by JR from Tokyo station to Kawaji station with a few train transfers. However, the ryokan offered a shuttle bus pick-up and the driver was standing straight and waiting for us when we walked out from the station that made me felt guilty as I had a little complaint for the long way. We stayed in the ryokan for two nights for our Christmas holidays. The whole ryokan architecture is old Japanese style that is my favorite. The onsen, foot spa and ryokan activities were quite ok. We had requested daily Japanese-styled breakfasts and dinners in the ryokan and the food was absolutely excellent and delicious, I didn't expect that. We spent a half day for trekking in the surrounding sightseeing spots - Ryuokyo. The day was very cold. The place is close by the hotel so we took a taxi to there. It's worthwhile to be there! Overall, I think this is one of the best Hoshino resorts!!!

I chose this Kai above others nearby (Kinugawa and Nikko) based on the fact my wife and I (and our baby) wanted somewhere nestled in a forest / river location - we were wrong as the rooms are overlooking the river and the forested hillsides, The food and service was incredible, just as other commenters pointed out. I can't fault the hotel on anything other than how we were treated at the end. The checkout time is 12 noon, however we were delayed by a few minutes (last minute diaper changes etc) - then a phone call came to the room at 12:06 asking us quite curtly to checkout asap. A frosty porter came to the room to collect our bags and so we went down to the front desk to checkout. It was very strange as all of the lights were off in the lobby area (this is about 12:15) and there was a row of staff staring at us and making us feel shame as we were 15 minutes late. We weren't treated as paying customers but instead with some degree of hostility. We no longer felt welcome and they made this pretty obvious.. I noticed the staff were young and inexperienced how to treat guests, especially from overseas. We were then practically marched off the premises in the rain with no umbrella!! This was utterly shocking and left us feeling awful - not what we would expect for this ryokan brand.. Based on the overall experience I still awarded the Kawaji Kai a fair score - because until the final few minutes it had been a great experience.. however somebody needs to train those staff how to treat guests, or at least have someone more senior at hand to ensure the guests feel like guests until the end, Otherwise I would have awarded 5 stars.

Excellent place to stay for spa and nature. Very caring staff. Excellent japanese food. Nice Onsen. Shuttle from the train station is very convenient. Beautiful autum leaves in the hitel garden. Will remember!

It was perfect stay with welcoming staff esp Ms 村越 was excellent in every moment since we checked in !

Stayed three nights here on our recent autumn trip to Japan. Very good service like most Kai hotels. Totally enjoyed the onsen. Meals were generally good. Dinner the first night wasn’t great but it improved vastly the second and third night. The staff spoke English and we especially liked Narumi, who gave us some recommendations on where to go around the area. I also loved the view from the room with the beautiful autumn colours on the hills. Overall a nice visit.

Perfect hardware, nice room, nice deco and also nice food. Staff are very polite as well. The hotel prepared different activities for the guest after check in. Onsen is clean and nice, sufficient amenities were provided in the bath and it keep neat and tidy at all time. There is just down side, everytime i stay in onsen hotel I’ll buy some fruit along the way and ask the hotel staff to prepare for us after the meal. This time when I approach the front desk after dinner, they didn’t offer me a knife which I understand as it’s a safety concern, but they declined my request to cut the fruit as well which make me feel a bit weird. This is my very first time experienced that in any onsen hotel in japan which make me a bit surprise. May be a big chain onsen hotel have different policy and they discourage their guest to bring their own food in their property, which I will pay attention next time, but it’s a bit lack of human touch in my point of view.

From the second we arrived in the parking lot to the moment we packed up our last bag the staff was warm and friendly. The hotel is tranquil and our room was huge, clean and had an onsen a beautiful view.

The location is not a popular city area... but their food is excellent and so is the service. Also the ice cream service at the hot spring area is a great idea! Its not too far away from Tokyo so easy access to this wonderful resort :)

Kai Kawaji is a member of the Hoshino Resorts chain so you are assured of quality. Located beside a beautiful river in a small mountain town, it's a lovely option for a short getaway from Tokyo. The common areas are understated and nice, the rooms re generous in size and the onsen baths are large, with particularly nice outdoor baths set in nature beside the river. The hotel offers participation experiences that are worth doing - within the foyer area you can grind grains into a powder to dip toasted marshmallows in and in a separate coffee hut you can make your grind your own after-dinner coffee. The staff are wonderful, the modern rooms are generous in size and overlooking the river and the set dinner and breakfast menus are delicious. The staff go out of their way to make your stay memorable. When I spilled coffee on my yukata, a staff member raced out into the night and was waiting for me as I exited the elevator on the way back to my room with a fresh one for me. Its worth walking around the town too, along the side of the river on a path that you can access beside the hotel and there is a free foot bath you can use in the town centre. The hotel also offers a free shuttle service to and from the train station that makes the whole experience even better. Go for one or two nights for an amazing experience.

KAI Kawaji offered us a pleasant, hassle-free weekend all-included: Transportation to the resort, carefully crafted meals, peaceful onsens, an overall positive experience.

Great experience with unique Japanese activities to do on premise. Food and service is great as well.

A very clean and nice hotel in a quiet area. The onsen (hot spring bath) was awesome, and the bed was comfortable. I particularly like the dinner served at their restaurant, everything was delicious and authentic. I would stay here again if I am in the area.

招呼及环境好滿意,只是有些陳舊,整體稱心

도쿄에서 직접 찾아가는게 그리 편한 루트는 아니다. 일본어를 해서 망정이지 일어가 안 되면 조금 어려울 수 있다. 닛코에서 기차로 40분 정도 더 가야하고 한 번 갈아타기도 해야 한다. 기차역에서는 픽업이 있다. 숙소 자체는 굉장히 좋고 침구가 폭신해서 잠이 잘 온다. 밥도 잘 나오고 노천탕, 족욕탕도 잘 되어 있다. 5시면 이미 해가 지니까 일찍 체크인해서 산책하면서 그렇게 꽉찬 일정을 쓰면 좋을거 같다. 호텔스닷컴에 숙소까지 가는 길이 잘 안내가 안 되어 있는데, 미리 확인해서 가는게 좋다. 닛코역에서 물어봐도 된다.