Ryokan Yufuin Tsubaki in Yufu

The place is large and the scenery is beautiful. The facilities are decent, and it has some history.

Very nice hotel

Wonderful view over the valley, this spacious room offers a private onsen. Completely with tatami mats and comfortable beds it’s a very relaxing stopover fur the pretty town of Yulfuin. It’s not the easiest of places to find, tucked away at the end of a small windy road outside of town. There are no eateries nearby, so as the restaurant was closed, we had to stock up on food from the supermarket. Staff, whilst friendly, failed to mention the closed restaurant at the time of booking. We had to ask.

Must stay
The meal is excellent. Service is great

I had an amazing time at Ryokan Yufuin Tsubaki. I booked the half-board stay at Tsubaki using ******* and the staff at Tsubaki was in contact with me almost immediately to confirm the details and finalize the pick up time from Yufuin Station. Note that as a fan of walking, even Tsubaki's location is a bit far from the Yufuin Station so once the staff picks you up at the train station to take you back to the ryokan (around 3pm), you will likely end up spending the rest of your time at the ryokan before leaving the next morning around 10am (unless you have your own car).
I stayed in the Butterfly room which is beautiful! Tsubaki is a small little ryokan with a collection of 7 different "rooms/mini villas". My room was technically a one bedroom suite that had a direct view of Mt Yufu both on the first floor (where your living room and bedroom and toilet is located) and the "basement" floor where the bathroom (sink/mirror/dressing area) and separate private onsen bath/shower area is located. It was very sizeable and the rooms were in Japanese style (tatami mats, sliding doors, kotatsu chairs, etc) while the beds were elevated Western beds.
The food was glorious! Half-board stays means that breakfast and dinner is provided. Both were a pseudo-kaiseki style with Western influences and I was stuffed!
Highly recommend the stay!

I was very satisfied with this hot spring trip. The hotel is only a 10-minute drive from Kinrin Lake. The breakfast and dinner are very rich and delicious. The independent hot spring is located underground, which is very unique. I am also very grateful to the hotel manager for arranging a proposal for me in the hot spring hotel. Thank you for arranging roses for me in the past 2-3 months! This is a very satisfying trip

Food was disappointing for this price point. The onsen area relies on steam to block prying eyes. But this also means there is no outside view for us. The other property we stayed at offered better value, despite having a higher price.

I stayed with my Korean boyfriend and Japanese girlfriend. I don't understand Japanese, but an older woman said that she nags her girlfriend a lot in Japanese... I don't know if it's because I don't speak Japanese, but I don't think the nagging was that good. Still, the accommodation was quite expensive and it was the end of the year, so... Still, my girlfriend said that the service from the two men was really good!

Pick-up service is not available.
You have to take a taxi and get kaiseki cuisine.
Dinner and breakfast are not very good.
Overall it's okay.

A dreamy ryokan! High quality stay, super clean, beautiful rooms and view. The food (dinner and breakfast included in the price) was beyond amazing. Superb ingredients and lots of food. Loved every minute of our stay.