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Reviews of Biwako Ryokusuitei

3.5 out of 5
Biwako Ryokusuitei
6-1-6 Ogoto, Otsu, Shiga-ken

Reviews

8.8

Excellent

Rating 10 - Excellent. 167 out of 316 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 102 out of 316 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 35 out of 316 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 6 out of 316 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 6 out of 316 reviews" "

9.0/10

Cleanliness

9.0/10

Staff & service

9.0/10

Amenities

8.8/10

Property conditions & facilities

9.0/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Jim

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Awesome location, the dinner kaiseki set was delicious but a little bit expensive. It seems like a lot of locals were fishing at the lake right behind the hotel, so if you fish I'd recommend that you try
Stayed 1 night in May 2024
Response from Reservations on 24 May 2024
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Megan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in May 2024
Response from Reservations on 22 May 2024
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Eric

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in May 2024
Response from Reservations on 22 May 2024
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Japanese hospitality at its best
From the moment of pickup at the Ogoto Onsen station and dropoff, the service was flawless! Check-in is completed while seated in the lobby (rather than standing in queue) and many of the staff speak multiple languages. While the venue is slightly older, it is beautifully maintained and spotless. The 24 component kaiseki dinner is delicious and cheap considering the variety, gorgeous presentation and flavors. N.B. The kaiseki menu is only available in Japanese and even though I'm bilingual, I had a hard time explaining it for my fellow travellers. Google translator was also perplexed... If you have food restrictions or allergies, kaiseki is NOT for you! The breakfast buffet has lots of variety but some may find the smell of fish quite strong since it's grilled at the table. The onsen was recently renovated and now has new dry barrel sauna with great views. Benefit: it's open 24 hours so I was able to enjoy a private experience multiple times throughout the stay (N.B. the barrel sauna closes at midnight). The staff go out of their way to ensure everyone's comfort even when dealing with cultural differences, language barriers, multiple (sometimes unreasonable) and demands from international (and local) guests. #impressed While there are pricier and more traditional ryokans in Japan, we had a fabulously relaxing time at the Biwako Ryokusuitei and wish we could of stayed longer!
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023
Response from Reservations on 7 Feb 2024
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Brandon

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023
Response from Reseravtions on 25 Nov 2023
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Mansel

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very relaxing stay - a wonderful experience.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023
Response from Reservations on 25 Nov 2023
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Cindy

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
They provide shuttle bus at the train station. Look for a telephone station near the station exit of the train station. The hotel is very clean and stuff are friendly, and some of them speak English pretty well. Place is relaxing with many facilities, and food is very good. Highly recommended.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023
Response from Reservations on 25 Nov 2023
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Wong

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great service and onsen
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023
Response from Reservations on 25 Nov 2023
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

fan fan

Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023
Response from Reservations on 25 Nov 2023
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

8/10 Good

Mirjam

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Our stay at this Hotel was good. Here is for a more romantic getaway or relaxation. Activities around the area are a bit too far from this Hotel and transportation is limited if you don't know the area well.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2023
Response from Reservations on 12 Sept 2023
Thank you for your staying and precious opinion.

10/10 Excellent

Kar See

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023
Response from Reservations on 13 Jul 2023
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

brendan

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
This was our first ryokan experience and we had an amazing time. The staff, rooms, amenities, and onsen were incredible. Would recommend!
Stayed 1 night in May 2023
Response from Reservations on 27 Jun 2023
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Elizaveta

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
A great place to stay if you want to experience staying in a Japanese ryokan with private onsen and kaiseki dinner. Only a short train journey from Kyoto. Customer service was absolutely amazing.
Stayed 1 night in May 2023
Response from Reservations on 22 May 2023
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

8/10 Good

Gina

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
The property itself is nice and well maintained. Looks a bit dated inside but it is situated in a small town that doesn’t have dining options and the onsen serves dinner and breakfast but no quick dining option for those that don’t want to eat at a formally decided time. So be prepared and bring snacks or eat before your 3pm check in. The happy hour provides 1 wine and non alcoholic beverages and limited snacks. If you want beer you have to pay for it. We had an issue with the vending machine but the staff doesn’t speak English so Google translate was key during that issue. On that note, be sure you bring water because your only option is to buy some from the vending machine. We were able to book massages when we arrived and they were magical. Highly recommend taking part in that service. Massage only offered in the evening so plan accordingly. We wanted to get a foot massage the morning we were leaving but since they don’t offer massage services in the morning we weren’t able to. Definitely with the experience but 1 night was enough for us especially because the food is traditional Japanese meals and we don’t eat all of those items.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023
Response from Reseavations on 9 May 2023
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Alan

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Biwako is definitely a destination if you want to relax and get away from busy city life. Great views, clean hotel, and staff was friendly, courteous, and super helpful. I unfortunately wasn't able to use the onsen as I have a tattoo that could not be covered up, but I booked it knowing that. If it's small enough to cover, you might be able to use it. Otherwise look into booking a room with the private onsen option. There is a shuttle that will take you to the train station in the morning or you will have to make a bit of a walk there. Overall great stay.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2023
Response from Reservations on 9 Apr 2023
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Seema

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
We had such a great time the baths were so relaxing and the staff was very friendly and helpful! Would definitely go back.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023
Response from Reservations on 15 Mar 2023
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Shalene

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The service rendered by this place is AMAZING. The onsen is lovely and plenty of towels are available so you don't have to bring the ones from your room. There is also a rest area with cold drinks and popsicles you can enjoy after your bath. We took the half board plan and both dinner and breakfast were plentiful and delicious. We were served Omi beef shabu shabu at dinner. If you're coming to Ogoto onsen, I highly recommend staying at Biwako Ryokusuitei!
Response from Reservations on 10 Mar 2023
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2020
Response from Reservations on 7 Jan 2021
ご利用ありがとうございます。ご意見ありがとうございました。

2/10 Terrible

KIN WAH

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2020
Response from Reservations on 31 Jan 2020
Thank you for your staying and precious opinion.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Other than the toilet design being a bit dated, everything else was great. Kudos to staff's attention to details even though most of them were not conversant in English.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2019
Response from Reservations on 2 Jan 2020
Thank you for your staying and precious opinion.

10/10 Excellent

Pansak

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice atmosphere Food quality is excellent and plentiful Onsen bath is clean and nice Staff is friendly and helpful
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2019
Response from Reservations on 2 Dec 2019
Thank you for your staying and precious opinion.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Free shuttle between JR station (Ogotoonsen) and hotel. Good view of the lake from the hotel room. Excellent private onsen (hot spring; wooden outdoor bath tub).
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2019
Response from Reservations on 6 Oct 2019
Thank you for your staying and precious opinion.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Lovely room! Doesn't quite look like the picture, slightly out of town and not many places to eat but otherwise excellent
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2019
Response from Reservations on 3 Sept 2019
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Man Sun

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2019
Response from Reservations on 23 Aug 2019
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2019
Response from Reservations on 11 Aug 2019
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

8/10 Good

David

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Relaxing getaway
Good and relaxing.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2019
Response from Reservations on 26 Apr 2019
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Genevieve

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful ryokan. Very relaxing.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2019
Response from Masaya Kimura, Biwako Ryokusuitei on 11 Apr 2019
Thank you for your stay at Biwako Ryokusuitei. We hope you had a pleasant stay with us.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very friendly, kind, and helpful staff. Beautiful rooms and views. A great place to stay!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2019
Response from Reservations on 10 Mar 2019
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Erik

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great onsen with a view
Perfect location and very nice rooms. Service was friendly and helpful. We traveled with my wife’s parents on their 40th wedding anniversary, and we got a free room upgrade. Awesome!
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2019
Response from Masaya Kimura (Mr.) Biwako Ryokusuitei on 17 Feb 2019
Thank you for your staying and we appreciate your feedback. We hope you will stay again in the near future. Sincerely yours,

6/10 Okay

KYUNGMI

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
전체적으로는 만족합니다. 분명히 방을 금연룸으로 예약했는데 금연방이 없다고 흡연방에 냄새제거를 잘해주겠다 해서 그렇게 예약했습니다. 근데 룸이 문제가 아니라 그 층 전체가 금연룸 층이어서 엘리베이터 내리자마자 복도 전체에 담배 냄새가 장난아니었습니다 ㅠㅠ 숨 참고 다닐 정도였습니다. 그래도 직원들은 모두 친절했고 석식 조식 다 맛있어서 좋았습니다.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2019
Response from Reservations on 15 Feb 2019
Thank you for your staying and precious opinion.

8/10 Good

Y

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hotel. Room a bit small for an onsen hotel but clean room and friendly staff made up the deficiency in hardware.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2019
Response from Reservations on 25 Jan 2019
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent service. The room was fantastic. Nice view of the sea.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2018
Response from Reserations on 15 Jan 2019
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Room is in good condition and the private hot spring area is great.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2018
Response from Reservations on 15 Dec 2018
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

8/10 Good

Vivian

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice onsen stay with food. Nice dinner and breakfast. 1st time having bbq fish for breakfast. But pillows was too soft for me a side sleeper, bed was fine
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2018
Response from Reservations on 7 Dec 2018
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hotel by Biwa lake. Great onsen and great food.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2018
Response from Reservations on 5 Dec 2018
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Raebraeb, Victoria

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great onsen facilities and the meal was an experience.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2018
Response from Reservations on 10 Nov 2018
Thank you for your staying and precious opinion.

10/10 Excellent

vins

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hotel with public onsen. Pretty good for a relax. Excellent breakfast and you can grill fish for Japanese style breakfast. Dinner could be an issue if you don’t have any travel plan like me. Recommend you to book with dinner in the hotel or there will have limited choice around to fill you up.
Stayed 5 nights in Sep 2018
Response from Reservations on 12 Oct 2018
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

6/10 Okay

Dav, Montreal, QC

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
The hotel room an main building didn't have much charm which we expected since we were staying in a ryokan. The bath area and dining room were beautiful however. Overall the experience was okay but we expected more at the price point.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2018
Response from Reservations on 27 Sept 2018
Thank you for your staying and precious opinion.

8/10 Good

Alan, 香港

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice spa hotel, but Eng level of staff is dreadful
I had a room with private spa, the view is excellent. Just one thing i am particular unhappy with. The kettle in my room is very dirty. When i used a paper to rub the bottom, the paper becomes instantly black. I didn't blame the hotel on this and i asked to exchange for a new one. However, the staff really couldn't understand what i say by "the kettle it's dirty and i need to replace it". First, they bought me a bottle of ice to my room. Then, i told them it is kettle issue and they replace another kettle to me but without heating function (just keep warm). I wasted almost 20 mins on this and didn't get what i need. I was so angry that i brought the whole kettle to the front desk, used the Google translate to translate to Japanese but the staff still didn't understand. Another staff came to my room again and this time knew what happened. Finally i spent more than 30 mins to get this issue solved, going downstairs while i should be enjoying my spa at night time. I told the staff i am really unhappy in this. He of course deeply apologozed but nothing else came. I think in most cases, the staff will offer something to clam the client down, like a little souvenir or some offer when such such serious compliant and fault has been made. But i only got apology and nothing came.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2018
Response from Reservations on 27 Sept 2018
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

10/10 Excellent

Ho Fai

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Worth to try but a bit far away from Kyoto city
Good Onsen with choices of amenities. Good breakfast.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2018
Response from Reservations on 29 Aug 2018
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

6/10 Okay

k, hong kong

Liked: Staff & service
Good breakfast and very warm staff
Good Japanese BBQ fish as breakfast which is unusual, hotel staff is very warm. However, there is no proper mirror for makeup and dress up. Curtain lining not dark/thick enough and we couldn’t get back to sleep from 5 am.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2018
Response from Reservations on 28 Aug 2018
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Stayed 1 night in Jul 2018
Response from Reservations on 8 Aug 2018
Thank you for your staying and we appreciate your feedback.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great place to stay! The staff does not speak much English, but they are very nice!
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2018
Response from Reservations on 29 Jun 2018
Thank you for your staying and we appreciate your feedback. We hope you will stay again in the near future.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice, clean hotel outside of downtown Kyoto
INTERNATIONAL TATTOOED TRAVELERS BEWARE: We were very excited about the Onsen option but, as we had some larger tattoos, we were denied access to the open air hot springs and spa. Additionally, it was very hard to find other restaurants or spa service in the immediate areas that allowed people with tattoos. Though the room was comfortable and larger than all our AirBnB’s we stayed in, we had trouble utilizing this hotel other than to sleep and eat breakfast (which was a lovely spread tho). If you’re looking to go for the hot springs, don’t book this if you have tattoos that can’t be covered up by bandaids.
Stayed 1 night in May 2018
Response from Reservations on 22 May 2018
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

8/10 Good

Chin Wen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in May 2018
Response from Reservations on 18 May 2018
Thank you for your staying and we appreciate your feedback.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Perfect traditional ryokan
The hotel was so perfect, exactly what I was looking for in a traditional ryokan. The hot springs were so relaxing, room was cleaned each day, the breakfast buffet was a great mix of traditional japanese breakfast and more european/american breakfast options, and they had yukata for us to use. The only drawbacks were that the staff spoke basically no English (I expected it, and they were all very kind and helpful about it, but it did make for a few awkward moments), The hot springs are gender seperated and nude (even though we were told before that swimsuits were o.k. only to be corrected once we actually got there in our swimsuits - but it worked out fine) and that traditional japanese futon beds (the rolled out mats on the floor) are far more uncomfortable than I had expected (being used to a mattress and bed), plus the hotel had (odd to me) very hard pillows that felt like they were stuffed with hard beads.
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2018
Response from Reservations on 11 Apr 2018
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

8/10 Good

Lap Hang

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Relaxing stay
The food is perfect. Onsen is awesome and remarkable. The room is a bit old but still acceptable. Lake view is spectacular.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2018

10/10 Excellent

live to travel, ny, ny

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hitel
Love my stay, good food and nice onsen. Will definitely go back!
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2017

8/10 Good

Juliette, NY

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
Only for locals!
The hot spitng facility is very nice and yukata robes are fun and comfortable, however, the hotel caters mostly to locals, staff has very limited English and is NOT accommodating at all. The check out is at 10 AM, which is much earlier than international hotels generally and every hour will cost you additional fees. There are much better Onsen Ryokan hotels in Japan!
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2017

6/10 Okay

tom, melbourne

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely hotel, not a great location
The facilities within the hotel are great. The onsen is beautiful. We stayed in a Japanese style room and it was peaceful and also beautiful. But the location of the hotel is not good. It's next to a busy road and right next door to a street of strip joints and other seedy establishments. Only a few of the staff spoke any English, although that's our problem and not theirs. And I guess the hotel can't help its location, but you should all know about it before booking.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2017