Stay Inn Hotel Zaimoku Sakaeya

I stayed here as an Accommodation while traveling with my parent in their 80s.The building is a bit old, and the stairs are somewhat steep.The staff service, meals, and Onsen were excellent. My parent was very happy as well. If I have the chance to visit again, I would definitely like to stay here.

I used this property by paying out of pocket and arriving a day early for a business trip to Yamagata. Rather than enjoying it as an Onsen getaway, I stayed here as a Business Hotel because I wanted to avoid waking up early on the day of my trip and having to travel a long distance first thing in the morning, so I chose the No Meals Included Plan with no breakfast or dinner.It’s about a 20-minute walk from the station even at a relaxed pace, so it wasn’t too difficult.There are three Onsen baths, all with open-air baths. Each has its own style—cypress wood or rock—and there was something like insect repellent hanging up, which was reassuring. The sauna allows self-service löyly, so if it doesn’t feel hot enough you can pour water on the stones and adjust the heat to your liking.Since this was No Meals Included, it may be odd to comment on food, but there was a nearby place where I could have Yamagata’s famous chilled ramen for around 1,000 yen for dinner. For breakfast, there’s a microwave and toaster oven in the second-floor lobby, so I could toast bread I brought with me. Overall, I was able to eat satisfactorily without any issues.One downside was that there wasn’t anywhere to rest after using the cold bath following the sauna. The only option was to bring a bath chair from inside and sit next to the open-air bath area. Because of that, I couldn’t fully relax while enjoying my body gradually warming back up.I later learned after the men’s/women’s bath switch in the morning that the sauna at “Kichi-no-Yu” does have proper sauna chairs for resting—but since the sauna is closed in the morning, they weren’t available then. Depending on whether you get “Kichi-no-Yu” at night or not can make quite a difference in how much you can enjoy the sauna.When you arrive at this Hotel, you can enjoy free coffee from a pot—but it wasn’t available by the next morning. Personally, morning coffee would be even more appreciated than evening coffee...I plan to stay again on my next business trip to Yamagata—hopefully I’ll get “Kichi-no-Yu” at night next time (lol).