Shima Tamura: A Hot Spring Paradise Inn

We had a wonderful time as a family. Thank you very much. We had stayed in Shima Onsen before, but this time we did a lot of research and chose Shima Tamura, which has both a Hotel and a Ryokan.There were so many baths that I wondered if we could possibly try them all, and it was exciting. Each one had its own character—such as a bath with the lovely scent of hinoki cypress and another where you can see a waterfall—and we truly enjoyed them.There was also a mixed-gender bath that I wanted to try, but you have to be completely nude in the changing area, so my family stopped me and I ended up being the only one who couldn’t bathe… I regretted not bringing a swimsuit.What also made me think, “If only I were really male…” were “Iraka-no-Yu” and “Mori no Kodama” on the 3rd floor by the river. Of course I couldn’t go in, but the men’s baths felt brighter and more open. From an opening above the women’s bath at “Iraka-no-Yu,” you can clearly see into the men’s bath! The rectangular hinoki pouring-bath (like a small rectangular hinoki tub) was wonderful as well. My husband said, “Iraka-no-Yu was my favorite!”The women’s bath was a bit dark, and it was disappointing that the hinoki pouring-bath (like a rectangular hinoki tub) had its lid on and couldn’t be used.At “Mori no Kodama,” the men’s bath is on the first floor with an unobstructed view of the waterfall right in front of you, while the women’s bath is on the second floor so it feels like viewing it from above. I wondered if rotating access might work… Of course, since “Mori no Kodama” on the men’s side can be seen from parts of the women’s side, I understand there may be difficulties—but if possible, I would have loved for women to enjoy that view up close too.We chose our Room in Suiryokan. It was spacious enough for our family to relax comfortably. Although we expected an older Accommodation, everything was very clean and well maintained, which made us happy. Often when an Onsen Accommodation has great baths, we end up disappointed with the Room—but at Tamura we could truly unwind.However, it was very disappointing that one of our Room bath towels smelled like cigarettes. Since I have asthma and am sensitive to cigarette odors, I left it in our Onsen basket (sorry). We used our own hand towel and bath towel instead.Other than that, everything was truly excellent. All staff members were kind and friendly, cheerful yet polite.Most of all—and this made us especially happy—even though we hadn’t mentioned my husband’s birthday anywhere beforehand, one of your dining staff thoughtfully arranged flowers in his sake cupware and offered heartfelt congratulations “from the proprietress,” doing everything she could to celebrate him.Thank you again very much. We would love to stay again many times in the future.

I thought it was a very nice Ryokan.Even though the building and Facility are understandably old, all of the staff were wonderful.Dinner had a wide variety of dishes, and for my growing son they kindly provided extra white rice in addition to the final rice course, which we really appreciated.The attendant was also very kind, and we enjoyed our meal at a relaxed pace.There were several baths and we couldn’t try them all, but I’d definitely like to come back and enjoy them again.One small downside was that the shower temperature in the bath area wasn’t consistent, but overall it was a great stay.Thank you very much for your hospitality.