KAMENOI HOTEL NARA

The website says it's 20 minutes from the tourist center of Nara. I read somewhere that this was an imperial hot spring when the emperor lived in Nara. The ryokan is very much geared toward elderly guests, and there were lots of them. But for some reason, we always had the onsen to ourselves. There's no private bath, but according to the front desk, you can come for day-use bathing without staying overnight. Some rooms have their own bath. 1 night per person is 15,000-30,000 yen depending on when you book. Ryokan dinner in the evening, buffet breakfast with lots of Japanese appetizers in the morning. The water is alkaline (if I understood correctly). They measured it while I was there in the evening - 42°C. In the morning it was slightly cooler than in the evening. Stone bath, a fence on the women's side. We didn't see the men's side. No cold bath. Sitting in the baths was a bit uncomfortable for my height (172cm) - probably perfect for the elderly guests though. The ryokan has a shop, karaoke, massage chairs, and parking. As a ryokan it left a fairly European impression, although from the chat it seems that happens often. I liked the water, but how could I not after about 20 hours of travel ;-)