Kohryokuen Nishisei

694. Kohryokuen Nishisei, Dorogawa Onsen, Nara ★ Was supposed to stay overnight with double meals, but the ryokan lost my reservation and couldn't accommodate me for the night. As I understood, they don't have higaeri, but I still managed to get into their onsen. The building is very pleasant and the staff went above and beyond to resolve the booking issue. The building and interior atmosphere were lovely; I really wanted to stay there. How the lost reservation was resolved: 1. The ryokan lost/forgot my Trip.com booking, and on my check-in day they were closed (onsens drained, cleaning, no food). On Trip.com's end the booking was confirmed; Trip hadn't received any closure notice from the ryokan. Trip.com gave me $42 USD compensation. 2. What the ryokan did: - Refunded my stay in cash (40k yen); - Paid for a lower-tier ryokan, Yuyado Marubun in Dorogawa (approx 28-29k yen per night on average); - Knowing my interest in their onsen, the staff discussed with the owner and arranged private access to the onsen for me at 8 AM; - At 8 AM the owner himself came, opened the baths for me, personally apologized (including a few words in Russian) and showed respect; - Gave me a gift bag of food items (the kind usually sold at ryokans). 3. Given the level of compensation and attention shown at the target ryokan, I was satisfied and considered the matter resolved. I wrote to Trip.com asking them to cancel the compensation on their end and not to penalize the ryokan, since they made commendable efforts to make up for the mistake. 4. In the end we exchanged kind words and I sealed the resolution with a matryoshka for the owner. Onsen details: 1. Outdoor stone bath with nice design. No view - behind a fence. Clear water, temperature around 42.5. 2. Indoor bath with clear water, temperature around 41.5. Breathing inside is fine. The outdoor bath isn't super amazing, but rotenburo in general are scarce in Dorogawa, and this one looked the most interesting among the village options. Considering the overall impression of the building, the onsen, and how the staff handled the situation - this ryokan is worth considering for an overnight stay in Dorogawa. 13.11.2025 14.11.2025