Hana No Omotenashi Nanraku

We have stayed at this ryokan and recommended it to others numerous times over the past couple decades. Unfortunately, our visit in September 2023 was to be our last. The okamisan (owner) who had put her heart and soul into the inn had passed away and the new owners are running a scam, probably intending to get a tax write off. Everything that made the inn welcoming, relaxing and worth the steep price tag was gone. No one was there to greet us and park our car, and we were told rather bluntly to take it to the parking lot ourselves. The lot was empty. The “manager” registered us and pointed to the elevator, implying that we should see ourselves and our bags to the room—odd, when there had always been a gracious staff member escorting us. The welcoming touches of hot dumpling soup and homemade Shiso-leaf juice were nowhere to be found. The hallways were dusty. The name of the inn implies “hospitality with flowers,” but the huge arrangement in the entry was wilted, dry and dusty. It was sad. The fresh ikebana arrangement that used to be in the tokonoma in the room was now a cheap, plastic dollar store bouquet. The room was musty with mold growing on the walls in the bedroom and bathroom. I spent the night sneezing and coughing. There was a broken window fixed with duct tape. (Filthy, too) The meal was mostly just pre-made and assembled on site, and the seafood did not live up to Izu standards. There was only one other guest in the rather austere dining room. Meals used to be brought to the guest room with great fanfare and eaten around an irori hearth. The baths were still mostly OK, but given the neglected and filthy state of the rest of the facility, we were suspicious of the cleanliness of the water.