Musashibou

This is a traditional Japanese style hotel with Futon bedding. Yakuta can be worn to dinner unlike in other hotels where it is preferable to be worn in the room only. We received a very friendly greeting and welcome from the cheerful manager on duty. He was so helpful and pleasant. He was appreciative of the basic Japanese we spoke which was encouraging to practise more! The room was sweet with the futons. Welcome matcha and traditional sweet in the room. The Onsen is good with water at just over 41c. Products available to use. Take the towel from your room. Note that the ladies and gent Onsen change, not always daily: red towel for female and blue for male. Resting area too with massage chairs etc. Dinner -set dinner, so beautifully presented and quality ingredients. So much to eat. Local sake is very smooth and reasonable in price. Breakfast has a good range of Japanese food, lots of fish and pickles. "Western" options are available on the buffet but as I didn't eat those I cannot comment. All staff very friendly and helpful. For sure, as others have said, the hotel does need a refurbishment and in places it is very tired and worn. However the important issues like cleanliness, hygiene, professional, efficient staff etc are all in place. Well placed for the temples and walking. Very convenient.

We were intent on spending a night in the area in order to devote an entire day to explore the Hiraizumi area. The options looked pretty dire, but Hiraizumi Hotel Musashibo looked like the best of the bunch. While it cost just a fraction of decent hotels and ryokans in other parts of the country, it was commanding the highest rates, so we gave the property a shot. First off - this property looks... and is... old, inside and out. And not in a "grand dame" or "historic" kind of way. It's old, tired, worn down and in desperate need of an exterior and interior refurbishment. In fact, it might be best if they tore the place down and rebuilt it from scratch. Just about everything, from the showers to the ancient toilets to the discolored walls, were decrepit and crying for a re-do. Even the slightly musky scent did the place no favors. The room itself was not teeny tiny in size, which we were dreading. It was a slightly larger room in the West Wing, which commanded higher rates than rooms in the main building. It was far from luxury, but was mildly passable. If there was one decent aspect of the hotel's hard product, it was the public (gender segregated) Onsen hot springs bath. It too was old, but was of decent size and was reasonably well maintained. The other part that exceeded expectations was in the quality of the food as well as the waiter service. One of the courses consisted of the famed Maesawa Beef that we grilled ourselves, Teppanyaki style. We also paid extra for the optional Maesawa Beef Nigiri Sushi, and were glad that we did. It was not unlike Fatty Tuna (Toro) Nigiri in texture, if not in taste. Everything else about the experience was far from luxury. No doorman, nobody proactively helping with our luggage, nobody taking us to our room and explaining the amenities and in-room functions (mind you, there wasn't much so perhaps it wasn't necessary.) Upon check-out... again, nobody offered to help carry our luggage to our car. And nobody seeing us off as we drove away. We've had such service in lower-priced properties in Japan, so it came as a surprise that very little effort was made to provide "Omotenashi" Japanese hospitality. We were glad that we stayed in Hiraizumi, and Hiraizumi Hotel Musashibo did not ruin our time there. But it did nothing to enhance the experience in any way.

Close to the various World Heritage sites in Hiraizumi. Modest hotel, good meals, friendly service.