Hello! This time I stayed at Kameya Inn, a hot spring inn in Yunohama Onsen, Tsuruoka City, Niigata Prefecture.
I have relatives in Yamagata, so I went from Tokyo to Yamagata to Tsuruoka for a three-day, two-night trip.
I visited Yamagata City, Sakata City, and Tsuruoka City, and booked a room at Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen.
To be honest, I was worried because it was the first time I stayed at this inn and there were some bad reviews online…
But the rating was a satisfying ★★★★★
So, I would like to report in detail the charm of Kameya Inn, a long-established inn in Yunohama Onsen, with photos of the food, hot springs, service, and more.
Please enjoy.
- The Location of Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen
- How to Access Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen
- An Overview of Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen
- The room I stayed at Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen was the Junior Suite Room Classic!
- How much is the Junior Suite Room Classic at Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen?
- The Bath of the Junior Suite Room Classic at Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen
- The Meals of the Junior Suite Room Classic at Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen
- The Dinner of the First Day
- The Breakfast of the Second Day
- The Dinner of the Second Day
- The Breakfast of the Third Day
- The View from the Room was Amazing!
- The private hot spring in the room is excellent! But the public bath is also good! The sauna is nice too!
- All drinks are inclusive, but the bar “Kura” is also worth a visit
- If you stay at Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen, I recommend a little luxury!
The Location of Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen
| Address | Postal Code: 997-1201 1-5-50 Yunohama, Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture |
|---|---|
| TEL | 0235-75-2301 |
How to Access Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen
I will share with you how I accessed the inn and how to get there from Tokyo.
If you want to go directly to Tsuruoka, flying to Shonai Airport is much easier, I think. However, there are not many flights, so be careful as the good time slots get booked quickly!
And driving in winter is impossible!! Even the locals say it’s dangerous, so you should avoid it.
So, if you want to enjoy sightseeing smoothly, renting a car is essential.
How to Access Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen from Tokyo
[By Train]
[By Car]
[By Airplane]
My Route
[Going] Tokyo ⇒ Yamagata ⇒ Tsuruoka
Travel time: 2 hours 44 minutes + 1 hour 49 minutes = 4 hours 33 minutes
Route: Tokyo ⇒ Yamagata ⇒ Tsuruoka
Fare: 11,250 yen (Shinkansen) + 2,600 yen (express bus)
[Returning] Tsuruoka ⇒ Niigata ⇒ Tokyo
Travel time: 4 hours 14 minutes (with transfer in Niigata)
Route: Tsuruoka ⇒ Niigata ⇒ Tokyo
Fare: 13,380 yen
I think you should allow at least 5 hours considering the transfer time and other factors.
An Overview of Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen
You should check their website for more details, but they were founded in Bunka 10 (1813).
In Japan, this was the Edo period.
This was a time when the culture of the townspeople developed remarkably, and together with the following Bunsei period, it was an era called the Kyoho culture. The Tokugawa shogun was Tokugawa Ienari.
The Tokugawa shogunate ended with the 15th shogun, Yoshinobu, so this was the early part of the late Tokugawa period.
The hot spring was opened in the 11th century. It is said that a fisherman nearby discovered it when he saw a turtle bathing in the sea. ⇒ A hot spring found by a turtle
By the way, this is a venerable inn where the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Emerita also stayed, and I saw their photos.
The room I stayed at Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen was the Junior Suite Room Classic!
Kameya Inn has rooms in Standard, Deluxe, Retreat, and Concept categories, as well as a top floor called HOURAI, where the room I stayed at is located [Junior Suite Room Classic].
How much is the Junior Suite Room Classic at Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen?
For one person per room per night: 66,330 yen to 100,980 yen (reference price from December 2023 to March 2024)
For two people per room per night: 75,240 yen (37,620 yen per person) to 112,200 yen (56,100 yen per person) (reference price from December 2023 to March 2024)
So, for a three-day, two-night stay, it would be 150,000 to 220,000 yen. (By the way, when I stayed, it was 83,600 yen per night x 2 nights, so 167,200 yen)
If you add transportation costs, lunch costs, car rental costs, souvenir costs, etc., it would be about 300,000 yen…
But I went there for this amount. (※Car rental fee is not included)
It’s 10 to 20% cheaper for two people to stay including transportation costs. So I think it’s better to book a travel agency plan. (I realized later that it might have been cheaper if I had also asked for a car rental.)
The Bath of the Junior Suite Room Classic at Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen
Well, it’s quite a price, so you might think “I want to get my money’s worth” or “I want to get more than what I paid for”.
But don’t worry!! You will be more than satisfied with the bath!
The room has a bath filled with plenty of water, with the hot spring source flowing as it is, so you can get in as soon as you enter the room.
I was also impressed when I came back from the second day’s outing and found it already prepared!!
It feels so good.
You can always take a bath, so I’m embarrassed to say that I woke up at 4 a.m. and took a bath first. Then I took a bath before breakfast. And after breakfast. And when I came back. And before dinner. And after dinner.
It was a bath paradise. Of course, there is also a large public bath, so you can go down to the 3rd floor and relax there if you want.
And you can check the congestion status with the tablet in the room, which is convenient.
The Meals of the Junior Suite Room Classic at Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen
I was very satisfied with the hot spring alone, but the food was also delicious!!
The food was as good as or even better than the top-class restaurants and hotels in Tokyo, in terms of the total experience.
Let me tell you, as someone who has eaten around France, at places like Paul Bocuse, Troisgros, Georges Blanc, Jamin (the restaurant that Joel Robuchon ran in the 16th arrondissement), Jardin des Sens, Pierre Gagnaire, Pic, and Cote d’Or.
I think this is a hotel worth coming just for the food.
There are three reasons for this.
- The ingredients of the food are good
- The pairing of food and drinks is good
- The hot things are hot and the cold things are cold
There are many Michelin-starred places in Tokyo that don’t have these three things…
Especially, I really enjoyed the pairing of sake and food!! It’s been a long time since I had such a fun meal.
The service staff was also very attentive.
The Dinner of the First Day
The Breakfast of the Second Day
The Dinner of the Second Day
Actually, I had a drink at the bar before the meal and fell asleep in the middle of it… I guess I was feeling too relaxed.
When I woke up, my wife said, “They prepared the main course and dessert for you. And they also made some rice balls for you.” So I had a late-night snack.
Well, the wine was delicious too, she said… Too bad. I’ll have to try again next time.
The Breakfast of the Third Day
The breakfast was also very satisfying!!
The View from the Room was Amazing!
I didn’t get to see the sunset over the Sea of Japan, but the view was amazing! The stars were also beautiful.
This is the morning! There is a plane taking off and landing from the right side around 7 a.m., which is quite impressive.
The private hot spring in the room is excellent! But the public bath is also good! The sauna is nice too!
All drinks are inclusive, but the bar “Kura” is also worth a visit
You can enjoy the bar “Kura”, but the nice thing about the special top floor “HOURAI” is that all drinks are inclusive.
But first, let me introduce the bar “Kura”.
By the way, it’s different from the types of the special top floor “HOURAI”, so I want to enjoy it here.
If you stay at Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen, I recommend a little luxury!
I wanted to go to the Honma Museum of Art in Sakata City, and I happened to find “Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen” nearby.
At first, I thought the standard room would be fine, but when I learned that there was a special top floor “HOURAI”, I read more and more and thought “I want to stay there!” and I clicked on it, but now I’m really glad I did.
Anyway, the “room”, “bath”, “food”, and “service” were all great!! It was a charming “Kameya Inn in Yunohama Onsen” that made me want to stay longer.
If you ever go there, please try staying at the special top floor “HOURAI” with a little luxury.
