Onsen town in Takayama🏔️: Hirayu Onsen ♨️ Room tour & honest review of Hirayukan

Final rating of Hirayukan: 1.5/5 😖
*scroll down for reasons of low rating
Watch us go on day trips to Shirakawa-Go and Hida Furukawa: • Japan May 2024 🍃😙🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️
Watch us explore Kamikochi next! - • Beautiful nature in Ka... 😌🫵🏻
We stayed at another ryokan that we found to be much better (unsponsored)! 🤩 Watch the room tour: • Hidden gem traditional...
Stay tuned for our videos of Kanazawa, Kaga-Onsen, Toyama, Takayama, Shirakawa-Go, Hirayu Onsen, Kamikochi, Nagano😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨
Reasons we gave Hirayukan a 1.5/5:
Room:
The room looked good at first glance, but they only had 2 sockets for the guests. Usually even cheaper hotels would have at least 4 sockets. We also noticed spider web in our room. I understand that there would be insects up in the mountains, but for this size of spider web to be out in the open shows the lack of cleaning they did for the guests before we checked in. The toilet in the room had urine smell, and there was mould in the sink.
Onsen:
This ryokan boasts the biggest outdoor onsen in hirayu onsen. It is true that it was huge, and the outdoor onsen were really pretty (just like their lobby and garden). However, the functionality and cleanliness were questionable. Firstly, they provided only 1 set of towel in the room and specifically told us to bring a towel to the onsen. This means you are expected to use the same towel over and over again if you were to soak in onsen a few times. This was unexpected for me at this price point, as the ryokan I have been to at the same price point would usually have unlimited towels provided right at the onsen room. You would not have to worry about using the same towel, or having to keep the same wet towel with your dry clothes in the same basket they provided. Usually the other ryokans I have been to would provide new towels at the onsen, and even provide another bag for you to keep your dirty clothes. At this ryokan, I had to keep the wet towel together with clean dry clothes together with dirty clothes all in one bag.. and it made all my clothes and stuff wet.
I have also noticed two small cockroaches when I was showering in the onsen room. And the hand railing that guides people into the onsen was faulty and broke off which would pose a danger to anyone especially the frail. Rather than providing safety it poses a hazard instead.
The water pressure and water in onsen:
The shower at the onsen was fine, the water pressure and temperature worked as you expected. However, the water pressure in our room was crazy. It would be normal for a minute and then suddenly have variations of gushing speed and intensity, it’s kinda like a jump scare, and it was so intense at one point that the shower head spun around LOL. Same goes for the tap in the room, the water pressure would just suddenly go crazy while you’re brushing teeth. Honestly, this really causes the ryokan experience to be the opposite of relaxing. We couldn’t relax when we kept getting jump scares from the water pressure, it even became comical after a while LOL.
I noticed a chlorine smell from the water in the onsen and the room too, and it dries my skin out?? It’s my first time having drier skin after going into onsen..