角館山荘 侘桜(Kakunodate Sanso Wabizakura)

Service was excellent and the team was courteous and highly responsive to any requests. The room was mostly clean and comfortable (we were disappointed to find a hair inside our towel). We did enjoy the snowy natural setting in winter. It was not hard to get a reservation in January. We have stayed at a number of luxury Japanese ryokan and dined at many kaiseki and other Japanese restaurants. I would say that Wabizakura's dinner was perhaps the single most disappointing kaiseki dinner I have ever had in my life. The crab course was small, difficult to eat, roasted dry rather than moist, and not particularly tasty. The rest of the food was mostly unimaginative and the portions were small. Perhaps our expectations were set too high, given the prior reviews. Breakfast was better than dinner --- portions were much more generous and quality was higher. Was the head chef simply out of town the previous night or just phoning it in? We will never know. The in-room onsen was nice and at a good temperature. The chartered open-air public bath provided a good change of scenery but the water was much hotter and there was no way to adjust the temperature down. The in-room minibar was not particularly generous (two bottles of water and two of cold green tea, not replenished). Would we return? Maybe, but we would consider other places in Japan first at this price point.

We've been wanting to visit Wabizakura for quite some time (it's really, really difficult getting a reservation here), and finally got the chance last month. After staying here, I now understand why so many guests are repeat visitors. This is one of the few properties that we built our trip itinerary around, which is a very rare case for us (it's usually destination first, property second.) It's truly an exceptional ryokan that emphasizes serenity, privacy, gourmet dining, incredible Onsen... well.. just about everything. It's definitely can be considered as a "destination" ryokan. It's in a very quite and peaceful setting in the Akita countryside - we really felt like we were getting away from it all. We were surrounded by nature, and the property grounds as well as the traditional-style architecture (including the entrance "gate" really gives the property an old-Japan vibe, but not a worn down and decrepit one. It's charming, but still fresh and modern looking - they really pulled off a tricky balancing act. Inside, it's much the same... you'll see elements of zen Japanese decor and furnishings, but not at the expense of modern creature comforts or taste. There is available floor heating in the wooden areas, auto climate control, a modern humidifier, fast WiFi and toilets with the latest washlet technology. The room is bright, airy, comfortable, and very tastefully done. We booked the "Naotake" royal suite room, which is one of two rooms (Shozan being the other) that feature a dining area and allows guests to have meals served in the comfort of their own suite. We love it when we are given such an option - it's one of the luxuries of life that we definitely appreciate. All 10 rooms have Onsen (natural hot springs) baths in the room, although they are not the full open-air variety. Some luxury ryokans offer both indoor and outdoor Onsens, allowing you to warm up inside first, then venture out and enjoy warmth amid the crisp natural air. You can, however, open the sliding glass windows to give it a semi open air feeling. The meals were divine.... we were treated to unique flavors that mainly consisted of local, seasonal ingredients, and everything was top-notch. Given that the Kakunodate area is not particularly close to the ocean, we were amazed at some of the Fish dishes that were on offer. The Sake-steamed Japanese Sea Bream head was, for us, the single best fish dish we've ever had in our lives. The meat was plump, juicy, full of healthy fish fat and was flavored to perfection. Given that Japan has an abundance of awesome fresh fish, the awesomeness of the dish cannot simply be attributed to the quality and freshness of the fish. The Wabizakura chef definitely has his own secret method of preparing, steaming and flavoring the fish in a way that is far more advanced than any that we've ever tried. The mountain vegetables, the creative rice dishes (no, not just steamed white rice here... think rice steamed with Snow Crab, Whitebait and Japa