Hazu Gassyo

We decided to break up our drive between Osaka and the Fuji Five Lakes area, and found Hazu Gassho to be conveniently equidistant. We generally prefer character-filled ryokan properties over bland "this can be anywhere" hotels, and Hazu Gassho seemed to fit the bill, at least on paper. First, the positives: with only 5 rooms total, it's definitely an exclusive ryokan. Combined with its remote location, you feel like you're in another world that's surrounded by nature and far from civilization. The architecture and property grounds blend in nicely with its environment - The thatched roof of Hazu Gassho's main building is the inspiration behind its name, and reminded us of the houses at the UNESCO site Shirakawa-go. Inside, you'll feel like you've been taken back in time (perhaps a century ago or more?)... the furnishings, decor and structure itself are all charming in an old country home kind of way. The food offering is good and appropriate; seasonal local produce along with local beef, duck and river fish gave us an education on the traditional ingredients and dishes that are endemic to the area. Ayu (aka Sweetfish) is a fish that lives in cold, lean waters in the interior of Japan, and was lightly salted and grilled to perfection. Nothing is super unique or mind-blowingly awesome, but we were satisfied with the overall quality of the meals. Two of the five rooms at Hazu Gassho feature an open-air bath, and our room (named "Wabisuke") was one of them. We did not use the bath, however (more on that later.) We were pleased to find two separate rooms - the tatami room that also doubles as the bedroom at night (they bring out the futons and lay them out in your room during dinner), and a secondary room (that we used as our main room) that had a large "Kotatsu" table. Kotatsus are common sights in Japanese households - it's essentially a large coffee table that has a built-in heater that's attached to the underside of the table, and is covered with a thick blanket that keeps the heat in (and your feet toasty, even in the dead of winter.) Even better, the floor is cut open below the kotatsu so that you can be seated with your feet straight down (similar to how we're used sitting in a regular table), which is a far more comfortable way to be seated. Now, then, onto our gripes. To begin with, we really feel they ought to have Onsen (natural hot springs) baths on premises; it's shocking that they don't, especially given the room rates here. Sure, they can take you to a nearby property via a courtesy shuttle to an Onsen facility, but what's the point in that? In fact, for a small, intimate, high-end (and high-priced) ryokan, I would really expect each room to have its own Onsen. Hazu Gassho does have two on-site public bathing facilities, but neither of them are Onsens. Our in-room open-air bath featured a pretty Hinoki bathtub and we intended to use it, but unfortunately, the water was not warm enough for us (it was 5 Celsius when we were there) - we