Ryokan Wataya

It is good but not amazing.

✓ Good location, room decoration, staff are nice.

✗ Breakfast doesn’t quite match the room price.

Very good

Beautiful Ryoken with unique Taisho period deco, great Onsens, great food, great staffs and owner.

✓ Wataya is a gorgeous building set in a beautiful Japanese courtyard. Short and easy walk from the Karatsu JR station with bus stop outside if you are carrying lots of luggages and don’t want to walk. The shopping mall and supermarket right opposite is great and you can even have a haircut there. The tatami room is spacious and spotlessly clean. My room is facing a japanese garden and I can see the koi carp swimming in the pond, while enjoying a cup of green tea. The Onsens are impeccable so as the interior deco in the room and lobby. Having Onsen in the morning amidst the sunlight is just too much an indulgence. The staffs are super helpful trying to help me to book a restaurant over the phone in Japanese. The breakfast is tasty and filling, food presentation is so beautiful I felt sorry to eat them. I stayed for 2 nights only and I wish I could stay longer next time I come again, hopefully very soon~~~

✗ Nothing.

Amazing traditional ryokan experience

✓ Being my second Ryokan stay of this type, I'm still learning the standards. I'm very glad Ryokan Wataya allowed me to book the room for 1 person, since many other ryokan only allow bookings for 2+ people. Staff welcomed me upon arrival, taught me some ettiquette and showed me the facilities. There's an outdoor onsen that is swapped between mens and womens use daily. But there's also a second and third onsen as well (switching daily, open later). These onsen baths have certifications on their mineral content if that's your thing. These are in addition to the normal shower/bathtub in your room. I was lucky enough to utilize all three baths during my 1 night stay, with no one else bathing at the same times. There are english instructions on the walls with the proper bathing steps. Water in the onsens are toasty hot and a bit slippery as you'd expect from hotspring water. I stayed in the Japanese-style Standard room, which was picturesque in terms of what I was looking for. Everything lightly smelled like cedar, or perhaps it was the tatami mats. Far larger than I'd need, since it's a 4 person room. There's a mini fridge in the room (with prices) stocked with sake, beer, and some various sodas in-case you need a drink right now. Breakfast was a full japanese style breakfast, which is set out by staff at a prescheduled time chosen by you. I assume there's probably an option to have the meals brought to the room. The price is very good, especially based on the history and feel of the building, level of service provided, and the hotsprings. The staff (and I think the owner?) did very well communicating, even with my barrage of english.

✗ One thing I should point out, is that the futon blankets might be a bit short for taller folks (north american/european sized). Though depending on time of year, your legs will be poking out anyways.

short stay close to everything

✓ close to Center on one side and castle on the other. the only things that would have been the cherry on top would be proximity to beach but as it was cold, that didn’t matter. o was able to walk to yakiniku dinner and Karatsu ware shopping plus able to come back and get some groceries. Oh yeah there’s a grocery store right opposite the road. The onsens switch out in the am but they let you rent it for 40 minutes for private use if you have tattoos.

✗ nothing

Very good

Friendly staff who make sure you are comfortable and provide a traditional inn experience.

✓ The staff was very friendly and were able to communicate in some English. They had a list of the guests outside the building giving it a very personal touch to see when I arrived. The onsens are nice and I tried all of them out; my favorite was the outside one.

✗ Nothing negative!