Kumano Club Resort

Beautiful cottage & hot springs style stay in the famous Kumano mountains - wonderfully stylish rooms & high-quality eateries on site, but vegans and vegetarians need to order in advance as most usual offerings are meat, fish and fish stock only dishes. All-inclusive plans are unusual in Japan but nice not to have to carry money & pay individually at hot-springs & eateries around compound. Beds & linens good, but towels a bit thin & single-use plastic amenities still in use although signs of changing to be more sustainable. Very little English information, menus or signage. Nice & quiet with great mountain views & nice star viewing at night.

Pros: Room is spacious; Dinner is very delicious and all sourced locally, plus just the right portion; Onsen is really nice; The resort is quite large and has a lot to offer, there are also crafts workshops for guests to reserve, but I didn’t get a chance to try myself. Cons: The location is slightly remote from town and can be a challenge for guests without a car and try to get to places after checking in; Also since the resort is large, it takes time get to places (like from ur room to front desk), the resort offers internal shuttle services and can be arranged whenever called, but still can be a bit of trouble for international guests who don’t speak Japanese.

A very interesting stay in a further removed part of the country. We knew we wanted to hike parts of the Kumano Kodo trail and wanted a nice place to stay (we were celebrating my husband's birthday). There are a lot of smaller more rustic places further in the mountains but they either booked up too soon or were just a bit rough around the edges. This place was bigger, but had lots of nice amenities. The room was huge (we had the royal suite). I LOVED the outdoor bath feature (by bath I mean more like a private onsen - hot water!) with mountain view. The suite itself could use some updating (as can the whole resort). It looks about 20-30 years outdated but it's clean and well kept, just needs some modernizing. Breakfast was a large buffet that filled us well enough each day (though the coffee was horrible). The dinners were amazing! The restaurant seemed like a whole different experience. When we arrived we were surprised to hear they didn't have any space available for us for dinner considering we were guests (so that was disappointing) but we had dinner the next 2 nights and we loved it. Modern, local ingredient, delicious. great service. Loved everything about dinner. The location was good for our hikes though looks like Tanabe might have been another good option (and bigger so more lodging options too?). But all in all the stay at Resort Kumano was good. Off the beaten path, good amenities, needs updating, needs some better communication pre-arrival (like the fact that you need dinner reservations ahead of time...) but really we were pleased. I hope they do some updates soon and keep up the business!

What a wonderful place to stay - I would highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a place outside the main Japan cities. The staff are friendly and helpful, the amenities are incredible, the food delicious, and the surroundings are beautiful. Definitely spend the extra money for the breakfast & dinner option - the food is amazing and fresh. We didn't speak any Japanese but the staff were very patient with us and helped us coordinate travel to the Nachi falls (also a must see!). I'd also highly recommend going to the onsen - very relaxing and well appointed facilities. This resort has definitely been a highlight of our trip!

I stayed 2 nights and received 2 types of fish for breakfast each day. Breakfast was delicious. The only disappointment was they use to serve breakfast in very pretty bowls and now changed to a square dish which is boring to look at and plain. Also they use to have coffee with breakfast set, not anymore. Hotel service is wonderful as before. Onsen is beautiful and lots of space in outdoor onsen. I highly recommend Kumano Club even with the change in restaurant service.

Nice fashionable hotel with rooms overlooking the valley. Good restaurant. The hot spring is not the best but still okay. It's a short walk from the rooms so you can stroll down the hill or order a shuttle. Great location for relaxing in Japan's countryside. The hotel also organizes walking tours on the historic Kumano Kaido trails through the nearby mountains including transport to the starting and pick up point.

A great getaway and throughly enjoyed every element of the resort. Spa was a little walk from the rooms, which was mostly fine except that some nights the temperature dropped below 10degC. The meals were really nice and the staff was incredibly hardworking, trying to explain the menu in their limited English. One of them even drew us a table setting and wrote down the ingredients for each small dish! I will recommend this place highly for the experience and tranquillity that comes with the place.