Let me start by saying: the spa's are amazing! In the midst of nature, alongside the river, with a view of the mountains and during night being able to stargaze from the onsen is an experience I will not forget soon. Also bonus points that there is a dinner option for vegetarians - that has to be booked in advance.

Unfortunately, Shinzanso is very unwelcoming to foreign tourists with no knowledge of Japanese. Starting out with the fact that no information on the meals is provided either on Booking.com or through their website (or other websites where you can book a stay with Shinzanso), we didn't know what to expect. The norm in Japan is to bring cash everywhere, and with 15.000 yen with us, we expected to be well covered for the night. The opposite seemed to be the case though. From the moment of checking in, we were greeted by a staff member that was visibly displeased by the fact that we didn't speak Japanese and proceeded to show us an instructional video in English on the tv while giving off the vibe that she couldn't wait for this instructional video to be over so she could do something else. After sitting through the instructional video, we were asked whether we would stay for dinner and breakfast. Considering there are no restaurants or any other option to get food after 18:00 in the area, we decided to have dinner and breakfast. As the prices are nowhere advertised, we didn't know how much this would be, but I can safely say that dinner here was by far the most expensive dinner by a wide margin we've had during a month of travelling through Japan! As such, we were literally out of cash for breakfast. Credit cards are not accepted and the nearest ATM is located at the post office in a nearby town (15 minutes by bus), but unfortunately only open during regular business hours. As such, having an extra drink during dinner was not an option. A different pair of foreign tourists didn't make a reservation for dinner, and as such were left at the reception with not knowing what to do. I hope they were able to arrange something by going to the nearby town. This was luckily (and unfortunately) the only place during our month-long travel that felt as if we were unwanted guests and they preferred to have Japanese guests instead.

The outdoor onsen are amazing, however no view from the ladies so we booked a private onsen which was great. The meals are amazing.

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You will struggle to find a better pool with a better view