Owase Ocean View

Stoonin. Sometimes we put on the ooooh-ahhhing a bit to hype up the host but opening the door on the room got it organically.

When we arrived, there were, as there always are, lots of pairs of slippers to choose from, because your nasty outdoor shoes are not going any further than a metre in the door thanks very much.

Usually they are all the same, but here there were lots of different styles in pairs of two - we were asked to choose a matching set to each other, which I think is actually a sweet way of finding your partner if you lose them later, you can just look at the slippers and know aha, he's in the bath.

We were then asked to put our luggage on a trolley pushed by a woman in her 70s which we did, reluctantly, and then she asked us - through the manager we'd met in town earlier - where the rest of it was which made us VERY smug indeed.

It was whisked off to our room while we completed check in, which basically involved learning we can use the onsen any time, where breakfast is served tomorrow, that this is a small inn and no staff other than the manager speak English, and that some local alcohol would be served on the mezzanine shortly for free.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon doing most of that - soaking in the onsen, reading, sipping drinks, napping, and watching the old boys on the dock outside pretend to fish (while it's on the second floor, I highly suspect they can see the onsen as I could see them from in there). Rest day in the bag.Read more