[Stay Review] Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu: Beppu Bay Views, Dinner & Breakfast

This time I stayed at the hotel located just a one-minute walk from Beppu Kitahama in Beppu, Oita,Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu (formerly Beppu Hotel Seifu), and I’d like to tell you all about it.

Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu is a hot spring ryokan facing Beppu Bay, with ocean views from the guest rooms and open-air baths.

If you want to stay at Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu but wonder what it’s like, or you’re thinking of staying around Beppu but can’t decide where, this article is just right for you, so please read to the end.

Who Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu Is Best For

Beppu boasts the most hot spring sources in the world and ranks second worldwide in hot spring output.

As a hot spring town, tourism businesses thrive here, and many travelers visit year-round, not only from Japan but from across Asia.

Around Beppu, with its famous hot springs, there are roughly 200 hot spring ryokan and lodging facilities, large and small.

Since it’s a trip you’ve been looking forward to, nobody wants to choose the wrong place to stay, right?

For this Beppu hot spring trip, I chose Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu, and after actually staying there, here is who I think Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu is best suited for:

Let’s go through them one by one.

① You want to stay at a ryokan or hot spring with a view of Beppu Bay

Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu is built parallel to Beppu Bay, so you can enjoy ocean views from your room.

* Hotel Umine is currently closed.

The view of Beppu Bay from the guest room gives you a sense of superiority and feels fantastic 😍

Other hotels facing Beppu Bay exist, such as Seaside Hotel Mimatsu Oetei, Hotel Umine, and Beppu Onsen Tenku Yubo Seikaiso, but there aren’t many.

② You want to stay somewhere well located and ideal for sightseeing in Beppu

Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu is conveniently located: take the Airliner bus from Oita Airport, get off at Beppu Kitahama Bus Terminal, and it’s a one-minute walk!

As soon as you get off, the Oedo Onsen Monogatari sign comes into view.

Sightseeing in Beppu means touring the Hells (Jigoku Meguri), and the bus to the Hells is about 20 minutes from the Beppu Kitahama stop, so the main attractions are easy to reach and you can enjoy the hot spring ryokan as long as possible.

③ You’re looking for an affordable ryokan rather than a luxury one

Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu belongs to the Oedo Onsen Monogatari group, which runs the “Oedo model” focused on outstanding value for money,and you can stay from around ¥10,000 per night with two meals.

The best-known hotel in Beppu is Suginoi Hotel, but a room with a nice sea view and two meals typically costs about ¥20,000–¥30,000 per night, which is pricey.

★ Rated 4.4 on Rakuten Travel! “Suginoi Hotel,” on the heights of Kankaiji Onsen in Beppu

Access to Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu

Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu is a hotel of the Oedo Onsen Monogatari group where you can enjoy grand views of Beppu Bay, with a rooftop open-air bath and a large public bath.

By car, take the Higashi-Kyushu Expressway to Beppu IC, then the Kyushu Odan Road and Route 10 straight toward Beppu Station, about 15 minutes.

By train, it takes about 1 hour 50 minutes on the JR Nippo Line from Hakata or Kokura Station to Beppu Station, then a taxi or a walk.

From the airport, take the Airliner bus from Oita Airport to Beppu Kitahama (about 1 hour), then walk 1 minute.

* Prices show the lowest weekday rate before coupons and discounts for 2 guests with dinner and breakfast. Please check the linked site for the latest information.

Overview of Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu

Here are the details of the hotel where I stayed this time, Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu.

This time I flew to Oita Airport, took the express bus from the airport, got off at Beppu Kitahama, and walked.
It took just a one-minute walk to arrive~.

Check-in

Right after you enter the front entrance, the front desk is directly in front of you.

The lobby is spacious, and when I checked in at 3 p.m. it wasn’t crowded, so check-in went smoothly.

I was handed a map of the building, with directions to the guest rooms, large public bath, and restaurant venues.

Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu has three guest buildings (Main, Middle, and Annex), and the front desk is on the 1st floor of the Main Building.

This time I was shown to a room on the top floor (6th) of the Middle Building, which you reach via the connecting passage on the 3rd floor of the Main Building.

Yay, the top floor! Although, I had to take two elevators 😂

Both dinner and breakfast were at designated times.

There’s a yukata corner next to the front desk.

The Oedo Onsen group has plenty of brightly colored yukata, and you can pick your favorite for free. At other hotels it usually costs ¥500 or more.

Toothbrushes and the ladies’ set are limited to one per person.

Take the Main Building elevator right next to the front desk up to the 3rd floor.

Cross the 3rd-floor connecting passage to the Middle Building.

Between the Main and Middle Buildings there’s a whiteboard that passing guests can write on freely.

“Where did you come from today?”

Some people use it like a bulletin board, which was heartwarming.

Take the Middle Building elevator up to the 7th floor, where the guest rooms are.

The elevator colors let you tell at a glance which building you’re in.

Guest Room

The guest room corridor in the Middle Building gets sunlight during the day and is bright, so it’s pleasant to walk through.

There are some signs of aging here and there, but nothing that bothers you.

I arrived at Room 635. The key is the old-fashioned type that you insert into the doorknob.

When you leave, press the button on the inside to set the auto-lock, and the door will lock.

We stayed in the ocean-view Japanese-Western style room called the “upgrade room,” three of us.

There’s an entrance where you take off your shoes and relax in the room!! Judging from the hallway, the room looks spacious! (So exciting)

On the right side of the hallway there was a sliding door with space for a fridge and glasses, but it was empty.

Maybe it was originally used as a different room.
I could see a Japanese-style room at the back.

An 8-tatami Japanese room. The tatami looks quite new, maybe freshly replaced.
In the center are a low Japanese table and four zaisu floor chairs. At the back is a TV of about 40 inches.

The room is L-shaped, and across from the Japanese room is the living area!!

It’s about 6 tatami in size, and there are two small two-seater sofas with decorative woven designs.

There’s a table in the middle too. Look out the window and Beppu Bay stretches out before you.

This room is amazing!! And there’s still a Western-style room.

Japanese-Style Room

The Japanese room has a window too, with a view of Beppu Bay.
It feels like the tatami room is floating over the sea.

There’s a balcony, but we couldn’t go out onto it.

On the TV stand are a table clock and a tissue box; under it are a bath towel set, yukata sashes, and a safe.

There’s also an intercom phone, an electric kettle, and an extension cord.
Having an extension cord in a room this size is quietly appreciated!

Open the fusuma sliding door and you’ll find hangers, Resesh deodorizing spray, and chaori (hanten) jackets hanging.

The mineral water isn’t in plastic bottles, but there are water servers on every floor where you can fill up.

Opening the other fusuma, I found spare bedding and zaisu chairs.

The Japanese-style room alone looks comfortable enough~.

Living Area

The living area has a two-door refrigerator and a Sharp humidifier.

The freezer is separate, with plenty of space for ice cream and ice!!

You can look at Beppu Bay any time from the sofa!!
I hadn’t expected much, but the view is fantastic~.

Western-Style Room

The beds are semi-double size and don’t feel cramped at all.

On the other hand, perhaps because there’s no window, I noticed a slight smell.

Each room has an air conditioner, so circulating the air solves the problem!

A slightly old-fashioned bed lamp stand. There are tissues here too.

The outlets are near the floor, so if you want to charge your phone while lying down, use an extension cord or bring a long cable.

Bathroom, Toilet & Washbasin

I opened the door in front of the entrance and found… a changing room?! Anyway, it’s huge.
There are two washbasins!

Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu‘s upgraded sea-side room in the Middle Building has a fully separate bath, toilet, and washbasin.

The washbasin area is spacious and clean. When the water areas are clean, it puts you in a great mood.
There’s a towel rack in front of the bath, so take your towels to a sunny spot to dry.

With the large public bath and open-air bath available you won’t use the room bath, but it’s quite roomy, large enough to stretch your legs!!

Shiseido hotel amenities are provided too: body wash, shampoo, and conditioner.

The toilet is deep and spacious, and of course has a bidet seat.

Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu Open-Air Bath

Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu has an open-air bath on the 7th floor of the Middle Building with a view over Beppu Bay.

Let’s go check it out!

The noren curtain is about half the usual size. Somehow it looks a bit awkward.

The women’s bath noren. It bears the logo of the Oedo Onsen Monogatari group.

The changing room has lockers that lock with your wristband, plus a scale and a water server.

The changing room is small relative to the number of lockers, but there’s a large public bath in the Main Building too, so this size seems reasonable.

The open-air bath is one wide tub, with an ocean view over Beppu Bay~~!! 😍

“Feels amazing!!”

The water is a chloride spring, which warms you up more than the temperature suggests, so be careful not to stay in too long and get dizzy.

It’s hard to see the sea at night, so I recommend bathing during the day or at sunrise first thing in the morning!!

Large Public Bath at Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu

Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu has a large public bath on the 3rd-floor connecting passage of the Main Building, with windows overlooking Beppu Bay.

The entrance is wider than the open-air bath’s.

From the large bath on the 3rd floor of the Main Building you can also enjoy the hot spring while looking out at Beppu Bay through the window.
The large bath also has just one indoor tub, but it’s bigger than the open-air bath, so you can soak comfortably.

It tends to get crowded around 8 p.m. after dinner, so I recommend going at a different time.

Entertainment at Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu

Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu has an entertainment corner on the 1st floor of the Annex, with manga, table tennis, billiards, darts, and a game corner that friends and families with kids can enjoy.

There’s also a kids’ corner, so families with small children can enjoy it too.

There aren’t that many manga and few latest volumes, so think of it as a way to pass the time. Taking them to your room is not allowed.

There is only one billiards table. Hours are 14:00–24:00 and 8:00–11:00, by reservation.

There are 2 table tennis tables and 2 dart boards, all by reservation.

Working up a good sweat at table tennis and then soaking in the hot spring is the classic combo!!

Dinner at Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu

Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu‘s dinner is a buffet, held at the restaurant “MISORA” on the 13th floor of the Main Building.

You drop the time-designated dinner ticket you received at the front desk (one per group) into the box at the entrance.

Staff will guide you to an open seat!

I’ll cover dinner in detail in a separate article, but you can enjoy local ingredients unique to Kyushu, like Sasebo-born lemon steak and crab.

I plated salad, sashimi, yakisoba, fried chicken, paella, and takikomi rice.

A burner and a lighter are set out at the table for the steak, so you can eat it sizzling hot.

For the all-you-can-drink alcohol, you need to go to the designated counter to get it.

Breakfast at Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu

Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu‘s breakfast is also a buffet like dinner, held at the same restaurant “MISORA” on the 13th floor of the Main Building.

There’s a meal ticket for breakfast too, so don’t forget it.

Oedo Onsen‘s signature dish is the Oedo Nokke-don (topping rice bowl).
I topped rice with negitoro, okra, and grated yam to make my own original bowl, and it was delicious.

Besides breakfast staples like sausages, scrambled eggs, and grilled fish, there are carefully chosen specialties such as Nagasaki sara udon, Beppu Seifu sesame-broth udon, and Mise chicken tsukune in Chinese-style soup.

My Stay at Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu

This time I wanted to tour the Hells and was looking for an affordable hot spring inn with a view of Beppu Bay, so I stayed at Oedo Onsen Monogatari Beppu Seifu.

The Oedo Onsen group has properties all over Japan and I’ve stayed at other ones too, but at Beppu Seifu the rate is the same while access to Beppu Kitahama is good and the rooms are spacious.

You can see Beppu Bay from the room and the hot spring, and dinner features luxurious items like crab, steak, sushi, and sashimi, so overall I was extremely satisfied.