While there are very nice places to stay when venturing South (beyond Hiroshima), there is a comparative dearth of top luxury ryokans. Bettei Otozure is one of the exceptions. While not quite up to the standards of the best of the best (i.e., Gora Kadan, Asaba, Takefue), it's not priced to the stratosphere like those places, either. As others have mentioned, Bettei Otozure was formed as a result of Otani Sanso's many years of (property and room) expansion, resulting in a need for a smaller, more intimate property for the discerning clientele seeking a more private experience. Otozure has 18 rooms, meaning it's dwarfed by its sister property. But fear not - there are corridors connecting the two ryokans, but only guests staying at Otozure are allowed into Otozure itself, meaning you'll get the best of both worlds if you stay there. We stayed 3 nights in an ”A Type” Suite, which one of the highest category rooms at Otozure. It's 82m² in size, which is good but not great, but it's partially made up for by virtue of its 32m² balcony. The Suite is of a semi open plan variety - the bedroom is in its own area, but there isn't a wall/door that separates it from the living room... not good if one person is trying to take a nap while the other attempts to get some work done. Otherwise, it's all good. The furnishings are contemporary Japanese - it's not a traditionally decorated ryokan, which is a plus or minus, depending on your tastes. The A Type Suite also had dual vanity/sinks, as well as an open-air Onsen hot springs bath, which we find a prerequisite for a ryokan (or at least a higher category room at one) to be considered a luxurious one. Food is very high quality, and leans heavily towards seafood, given that Otozure is in close proximity to the Sea of Japan, where there is an abundance of very nice fish, including Fugu (blowfish), Tilefish, Sea Urchin, Conger Eel and Stonefish - many of them real delicacies. They are all wonderfully prepared, flavored and garnished in various and unique ways, and are beautifully presented. If there's a slight knock on the Otozure cuisine, in comparison to other ryokans the overall quantity of the food is less - in many cases, we had to make calculated decisions on what to leave on the plate for fear of getting too full to continue eating. Not at Otozure. If you have a hearty appetite, you might potentially feel a tad unfulfilled. Also, the presentation is not as elaborate at Otozure. For instance, for the Hassun/Sakizuke (i.e. appetizer) courses, most ryokans would serve up a variety of small dishes, but in Otozure it's one dish. Nitpicky, perhaps, but I can't help but think that this is one area where they do cut corners. Similarly, desserts are far less elaborate. For two of our three Kaiseki meals (we went all Kaiseki), we got fruit, and only fruit. Now, I love high quality fruit as much as the next person, but that's not exactly something I necessarily visit ryokans for. Give me something unique. And if it's
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