Great location, lots of old time atmosphere. I would highly recommend for,the price, which is kept reasonable partly because although the frontage is a historic ryokan, it's actually a large hotel . The superb Japanese breakfast buffet is in a characterless large hall at tables with vinyl tableclothes. Redemption comes if you know to book in advance one of the several smaller dinner restaurants on site. And there are plenty of non-hotel dining options in the neighborhood. There is a fine line between period ambience and needing a refresh, and the public areas around the entrance are on the verge of crossing it.

It was a great choice as a single traveler, as they have small western rooms available at very good prices!

The public spaces in this hotel are beautiful, if a bit dated. My room was arranged in a very comfortable, efficient way. There was a closet, a rarity for Japanese hotels in this price range. The onsen was lovely. I did not eat any meals there, but there are many nice restaurants in the neighborhood, and I had no trouble finding good dinners. It is only a five minute walk from the streetcar which connects you to the rest of Matsuyama.

Finding this place was a challenge, because the sign outside is only in Japanese. My room had a small window that faced a wall; it was almost impossible to see the sky. The staff speak very little English. Be aware that the train station is a 25 minute streetcar ride away.

This was the third time I have stayed in Yamatoya Honten, and if I go back to Dogo Onsen I will stay there again. It is an elegant hotel with beautiful traditional Japanese rooms, an excellent onsen and a Noh theatre stage. Staying in an onsen town, you could walk around town wearing your hotel yukata. Dinner was excellent, and there was an extensive range of breakfast dishes to choose from, including ice cream. The children enjoyed the robot carrying the trays. During my stay there was an earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale, it woke me from sleep. A loud-speaker announced the earthquake in English and Japanese. The emergency doors closed, preventing access to the lifts, and re-opened when all was clear. The hotel was not damaged. I was immensely reassured by the hotel's ability to withstand earthquakes.

Nothing about the hotel, though I would have preferred not to experience the earthquake!

Extremely kind and helpful staff. Excellent breakfast buffet, with a great choice of fresh fish, local mandarine juices and other speciality products. Best breakfast buffet I had during my trip ( in similar hotels). Very spacious room (japanese style). Good location, walking distance to Onsen and tram. Maybe a bit old-fashioned on some ways and a bit on the expensive side, but definitely worth it.

A pity you couldn't book with dinner

The most good part of this hotel is those staff. All of them were so kind. They made my stay as best as they could assist. Also, location, right next to Dogo onsen(I didn't use there, yamatoya's hot spring was amazing), if you go down, shopping street is there. Old Japanese style wooden structure is beautiful.

To be honest, I wasn't very satisfied with breakfast. Nothing was seasoned well, most of them were bland to me. Also there was no Tai meshi and miso soup. That made me sad... It is a bit noisy since you can hear everything upper, below, and next room, felt like a little lack of privacy to me.

Luxurious buffet breakfast with many Japanese style dishes. There were a couple of western dishes as well. Location was perfect - right next to Dogo Onsen. Dogo Onsen is busy, especially during its renovation, so the well-maintained hot spring bath of Yamatoya Honten is a perfect alternative if you prefer less people. Bath robes (yukatas) and sandals are provided to visit the hot spring. It can also be worn into Dogo Onsen town. There's an ambient stage on 4F to take memorable pictures of yourself in yukata. Tip: go during the evening, there's stage light for added ambience. Staff are well-dressed, incredibly polite and helpful.

The luggage sent by the luggage delivery service of Yamatoya Honten arrived a day later than expected. Partly my fault for not double-checking the date, but I was expecting same-day delivery.

Room was lovely, large and with lots of japanese style plus 2 chairs. Smart onsen, with complementary sake available. Good location for Dogo Onsen and the castle via the tram.

Confusion of gluten free dinner request. We thought it was possible from their answer before we arrived but it wasn't so food was difficult during our stay.

I booked the Western-style room since all the Japanese-style rooms were already fully booked, and I had a comfortable night's sleep. Japanese hotel rooms can be quite small, but for Yamatoya Honten's single room was pretty decently sized. The room even came with a massage chair, which I really appreciated after a long, long day of walking around in the summer heat. I had such a great time relaxing and destressing with the massage chair and, of course, Yamatoya Honten's and Dogo Onsen's baths. Speaking of Dogo Onsen, the location of Yamatoya Honten is great; it's very close to Dogo Onsen's main bath. Dogo Onsen is a small, compact town, but still: it's nice that Yamatoya Honten is so close to the main attraction. Also, the staff were very nice, and I really liked the delicious breakfast filled with Ehime specialties, the generous amenities and free services (free Nihonshu and Umaibo snacks outside the onsen area at night and in the morning; a Noh stage where you can have photo ops — there are even props), and the other experiences you can have at the hotel: reasonably priced yukata rental (the yukata patterns are very cute) and a footbath cafe where you can relax while enjoying drinks and snacks. I would love to stay here again when I have the budget. Thank you for a comfortable stay!

The elevators are a bit slow. Considering that the hotel has several floors and lots of rooms, having only two elevators (both of which are slow) means that you might sometimes have to wait. They look a bit dated, so maybe a renovation might be due? Other than that, I don't really have any serious complaints about Yamatoya Honten because overall, I felt refreshed after my stay here.

It was extremely well located. The hotel onsen was the best we’ve had so far on our trip (we’ve been to about 6 onsen) and better than the Dogo Onsen which unfortunately was under repair at the time of visiting. Nice touches like free sake after your bath, free mini snacks and providing little towel and soap sets to visit Dogo Onsen with. Good free toiletries too! Breakfast was amazing.

Nothing

The hotel was very clean, very comfortable and gave us a real taste of traditional Japanese hotels. We loved visiting the onsen and using the free foot massagers with the free sake and snacks!

The orange juice could have been served all day!