I stayed for one night at Tocen Goshobo on a half board basis with included breakfast and dinner. I selected Tocen Goshobo partly because there were not that many ryokans at Arima Onsen that could be booked through the common booking sites like Expedia.com or Booking.com, partly because it was one of the few that accepts bookings for one person staying in a room alone (many ryokans have a minimum booking requirement of two persons in a room), and partly because it was located right in the town. On an earlier visit to Arima Onsen, I stayed at Hyoe Koyokaku and since it was located up the hill, I tended to stay inside the ryokan once I checked in since it would be quite a walk back down to town and an even harder trek back up to the ryokan. In the case of the Tocen Goshobo, it is literally on the next block from the bus station where the Hankyu highway bus from Osaka station arrives so very convenient for access from Osaka, and the ryokan is right next to the main shopping street winding uphill so great for strolling about town as well. My stay was in mid-November, which was a very good time to be at Arima Onsen as the fall foliage was on full display with beautiful hues of orange and red on the trees all around town. There is a small temple right across the street from Tocen Goshobo, up a small flight of steps up the hill and it made a great backdrop for some photos of the fall colors, as was the footbridge across the river just steps from the bus station. By the time I booked, there was only one type of room available – a superior Japanese Western room on the 2nd floor (room 22) with Western twin beds on a tatami mat area with a small Japanese seating area, a Western style dining room type room with a table and 2 chairs, an enclosed balcony area with a small desk and chair and a very good massage chair, and a toilet and sink (no shower or bath since one can wash in the large public bath on the same floor). The room is very spacious at over 40 sq metres. While the beds were comfortable and I slept very well, I would have preferred sleeping in a futon on the tatami mats. While the room was more Western than my preference, nonetheless I appreciated the beautiful wood floors, furniture and decorative features and the impeccable condition everything was maintained in. The ryokan itself is similarly beautiful and well maintained. The wood floors may creak in the way but they are beautifully polished and swept clean (I saw all the staff rush about cleaning on check out day from morning onward to prepare for the next batch of guests to check in at 3 pm and they seemed tremendously focused and dedicated to making everything perfect). There also nice quirky touches like the library on the main floor at the back of the ryokan, with atmospheric antique furnishings and a nice view out to the street in front with fall colors foliage on full display right across the street. Because the ryokan is not very large with only 20 rooms, its public bath for guests is also relatively small. The men’s area has a regular water shallow indoor pool for warming up the body and then a narrow walkway to the semi-outdoor bath with Arima’s “gold” spring water (kinsen). While the water in the outdoor bath appears red-brown, the “gold” spring water as it comes out of the spring is actually colorless and only takes on the reddish-brown hue on contact with the air due to the oxidation of its high iron content. The kinsen water also has very high salt content so the helpful guide found in the room recommends washing off thoroughly after soaking in the spring to wash off the salt. The spring water is also fairly hot so the in room guide recommends sitting in the bath only about 10 minutes at a time so as not to overheat the body. The kinsen water is supposed to be very good for the skin and I did think my skin was much softer after my several trips to the semi-outdoor bath. The bath is unusual in that although it is separated for men and women, there is only a low rock wall between the men and women sections so if one actually stood up, one would be able to see over to the other side. That is why the in room guide reminds guests to half crouch walk into the bath so as not to infringe on the privacy of the other gender. The low rock wall does allow men and women who are travelling together to chat to each other as they sit on either side of the rock wall. The semi-outdoor bath is built like a rock enclosure as if one were bathing in the mountains in a cozy rock pond and while there is a roof over the whole of the bath, the entire front of the bath is open to the outdoor (with a hedge for privacy) - open enough to let in the cold air from the November chill which made sitting in a hot spring bath all the more enjoyable. Because the ryokan has so few rooms, I found most of the time I had the men’s side of the outdoor bath to myself so it felt very private and peaceful. An integral part of a ryokan stay is the food. My room had a meal plan with dinner and breakfast served in the small restaurant in the ryokan next to the reception area. There was no option for dining in the room by the time I booked but I actually preferred dining in the restaurant anyway as I always found it a bit awkward to dine in room where you have to keep your room door unlocked and where you never quite know when staff would bring in the next course of your dinner so you tend to rush your eating a bit to make sure you are finished by the time they bring you the next course. At the small restaurant, there was no such problem as there is a cooking area right in the corner where the chef is cooking away and he and the server can time the delivery of the courses as they can see your progress through your meal. There were probably less than 20 seats in the restaurant, separated into tables of two or four and guests seemed to have their dining times staggered so service was very prompt. Dinner was a multi course affair brought to you course by course – starters including sashimi, a braised fish dish, a grilled fish dish, tempura, beef, rice and miso soup and dessert. The presentation of the dishes was beautiful and generally the food was good – not outstanding but good. I have uploaded photos of each course of my dinner to Tripadvisor with this review. Breakfast next morning was again served in the small on-site restaurant. It started with a tofu dish already cooked in a large wood encased hotpot box already set at your table, and then followed with a tray with salad, appetizers, clam soup, rice and grilled salmon. It was a little disappointing as the salmon was a bit dry. After breakfast, I had enough time before checkout to have a quick coffee in the library. The coffee was delicious so I would recommend not forgetting to stop by the library at one of the designated times when coffee is served. The library had floor to ceiling windows looking out to the street but with trees planted in front to partly obscure the view so passerbys to not stare too directly into the room so it was a nice bright space to enjoy a coffee. Overall, I enjoyed my stay at Tocen Goshobo. I think it is a beautiful ryokan, my room was very large and comfortable and the onsen bath was very nice and private. Food was fine. Compared to other onsen ryokans at Arima, Tocen Goshobo is relatively less expensive so I thought it provided good value for the price. I loved the location in town right next to the Hankyu bus station as it was very convenient for arrival from and departure to Osaka, and for exploring the town a bit.…