Kamenoi Hotel Beppu

Rooms and decor

The Kamenoi Hotel Beppu is the most historic name in town, run by the Kamenoi group since 1911, and it pulls a guest score of about 8.5/10. The building is an 11-floor white-and-red tower on the corner facing Beppu Tower, with the gold kanji 亀の井 (Kamenoi) across the sign. We looked at a Twin Sea View room of 28 sqm on the 9th floor, around $137 a night — good-quality Sealy twins, a recliner, a work desk, and a big window framing Beppu Bay with the red tower right beside it. The bathroom splits the tub from the shower and adds a Toto Washlet, and you get two yukata, slippers, fast free Wi-Fi, and an LCD TV with NHK and international channels. After the 2018 renovation the rooms feel clean and modern — not as crisp as KAI or Suginoi's Sora-kan wing, but a clear step up from the older Beppu stock.

Food and amenities

The onsen sits on the first floor: two indoor baths plus an outdoor rotenburo looking over Beppu Bay, fed by Beppu's simple-alkaline mineral water at about 41 C, open 24 hours and gender-separated. The rotenburo is best at dawn, when you can watch the sun come up over the bay and the fishing boats head out — you can walk down from your room in a yukata. Dinner is a 60-dish kaiseki buffet at Shokuraku for about $37 a head: stone-grilled Bungo-gyu beef, fresh-made sushi, toriten, tempura, cold Beppu reimen noodles, tai and hirame sashimi, and yuzu sorbet. It does not reach Hoshino or InterContinental level, but it is large and good value. Down in the lobby, the free Kumahachi Aburaya museum (open 09:00 to 18:00) tells the story of how Beppu became an onsen capital from 1911 on, with old photos, film, and artefacts.

Location and getting there

This is the strongest location in our Beppu list. The hotel is a flat 5-minute walk — about 450 m — from JR Beppu Station's East Exit, and just 300 m from Beppu Tower, so you can arrive by Sonic Limited Express and walk straight in. The next morning, take the hotel's free shuttle to the 7 Hells (Jigoku): it leaves the lobby at 09:30 and reaches the Kannawa district in about 15 minutes. Touring all seven pools takes 3 to 4 hours; the shuttle collects you again at 13:30, or you can ride city bus #5 back yourself. Oita Airport is roughly 60 minutes by the Airliner airport bus.

Things to know before booking

With 320 rooms this is a high-volume hotel, so the lobby gets busy and lift waits can stretch at check-out. The 2018 renovation means it does not feel as new as KAI Beppu (2022) or Suginoi's Sora-kan (2023). The kaiseki buffet is generous but does not match Hoshino or the ANA InterContinental at this price — you are paying for scale and value, not fine dining. If you want a quiet, exclusive stay, this is not it; if you want a big, well-located base, it delivers.

Our take

Kamenoi is the best-value big hotel in Beppu — a 1911 heritage name, 320 rooms, a 5-minute walk from JR Beppu, a Sea View rotenburo, a 60-dish kaiseki buffet, a free Jigoku shuttle, and the Kumahachi museum in the lobby. The score of 8.5/10 across 5,000-plus reviews backs it up, with rooms from about $120 a night. We close our top 10 with the most affordable pick for families and rail travellers who want a large central hotel with genuine Beppu history — a fitting start to a Kyushu onsen trip.