Hotel Iya Onsen

Hotel Iya Onsen is a cliffside ryokan in the Nishi-Iya district of Miyoshi, built into a steep gorge wall in the Iya Valley and reached from the guest rooms by a dedicated cable car that descends roughly 170 meters to a riverside bathing pavilion. The property is widely regarded as one of Shikoku's most dramatically situated onsen hotels, with the ryokan buildings perched above the Iya River and the bath itself sitting directly at river level, surrounded by cliffs and forest. Rooms are split between Standard Tatami rooms, River View Rooms facing the gorge, and Open-Air Bath Suites that include a private bathing area, all finished in a traditional style with mountain or river outlooks. Dinner is served as a kaiseki course built around river fish, wild vegetables, and other Iya Valley ingredients, typically taken in a private dining room rather than a communal hall. The hotel's main draw beyond the rooms is the open-air riverside hot spring bath at the base of the cable car, alongside a separate private rental bath for guests wanting a bathing session away from other visitors; there is no pool, gym, or spa treatment menu beyond these bathing facilities. Because the cable car operates on a schedule and the bath area sits below the main buildings, mobility to and from the riverside bath requires using the car rather than walking a trail. The setting is remote, and a rental car is the practical way to reach the property along the valley's mountain roads; staff are used to guiding first-time visitors on both the cable car logistics and onward routes to the Kazurabashi vine bridges and Oboke Gorge. The combination of the descent, the river-level setting, and the surrounding cliffs make it a destination in its own right rather than simply a stopover.