Auberge Uchiko

We chose to spend one night at Auberge Uchiko given its convenient location between Matsuyama and Uwajima, not to mention Uchiko itself being a nice tourist destination in its own right. The property itself is located on a hill adjacent to Ryuo Park, and is littered with an abundance of Sakura Cherry Blossom trees, which would make for a great stay during the blooming season (it wasn't when we were there.) It's located on a hill overlooking Uchiko town, although the views from the lobby area as well as the rooms are somewhat obscured by the trees themselves. It's also not within walking distance of the Uchiko's Yokaichi-Gokoku Old Town District, either. If you want to be at the center of the action, this might not work for you. We had our own vehicle so it wasn't a problem. We booked the top category room (the Suite Villa) - it was decent but came with some caveats. It's the one room that sits one rung lower on the hillside (not sure if that's better or worse); the problem is, there's a walkway that runs right in front of the deck and bedroom. The Villa is slightly elevated relative to the pathway, but it still causes a privacy issue, which partly explains why the Suite Villa was the only room (that we can see) that had most of the glass surrounding the deck being smoked with white tint. It solves the privacy issue, but also creates a viewing problem from the room. Other Villas that we observed did not have the same privacy issues, and the glass was not smoked. Inside, there are also pros and cons. We appreciated the fact that the bedroom and main living area was separated, but did not like that no real closets are to be found... just a small area to hang one's clothes, but nowhere to place your rollerboards. So you'll just need to put them somewhere on the floor. The room itself is advertised as being 80 square meters in size, but the room felt much smaller than that. Perhaps they are counting the deck? In any case, the living room was a bit tight; ditto for the bedroom. The bathroom had a decent stand-alone Onsen (natural hot springs) tub; call us spoiled, but we prefer the free-flowing variety, and that's not the case here. The tub is large and deep, so to fill it up yourself, it takes about 30 minutes - no instant gratification here. One other funky design layout flaw - the sink and vanity are in (and not next to) the bedroom, but only the sink and vanity. The toilet, shower and Onsen bath are adjacent to the living room. Not sure why this is the case, but it's certainly not the most functional layout that we've ever seen. There is a communal Onsen spa facility on site, but we did not avail ourselves to it. Non-staying guests have access to the public Onsen all the way up to 9PM, which is way too late for us to bother walking from our room to try out. We were told it can get quite crowded right up until 9PM given that many people enjoy taking a soak just after dinner. If there's a claim to fame, it's in the cuisine on offer at Auberge Uch