Search for “Yukai Resort” (湯快リゾート) today and the old inn names no longer come up. Many people worry that the inns have closed, but the answer is that they have not. Yukai Resort merged its management with Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Hotels & Resorts (大江戸温泉物語ホテルズ&リゾーツ) on April 1, 2024, and from November 1 of that year every property was renamed under the “Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Group” brands. The inns themselves are still operating in the same locations. In Awazu Onsen, Yukai Resort Awazu Grand Hotel (湯快リゾート あわづグランドホテル) is now Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Awazu Grand Hotel (大江戸温泉物語 あわづグランドホテル), and in Yamanaka Onsen, Yamanaka Grand Hotel (山中グランドホテル) is now Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Premium Yamanaka Grand Hotel (大江戸温泉物語Premium 山中グランドホテル). Both take bookings under their new signs.

This article sets out, from a guest’s point of view, how the merger happened, how the four brands differ, the old and new names of representative former Yukai inns, and the listed price that two guests actually pay for one night as of October 2026.

Yukai Resort Was Renamed “Ooedo Onsen Monogatari”: How the Merger Happened

Yukai Resort was founded in 2003 and headquartered in Kyoto City. It spread “affordable hot-spring inns with a dinner and breakfast buffet included” across hot-spring towns in western Japan, including Ishikawa, Wakayama and Gifu. Ooedo Onsen Monogatari ran the same kind of casual hot-spring inn, mainly in eastern Japan. The two companies merged their management on April 1, 2024, and on September 2, 2024 announced that “from November 1, all 66 facilities (64 inns and 2 bathing facilities) will be unified under the Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Group brands” (the facility count is the figure published at the time of the announcement). At the press conference, the reason given for adopting the Ooedo Onsen Monogatari name was that “Ooedo Onsen Monogatari has higher recognition, and this takes less cost and time than creating a new brand.”

In September 2025 the two operating companies were then consolidated into GENSEN HOLDINGS, making them one company as well as one brand family. For fiscal 2025 the group reported “5 new openings and 10 rebrands, operating 71 facilities in total”, so the number of inns has grown since the merger, not shrunk. The accurate reading is therefore not that “Yukai Resort is gone” but that the “Yukai Resort” sign was replaced by “Ooedo Onsen Monogatari” while the inns continue and expand. This article leaves aside the investment and operating view of the merger and focuses on what guests need to know.

How the Four Brands (Series) Differ

After the merger, each inn carries one of the following four names. Former Yukai inns and former Ooedo inns were assigned on the same criteria.

Source: Ooedo Onsen Monogatari and Yukai Resort brand integration announcements (September and October 2024); GENSEN HOLDINGS published materials. Brand descriptions are limited to what the published materials state.

What Are the Former Yukai Resort Inns Called Now? Old and New Names

The name changes are what trip people up when they want to return to an inn they once stayed at. The table below groups, by hot-spring area, the inns whose old and new names can be confirmed in the integration announcement or official releases, together with inns whose current names were confirmed from OTA listing names compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team.

Note: “Yukai Resort Premium” in the former names was the upper series before the merger. Most inn-specific names such as “Saichoraku” (彩朝楽) and “Grand Hotel” remain unchanged, so searching for the distinctive part of the old name usually leads to the current page.

Some inns, such as Kaga Maruya in Katayamazu Onsen, were renovated at the time of the integration and upgraded to Premium. An article comparing Katayamazu’s lakeside inns by their in-room open-air baths (Five Inns in Kaga Katayamazu with In-Room Open-Air Baths Extending over Shibayamagata Lagoon, in Japanese) features Kaga Maruya alongside long-established ryokan.

What Does a Stay Cost Now? Current Rates for Two, Tax Included, at Four Former Yukai Inns

Here are the numbers to answer the worry that “the name changed, so it must have become more expensive.” For four former Yukai inns (one per brand), we collected the listed price for one room with two guests, tax included from public OTA data for each date and aggregated the cheapest plan on each day (retrieved October 7, 2026; stay dates October 7 to December 31, 2026).

Source: HotelBank Editorial Team research (public OTA data, retrieved October 7, 2026). Listed prices for one room with two guests, tax included. For each stay date we took the lowest price among plans on sale; the minimum of those values is the “lowest” and the average across all days is the “daily average”. Awazu Grand Hotel covers 69 days from October 24 to December 31; the other three inns cover October 7 to December 31. Prices vary by stay date, plan and room type, so please rely on the amount shown at the time of booking.

There are three ways to read this. First, on weekdays (Monday–Thursday), an inn in the core brand costs in the low ¥20,000s for two, or a little over ¥10,000 per person. The familiar Yukai Resort sense of “around ¥10,000 per person with a dinner and breakfast buffet” still broadly holds on weekdays. Second, Friday and Saturday stays at the same inn average roughly ¥5,000–¥10,500 more (about ¥5,000 at Yamanaka Grand Hotel and about ¥10,500 at Wan Wan Resort Awazu). Guests who can move their trip by a day see a difference simply by changing the day of the week. Third, Premium and TAOYA cost more, and the meals and lounge offering change accordingly. TAOYA in particular includes alcohol at dinner and lounge drinks in the rate, so extra charges on site are unlikely and the displayed amount can be treated as close to the total.

Buffets, Direct Buses and Membership: Where the Yukai Character Remains

Here is what became of the features that made Yukai Resort appealing, checked within the scope of published materials.

• Buffet: At the integration press conference, the group stated that it would stay committed to three things: “hot springs”, “buffet” and “hospitality”. Dinner and breakfast at the core brand and at Premium are served buffet-style as a rule. Inns renovated into Premium at the end of 2025 are described as having “dinner and breakfast upgraded to the Premium series”, so the direction is to keep the buffet as the core of the meal while raising its content.
• Direct buses from cities: The direct buses that Yukai Resort ran from Kyoto, Shin-Osaka and elsewhere to hot-spring towns are still offered after the merger at TAOYA Shirahama Senjo as a “round-trip direct bus from Kyoto Station, Shin-Osaka Station and Tennoji Station”. Whether a bus runs, and its fare, differ by inn, so check each inn’s page before booking.
• Membership: Ooedo Onsen Monogatari’s official “Iifuro Member” (いいふろ会員) program has been introduced at every inn. Membership stands at about 2 million (fiscal 2025, group disclosure). Each inn offers member-only plans through the official site and weekday-only member prices, so comparing the official site with booking sites reduces the chance of missing a better rate.
• Bath-hopping: The integration announcement materials say nothing about bath-hopping between group inns, leaving it to each inn’s own guidance. In the Kaga Onsen area (Yamashiro, Yamanaka, Katayamazu, Awazu), where several inns of the same group sit close together, the surest approach is to check the latest information on the page of the inn you will stay at.

Which Brand to Choose: A Guide by Purpose

The four brands are not ranked against each other; the choice depends on the purpose of the trip.

• A casual hot-spring stay with two meals, in the old Yukai Resort spirit: the core “Ooedo Onsen Monogatari” brand. The guide is the low ¥20,000s for two on weekdays. It also suits families and three-generation trips.
• Better meals and rooms for an anniversary or a couple’s trip: “Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Premium”. Some former Yukai inns joined it after renovation, and more inns now have a lounge and rooms with open-air baths.
• An adults’ trip to drink and relax without watching the bill: “TAOYA”. It is all-inclusive, so the displayed amount is close to the total.
• A hot-spring trip with your dog: “Wan Wan Resort”. It is designed so that guests can dine and bathe with their dogs, and the former Yukai Wan Wan Resort properties in Awazu and Katayamazu continue unchanged.

In every case, shifting the day of the week and comparing member plans on the official site with early-booking plans on booking sites are the practical ways to keep the bill down.

For a Closer Look

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Has Yukai Resort gone out of business?

A. No. Yukai Resort merged its management with Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Hotels & Resorts on April 1, 2024, and from November 1 of that year every property changed to an “Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Group” brand name. The inns continue to operate in the same locations, and in September 2025 the operating companies were also consolidated into GENSEN HOLDINGS.

Q. How can I find a Yukai Resort inn I stayed at in the past?

A. Most inn-specific names such as “Saichoraku” (彩朝楽), “Grand Hotel” and “Irokuen” (依緑園) remain unchanged, so searching for that distinctive part is the shortcut. For example, “Yukai Resort Awazu Grand Hotel” is now “Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Awazu Grand Hotel”, and “Yukai Resort Premium Hotel Senjo” is now “TAOYA Shirahama Senjo”.

Q. Now that the names have changed, roughly how much does a stay cost?

A. We aggregated listed prices for one room with two guests, tax included, at four former Yukai inns (retrieved October 7, 2026; stay dates October 7 to December 31, 2026). At Awazu Grand Hotel in the core brand, Monday–Thursday stays averaged ¥23,226 and Friday–Saturday stays averaged ¥30,887. On weekdays the guide is a little over ¥10,000 per person. This article does not compare these with pre-merger prices.

Q. How do Ooedo Onsen Monogatari, Premium, TAOYA and Wan Wan Resort differ?

A. Ooedo Onsen Monogatari is the core brand with a dinner and breakfast buffet included; Premium is the upper series with meals and in-house facilities raised a step; TAOYA is an all-inclusive hot-spring resort hotel whose rate covers alcohol at dinner and lounge drinks; and Wan Wan Resort is a hot-spring inn where guests stay with their dogs.

Q. Do the buffets and direct buses continue after the merger?

A. At the integration press conference the group said it would stay committed to “hot springs”, “buffet” and “hospitality”, and meals at the core brand and at Premium are buffet-style as a rule. For direct buses, TAOYA Shirahama Senjo offers round-trip services to and from Kyoto Station, Shin-Osaka Station and Tennoji Station, but whether a bus runs and its fare differ by inn, so please check each inn’s page before booking.

Methodology and Sources

■ Data sources

Accommodation prices are public OTA data aggregated by the HotelBank Editorial Team. Data were retrieved on October 7, 2026 for stay dates from October 7 to December 31, 2026, collecting the “listed price for one room with two guests, tax included” for each stay date at four former Yukai Resort inns. Days counted: Awazu Grand Hotel N=69 days, Wan Wan Resort Awazu N=83 days, Yamanaka Grand Hotel N=86 days, TAOYA Shirahama Senjo N=86 days. The merger history, brand positioning and facility counts were confirmed from the published materials and press coverage listed below; old and new names were confirmed from the integration announcement, official releases and OTA listing names (as of October 7, 2026).

■ Calculation assumptions

For each stay date we took the lowest price among plans on sale; the minimum of those values is the “lowest in period” and the simple average across all days is the “daily average of cheapest plan”. The “Mon–Thu average” and “Fri–Sat average” are averages of the same values split by the day of the week of the stay date. The “per person” guide is the two-guest rate divided by two.

■ Limitations and caveats

Listed prices are not actual transacted prices, and the meal terms and room type of the cheapest plan may differ by stay date. The four inns are examples chosen one per brand and do not represent brand-wide averages. For Awazu Grand Hotel, only stay dates from October 24 onward are counted. No comparison with pre-merger prices was made. Facility counts are the figures published at the time of each announcement, and direct buses and member plans vary by inn and season, so please rely on what is displayed at booking and on each inn’s guidance.

■ Sources

• Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Hotels & Resorts press release, “All 66 facilities operated by the two companies to become the Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Group” (September 2, 2024; in Japanese)
• Yukai Resort press release (simultaneous opening of Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Premium Kaga Maruya and Gero Honkan, September 2, 2024; in Japanese)
• Travel Voice, “Ooedo Onsen Monogatari and Yukai Resort to unify under the ‘Ooedo Onsen Monogatari’ brand, creating one of Japan’s largest casual hot-spring inn groups with 66 facilities nationwide” (October 28, 2024; in Japanese)
• Travel Voice, “Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Group targets 100 facilities and ¥120 billion in sales by 2030, expanding its hot-spring ryokan turnaround business” (June 11, 2026; in Japanese)
• TRAICY, “‘TAOYA Shirahama Senjo’ reopens under new brand on November 1; formerly Yukai Resort Premium Hotel Senjo” (November 7, 2024; in Japanese)
• Travel Watch, “Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Enakyo reopens as ‘Premium’ with a new observation bath and rooms with open-air baths” (in Japanese)