Tokinoniwa

Room quality and view exceeded my expectations as did the breakfast. Would recommend having dinner there as well in order to be able to enjoy the room and onsen more.
They provide transport from/to closest bus station but I would recommend just walking to it (about 20 min.), very green and the feeling of japanese countryside is nice.
The Yukatas are amazing (and top quality).

What could be improved: The rooms aren't soundproof (so just be careful not to get wild in those).

We absolutely loved our stay here! The staff were very kind and courteous. I don’t like it when tourists complain that the staff doesn’t speak much English — you visited a FOREIGN country that you know don’t have much English speakers so stop complaining about it and use Google Translate where you can speak into it using your own language and translate for you. The staff were the nicest people who gave excellent service! We also loved the view from our room and we loved the semi-open-air bath in our room. The food was good.

What could be improved: I would’ve preferred to have been able to try the private open-air rock bath but there was a queue so we just enjoyed the semi open air bath in our room and loved it! There were too many rooms in this ryokan and sister ryokan that share the open-air bath that’s why there is always a queue.

The both public and private outdoor baths was extremely relaxing and peaceful. Plenty of amenities in the room, including complementary drinks, tea, and snacks. Nice lounge area. Hotel shuttle bus to the hotel and station was very convenient.

What could be improved: The food had fancy presentation but was ultimately disappointing in taste. Everything tasted bland or as you expect. Nothing made me go "wow" in comparison to other ryokans I have been to. Because of this, it was a chore to get through every single course. Customer service quality varies depending if you are speaking English or Japanese. The service was nice when speaking in Japanese, but the moment we showed our passports or fail to understand a sentence, the staff switches and speaks completely in English, the quality of service drops and I felt like I am being talked down to. I understand that some of the staff's English is limited, but it was either hard to understand or too simplistic. I am not that fluent in Japanese either but I felt like I would have understood the instructions or explanations better if they kept speaking Japanese. Air condition unit could not cool, heating was the only available option in our room.

Everything was exceptional! We used the bath in our room, and all 3 of the open air private baths and all exceeded expectations. Everything and everyone was extraordinary in their service and helpfulness.

What could be improved: 1. Their website was down during our trip, so figuring out the logistics to get to the location was a bit confusing. I would recommend figuring out all travel very very early in the planning/booking stages. We ended up getting stranded in Tokyo for one night because we couldn't get out Shinkansen arrival time to match up with the last leaving bus to Kusatsu. Not entirely the fault of the resort, but it wasn't effectively communicated that the late afternoon bus (around 1:30PM) is the final bus to take towards Kusatsu.
2. There is also a bus from the Kusatsu Bus Terminal to the resort approximately every 30 minutes. Ask for this timetable in advance of your arrival because we ended up needing to walk since we did not know when the buses were arriving/leaving.
3. There is no lunch on site, so be sure to have cash on hand and be prepared to walk into town and (potentially) wait some time to eat.

A ryoukan located a bit away from the center of kusatsu onsen. It has a shuttle that departs from yhr station in the morning/afternoon and in the evening it goes from the center of kusatsu to the ryoukan.

We stayed there without food and we went to have dinner at the center of kusatsu, at a recommended soba place.

Our stay was very pleasant as we were able to enjkh the private bath in our room. But also the private baths the hotel had to offer. I also went to visit the big outside public bath in the morning. All were very pleasant experiences that gave us a well deserved break during our busy travels over Japan.

The staff also really tried their best in providing us with an english explanation.

What could be improved: Nothing