There is plenty here to tempt you out of the hot spring. Our favourites include Ryu Zushi, Miyanoya, Keyakien and Yuge. Further afield in Koide, Yamani is worth the trip if you enjoy grilled offal. For something casual in Echigo-Yuzawa, try hegi-soba — buckwheat noodles made with a seaweed binder — at Shinbashi, or crisp pork cutlets at Ninjintei. Kodamaya in Urasa calls itself a family restaurant. Its cooking is rather more ambitious than that sounds.
For an evening out by train, head to Muikamachi: Kinari for Japanese pub food, Hijiri for grilled chicken skewers, Uonuma Kamakura for a little of everything, kankan for pizza, relaxed Baro, or Naniwa Chaya for a course meal booked ahead. Finish with a drink at EVER LASTING. Check the last train before ordering another: evening services finish early.
Closer to the stay, local favourites include Dosanko, Tabataya and ramen shop Gotaru. These are separate outings, not shops on the walk from the station; plan your route, especially in winter.
For a breakfast worth getting up for, Farm Front Seki Noen is about five minutes away by car and opens from 9:30. We do not serve breakfast, but offer bread and coffee as a courtesy, and sell Jiyujin’s curries, prepared dishes and rice. The restaurant links will help with opening days and reservations; some are in Japanese. A little planning leaves more time for eating.

Iron gives the sodium-calcium chloride hot-spring water its cloudy brown colour. More than 200 litres per minute flow through the baths. The main bath area has a Bona sauna and a steam sauna; an outdoor wood-fired sauna operates on holidays only. Even the cold bath uses spring water cooled by a chiller.
This is also the headquarters and editorial office of Jiyujin, which began as a magazine publisher. Our staff share the baths, saunas, entrance, kitchen and lounge with guests. An office with a hot spring sounded like a good idea to us. It still does.

This building began life as a day-use hot spring, with banquet halls and rooms for a long, lazy rest after a bath. Those spaces have been reworked into guest rooms by Yuko Kosaka, a designer based in nearby Nagaoka. Same affection for a good soak; a rather different place to spend the night.
The main baths were designed by Kentaro Imai, whose work includes many Japanese public bathhouses. Beyond them, Mount Makihata, Mount Hakkai and the rice fields change with the seasons. The landscape does quite a bit of the decorating for us.