Beautiful ryokan in Shiretoko area?

I am going up there in fall! It is where I will complete a four week travel odyssey so I want to luxuriate a bit.

Looking online I see places in Utoro; but I can only find big hotels. They look comfy enough, but I am hoping for some smaller scale Japanese elegance, perhaps even with a family-run feel. But not backpackerish.

And if not Utoro, what about Iwaobestsu or Rausu?

In any case, what is the nicest ryokan in that part of Hokkaido to enjoy 2 beautiful nights before flying out of Memanbetsu?

This is not a luxury hotel/ryokan but has a nice view of the ocean and in Utoro.

IRUKA HOTEL
http://www.iruka-hotel.com/en/iruka_top_en.shtml

Thanks. It looks like a good place for us on another visit (and we will be back, I think.) I am intrigued by the ice diving.

But for this occasion I am still hoping for something more elegant or luxurious.

I was up in that area a couple of years ago, and tried beforehand to find a luxurious ryokan via the internet, and failed...I couldn't find anything like what you're looking for.
As it turned out we only made it as far as Lake Akan (we meandered a bit and there was a road closed) so I don't know what you can find there by just showing up...but I really couldn't find anything but big resort hotels or little minshuku. Good luck!

Thanks for the reality check.

New idea: if we go to Shiretoko a few days earler, and then "conclude" at a beautiful place elsewhere in NE Hokkaido, perhaps Akan area.

Do you think I might find my heart's desire there? (ie a romantic, comfortable ryokan as a last taste of traditional Japan)

It does, after all, seem like the kind of thing that a UNESCO World Heritage Zone should offer.

But I digress. Alternative ryokan suggestions, anybody?

I cannot find a top-class ryokan in Shiretoko, either. Some of the better ones I found are the following two, both located in Utoro:

Shiretoko Prince Hotel
http://www.shiretoko-kazanamiki.com/
I stayed there, and I found it to be a typical mid-class Prince Hotel.

Hotel Shiretoko:
http://www.hotel-shiretoko.com/
Suspiciously few photos of the building on their website.

We stayed there last October. It is a large resort hotel at the hilltop with a good view of the Sea of Okhotsk. The outdoor spa is good and the dinner buffet-style with good seafood varieties to choose. It is crowded with tourists and students, otherwise, enjoyable with good scenery and clean air.