Chichibu Onsen Hanano Ya — Hotel in Chichibu

There is so much to like about this place. We stayed in the newer separate building called Hanamizuki, just down the road from the old main building. The building is great, very well-kept and tastefully furnished, and very comfortable and unpretentious. The staff are all very friendly, polite and helpful; great service overall. We took our toddler and the staff could not have been more accommodating or helpful with her. ||||The room we stayed in is pretty typical, which means a very clean and spacious Japanese room, with the bed being two comfortable mattresses on a low platform. Lots of floor space for kids to play. The room opens out onto an open-air balcony which contains a shower and your very own private bath, looking out over a forest. Very happy with the room, and the private bath was awesome.||||Dinner is served in your own private space in the dining area. Pork shabu shabu was top quality and there was plenty to eat as it was served with excellent sashimi and other good food. Breakfast was less impressive but still high-quality and reasonably filling if you don't mind a very Japanese breakfast. Coffee is available on request.||||Tip: don't pay for any alcohol in the hotel. Sake is free in the shared onsen bath, and you get a free taster set included with dinner. If you want beer or other drinks, walk down to the "michi no eki" about five minutes down the road and you can buy local beer etc. far cheaper than in the hotel itself.||||So why three stars? ||||The big problem for us was that smoking was allowed in the balcony/bath areas of each room. Twice during our one-night stay the horrible smell of cigarette smoke came into our room from some other balcony, forcing us to close the door and making our own balcony unusable for that time. The single best thing they can do is to make a smoking room somewhere on the site and make all the rooms and balconies entirely smoke free. 全部の部屋を禁煙して欲しい。||||Other than that, it was just a couple of little things. If you are arriving and leaving by train, for example, your check in and check out times will be dictated by the train timetable. We wanted to stay right up until 11am but we had to check out at 10am in order to be taken to the train. Additionally, the location is OK but not great. There's very little in the immediate area, so might not be a good "base" for sightseeing. Most people are there for the comfort and pleasure of the hotel itself it seems. Finally, you are given some "free" souvenir gifts as you checkout. Both the ones we got were relatively low-quality and not what we would have chosen, and we basically felt like it was something extra to carry when we already had lots of luggage. Advice to the management: cut the free omiyage and reduce the price by 1000 yen a night. ||||So, for some kinds of people this will be a five star, and great value for that as well. On the other hand, if the smell of cigarette smoke is a deal-breaker for you, I can't recommend you stay here at all, so three...

There is so much to like about this place. We stayed in the newer separate building called Hanamizuki, just down the road from the old main building. The building is great, very well-kept and tastefully furnished, and very comfortable and unpretentious. The staff are all very friendly, polite and helpful; great service overall. We took our toddler and the staff could not have been more accommodating or helpful with her. ||||The room we stayed in is pretty typical, which means a very clean and spacious Japanese room, with the bed being two comfortable mattresses on a low platform. Lots of floor space for kids to play. The room opens out onto an open-air balcony which contains a shower and your very own private bath, looking out over a forest. Very happy with the room, and the private bath was awesome.||||Dinner is served in your own private space in the dining area. Pork shabu shabu was top quality and there was plenty to eat as it was served with excellent sashimi and other good food. Breakfast was less impressive but still high-quality and reasonably filling if you don't mind a very Japanese breakfast. Coffee is available on request.||||Tip: don't pay for any alcohol in the hotel. Sake is free in the shared onsen bath, and you get a free taster set included with dinner. If you want beer or other drinks, walk down to the "michi no eki" about five minutes down the road and you can buy local beer etc. far cheaper than in the hotel itself.||||So why three stars? ||||The big problem for us was that smoking was allowed in the balcony/bath areas of each room. Twice during our one-night stay the horrible smell of cigarette smoke came into our room from some other balcony, forcing us to close the door and making our own balcony unusable for that time. The single best thing they can do is to make a smoking room somewhere on the site and make all the rooms and balconies entirely smoke free. 全部の部屋を禁煙して欲しい。||||Other than that, it was just a couple of little things. If you are arriving and leaving by train, for example, your check in and check out times will be dictated by the train timetable. We wanted to stay right up until 11am but we had to check out at 10am in order to be taken to the train. Additionally, the location is OK but not great. There's very little in the immediate area, so might not be a good "base" for sightseeing. Most people are there for the comfort and pleasure of the hotel itself it seems. Finally, you are given some "free" souvenir gifts as you checkout. Both the ones we got were relatively low-quality and not what we would have chosen, and we basically felt like it was something extra to carry when we already had lots of luggage. Advice to the management: cut the free omiyage and reduce the price by 1000 yen a night. ||||So, for some kinds of people this will be a five star, and great value for that as well. On the other hand, if the smell of cigarette smoke is a deal-breaker for you, I can't recommend you stay here at all, so three...

We stayed here for our wedding anniversary and it certainly didn't disappoint. This ryokan appears to be a fairly new building, built in traditional Japanese style. We had our own private onsen which was wonderful. The room was massive for a Japanese Ryokan. We had a small table with 4 chairs (seated on the floor with chair backs). The beds were on an elevated platform, with a western mattress, but a traditional Japanese quilt top. The room also had a massage chair.||||Dinner was great. We had shabu shabu (slices of meat and vegetables you swish around in boiling water to cook rapidly) and many side dishes including sashimi, noodles, pickles etc. We had our own separate dining room, with a cloth norin giving us privacy from other diners. Breakfast was also a set menu, very Japanese with rice, fish, miso soup, pickles, salad, and a soft boiled egg. There was plenty to eat with all you can eat rice and miso.||||They picked us up from the station, they even carried my wife's handbag to the room for her! It's located in a lovely, quiet town in the mountains, about 1.5 - 2 hours total from Tokyo by train.||||I think it would be a much bigger challenge to stay here if you dont speak Japanese. We do, and had a wonderful time. The staff here take service to another level,...