Sasara — Hotel in Gero

This is a traditional ryokan. The reception was friendly and professional including tea served in your room upon arrival and an orientation as to the various utilities and yukatas. ||||The room was similar to other ryokans we have visited: large with a low table and two chairs in the centre of the room which are replaced by two comfortable futons put into place while we were at dinner. ||||The difference in this ryokan was a small dressing room with a vanity hidden by a natural beam in the corner of the room as well as four upright chairs in front of a long natural beam table in front of the large picture window. ||||I can understand while some reviewers would see the room as being slightly dated with its dark trim but this is offset by bright halls with their floral carpeting and beautiful stained glass windows.||||As well, the traditional food was superb - artistically prepared and extremely tasty - with multiple dishes served by our gracious hostess. Given the recent investiture of the new Emperor we had a special menu prepared for Year #1 of Reiwa (the name of the Emperor's era). ||||The onsen was equally excellent, with various pools. A great place to start and end the day. All in all an...

The hotel is settled in the middle of Gero Hot Spring town, short walk from the train station and can also be reached via bus from Kamikochi area. The hotel itself is very clean and well maintained. You can feel the spirit of older times in this hotel with a lot of beautifully selected decoration pieces. The manager showed us around and even offered us a new room since I accidentally booked one without shower (we declined that offer since we only wanted to stay for one night). That’s why we used the Onsen area for showering which is beautiful and includes all amenities. View above Gero and including an outside Onsen area to watch the sunrise. The staff was very friendly, the manager even drove us to the bus station since we forgot our jackets in the bus. The bar is well-equipped and a great place for a drink or two. One of the best parts was the breakfast. Never had such a good Japanese breakfast before- delicious, served in a private room, beautifully arranged. Next time we want to try their dinner :-)We felt like family and I can recommend anyone going to Gero to stay at this great hotel! Thanks again for your...

I honestly cannot recommend this hotel. |Stayed two nights there. It’s 15 minutes walk uphill from JR station (I later found out hotel provides free taxi services refund trip though). |The hotel itself was probably nice two decades back. Just not anymore. |Don’t be fooled by the food they post on their website, trust me, you get nothing like that. We had bean curd (which was bitter) and miso and pickles and main one day, strawberry mousse as starter the other, crab tasted so fishy I couldn’t swallow it. Most importantly, they serve their rice COLD (probably has to do with them preparing everything in advice to minimize the time they need to serve). Female server also rushed us through everything and gave us a mini lecture on how we need to put out the ‘Please Clean the Room’ tag before we go out when we were about to eat (she was rushing by through every courses we had ended up finishing dinner within 35 minutes).|Hotel staff at front desk was very helpful though. |The only good thing about this place would be the in-room onsen and the very comfortable beddings. |Plenty of better choices at similar prices...