Oyado Konoha — Hotel in Kusatsu

We loved our stay here! The onsen area is amazing (make sure you walk outside where the doors are to see the best open-air one with views of the mounrains), everything you eat is delicious, and the staff is very kind. We would book it again in a heartbeat!

A few things to note: Very little English is spoken, which should be expected since you're in Japan, but just be ready with Google translate. The rooms get VERY hot and humid at night, but temperature can't be controlled in each room. We opened up our window to combat this. The rooms themselves look they could use a few updates, like the very worn and scratched tatami. And new samue (the outfits you wear around) could be added into rotation since all of the uniforms we got were very worn and faded. The walk is pretty far from town. About 15-20 minutes up and down some pretty steep mountain trails. There is a shuttle, but the English version of the pamphlet didn't do a great job of telling us where it would pick us up or drop us off, and when. They mentioned a bus during check-in that was a 15-minute walk away, but I think that was the bus to locations outside of Kusatsu if you wanted to venture out. If we stayed again, we would ask for clarification here, so make sure you do if you want to use it.

Overall,...

We stayed here last December for one night during our first trip to Kusatsu and we’re so impressed we came back again April 1st for two nights that turned into three—we don’t want to leave so we added an extra night! From the moment we entered the hotel and removed our shoes, it seemed like our stress and every-day worries were removed as well— the staff is so nice, so sincere, and really made us feel like our comfortable stay was important to them. The onsen facilities are great: indoor and outdoor, and their private onsens are great for couples, or families. The location is just far enough away from the center of town to feel nicely removed, but close enough for a nice little walk to the places of interest: restaurants, onsens, and cool little shops— and of course, the hot spring waterfall in the middle of town. We loved it and may even go back even though my time in Japan is coming to an end and there many more things to see...

Very high CP value! Super nice onsen hotel!

Dinner: last order at 19:30, but we were in traffic jam so we called the hotel, and the maximum deadline they allow is 20:00. Food is in semi-buffet and quite good, with shabu shabu and buffet with plenty of choices, such as thick udon and tea soup rice.

Room: tatami is thicker and quite comfortable compared to normal ones.

Onsen: they are shared with the adjacent hotel, with 2 public baths per gender and 3 private baths (for free) served on a first-come-first-served basis. In the night time, we waited for around 15-30 mins for the private bath, while in the morning they were all available. Both public & private bath has great views. Good...