The Deer Park Inn — Hotel in Nara

I just checked out of this Inn. My stay was lovely. Beautiful rooms, common space clean and well-stocked, in-room amenities, kind staff, and a peaceful location.

🔸Check-in I checked in at 19:00. The staff was really kind (and knowledgeable about hospitality laws - I said I’m a resident and he didn’t pester me for a passport). He gave me a quick tour of the shared spaces, and showed me straight to my room. Note: there is a genkan where you remove your shoes and change into slippers to wear in the inn. Also, there are limited food/convenience stores up on the hill. Eat beforehand, and stop at a convenience store in the city if you need snacks or food for the kitchen.

🔸Rooms The rooms are 12/10. The minimalist design with natural wood and muted tones was so calming. I relaxed so much just sitting by the window. There’s a small rack for hanging clothes, a double bed with amazing pillows, and two chairs with a small table. It’s essentially a ryokan with a western touch. Under the bed there was a drawer with towels, toothbrush kit, cotton set, and a hairdryer. I had a window facing the park, looking over a small grass patch where deer were hanging out in the morning. Note: The walls were a little thin - I could clearly hear people walking in the hall and using the sink, and the person snoring in the room next to me. Bring earplugs.

🔸Common space So beautifully designed. There is a lounge with sofas and a large common table, also a bookshelf with Japanese and English books. There is also a fully stocked kitchen with a stove and fridge, plus a rice cooker, kettle, and cookware and condiments like soy sauce and spices. There is also a laundry room, 1 wash cycle is ¥300 and a dryer cycle is ¥100 for I think 20 minutes. There were 4 showers and 2 toilets, all very clean. The toilets sadly don’t have a bidet. Note: most of the signs around are in Japanese, or poorly translated. It’d be good if the staff could make more English signage because some guests were struggling to use the washing machine with everything written in Japanese.

🔸Location Being up on the hill has pros and cons. You’re in the middle of nature, Kasuga Taisha is literally across the street, the hill is just behind the inn, and there are deer and trees all around. It’s very peaceful and relaxing. That said, it’s a little isolated. Not many food options or shops nearby, and limited public transportation. Make sure to buy and eat everything you need in the city before heading to the inn. There are a few busses heading up the hill, and some of the stops are far from the inn. Once you leave for the day you’re probably not coming back until the end of the day, so keep that in mind. I ended up taking a taxi from the city up to the inn for ¥1350.

🔸Summary All around excellent place to stay, I’m glad I chose it over a place in the city. It’s beautiful, clean, and really friendly. I’d definitely come back next time...

Sep 2024 We stayed here for 5 nights and had a pleasant time. The owner was very friendly and recommend us some routes to explore the park.

Location: The inn is inside the park, a 5-minute walk (including stairs) to the nearest bus stop. Buses start running early, and it's better to buy the 1-day pass (600¥) instead of using an IC card. The bus fare is 250¥ per ride, so it only takes 3 rides to cover the cost of the pass. If you're planning to explore the city, you'll be using the bus a lot more than that.

For some people, this location might be inconvenient because there's nothing nearby for food and drink at night. However, we purposely chose this inn because we love hiking around the park and wanted to take our time exploring. You can easily access Todaiji, hike to Mt. Wakakusa right behind the inn for a sunset city view, or take a bus to Naramachi. I personally recommend walking to Todaiji at night to see the two Nio guardian statues. The nighttime atmosphere is tranquil, and with the soft dim light from the lanterns, it feels almost magical.

Facilities Our room was clean and quite spacious, with three windows offering park views. It came with a hair dryer, two bath towels, and single-use toothbrushes and toothpaste. Our room's AC took a while to cool the space, but everything else was good.

They have 3 shower rooms and 2 toilets, all of which were clean. The water pressure was very good, and all bathrooms had shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel.

The common kitchen is fully equipped. Almost everyone staying at the inn bought food from 7-Eleven for breakfast the next morning. The inn also provides instant noodles for 250¥ per cup. Coffee, cocoa, and green tea are free.

The wood floor is quite old so it will creak as you walk. They also have a “quiet time” which is after 11pm ‘til 8am, all the lights in the common space will be turn off. A washing machine is available for 300¥ per wash, and the dryer costs 100¥ for 10 minutes.

The inn also has several maps introducing Nara and some local spots, including a bus route map and a sake guide. I actually tried a spot from the sake guide and...

Staying here overnight was BEST decision ever!! Epic, to wake up with deer sleeping under your windows and to observe them play while having breakfast by your small balcony. If you go up the stairs you will find many souvenir shops and food being sold but they all close at 5 p.m. the Inn can sell you instant noodles and similar, they are behind the counter in the large kitchen. You can even cook your own dinner or warm up your dishes in the microwave or the small oven. Bathroom and toilets are shared but very clean. They provide one towel and toiletries are in the shower box. There is another guesthouse underneath, that caters to families who the children. The staff was very nice and recommended best places to see the deer in natural setting and for a fantastic sunset on the terrace of a cool temple! Everything in the building was new and stylish, very hip interior design! Way better than expected. Also, why would you stay at a hotel in the city when you can stay here in the forest and nature with all World Heritage sites within 15 minutes walk!! We stayed 2 nights and was definitely not enough, would love to stay a week here!! The deer are adorable and less dangerous than you would think! Also they eat leaves from surrounding trees, you don't really need to buy them crackers. It was an amazing vacation time, we bought delicious pizza from the Happy Kitchen Kin-no-Shika and had it for dinner and breakfast in the beautiful Deer Park Inn! It was very quiet when we stayed in August 2020 and unforgettable! Can't...