旅館さかや・離れ「寿命延 Jonnobi」 — Hotel in Nozawaonsen

Keep in mind that a ryokan is a traditional Japanese accommodation. If you want the Western style hotel, don’t choose a ryokan. If you do want this experience, this is a delightful choice. Ryokans are not cheap accommodation. In staying true to the traditions you will have small bathrooms. After all, most will use the onsens. You will sleep on the futon on the floor unless you ask for a western room and then you get a solid base for your mattress. It is different from western expectations but I have always found the beds comfortable. We chose the Western room. If you are tall you may want this option to save bumping your head continuously. The rooms are quiet and well appointed. The rooms are reasonable size for Japanese rooms and divided into various sections with a separated area to sit around the coffee table and sip green tea and enjoy the view. The onsens are good. There is no actual outside pool, which we have enjoyed in the past, but it does have two private onsens apart from the usual ladies’ and men’s Onsen. There are no reservations for these private onsens. You just use it if it’s free and we mostly found we could use them. They fit just two. We didn’t try the dinner there but we did enjoy the breakfast buffet with a good selection of western and Japanese food of good quality. I enjoyed the yoghurt and fruit and scrambled eggs and then tried the various Japanese offerings. There is sufficient English spoken for effective communication. The hotel gave us good tips for eating out and made many reservations for us. The hotel is right next to the steep but short path to the Yu Road/ covered moving walkway to the ski slopes. Very convenient. We used a locker at the top for our walking shoes during the day so we didn’t have to trudge uphill in ski boots and we used the ski locker for overnight. The hotel is ideally situated for the slopes as well as the Main Street for restaurants , shops etc. Just a few steps across from the hotel is a public foot Onsen which we enjoyed a few times. I thoroughly recommend the Jon Nobi if you want to immerse yourself in the Japanese experience and yet have some of the Western aspects that add to comfort. The staff are very welcoming, friendly and helpful. There is a peaceful and comfortable atmosphere that is...

Stayed here 6 nights. Nice traditional room with western beds, quite low though. Firmish mattress, I think they were pretty old but still OK comfortwise. Plenty of room compared to a couple of hotels we stayed at in Tokyo so that was a big positive. It's location is just about perfect, just a brief wander up the hill to Yu Road and you're at the slopes. We took a stroll around the whole village one day and we're so glad we picked Jonnobe.||It is however getting tired and is need of a freshen up.||The breakfast is...interesting! Sort of across between western and Japanese food buffet so you can load up before a big day skiing/boarding.||||One negative, I'm quite sensitive to to dust and our room was making my sinuses go wild, so it was clearly dusty or the tatami mats may have been releasing tiny spores of whatever. Fortunately the COVID-19 outbreak had made me get some masks so I just wore a mask whenever in the room, even sleeping. Peculiarly, a couple of days weren't as bad as others. I can only assume that some cleaning and vacuuming had been done to reduce airborne allergens.||||The onsens are awesome. A soak after a hard day on the slopes was exquisite and invigorating.||||And not sure if this is a positive or negative, Nozawa Onsen seemed to be full of fellow Aussies! Both visitors and staff at various facilities i.e shops, food outlets, accommodation places etc. Good to be able to communicate easily but it sort of detracted from the uniqueness...

The rooms are actually divided by Shoji screens into 3 different areas. There is an entry which the toilet and bathroom are off then into the main living /sleeping room and then a further room for sitting. Our room had a view over a hot spring and topiaried trees covered in snow. Just like a Japanese painting!||The beds, which are futon foam mattresses, are put into your room when you go for dinner. If you come back early from the ski fields (and need a lie down) just ask for the futon (not the bed it's confusing!) to be reinstalled. We found them comfortable as we are used to a firm mattress.||The room was warm enough that we turned off the AC at night.||It was fun trying different things for breakfast and you are encouraged to wear the robes and footwear from your room around the Hotel.||Staff are charming, friendly and helpful and many people were return guests. We would...