Minshuku Echigoya — Hotel in Shiojiri

My family and 2 friends stayed for a night. |Location: quintessential Japanese Yadoba. Simply beautiful hamlet. It is next to a very busy mountain highway 19 with constant rumble of the goods truck, AND a railway track which has passenger trains up to just before midnight, then freight trains a few times during the night. So, it is not a quiet accommodation at all.|Room: We occupied 2 rooms. Traditional and beautifully preserved ryokan style rooms. No mold smell, generally very clean. The futon beds smelled fresh and quite comfortable to sleep in.|Facilities: Again, beautifully preserved and clean. Nothing there was "out of place" and everything I saw there seemed authentic. The bathroom was quite small and we were told the boilers would shut down at 10pm. We had to rush our dinner to make sure we all had a chance to bathe, but the bath was not hot when we wanted to get in.|Food was quite nice. Not the best I've had for this type of setting and price but it was plenty and good quality.|Management: Noise and the managers' lack of hospitality are the reasons for the poor mark. There were a few very simple errors made by the management. We booked the accommodation notifying that we are a family of 2 plus an infant and 2 friends. Despite this information, they expected us to sleep in one room. Upon requesting another room, he hesitated and told us that they would struggle to meet last minute requests. We also informed them that we had an infant. Zero preparations were offered to accommodate the baby. When we asked to use the microwave to clean the feeding bottles, they offered to bring the steriliser bag from us to the kitchen. We had several bottles to clean and this solution was not workable. Generally speaking, every request we made was met with a hint of hesitation or...

My family and 2 friends stayed for a night. |Location: quintessential Japanese Yadoba. Simply beautiful hamlet. It is next to a very busy mountain highway 19 with constant rumble of the goods truck, AND a railway track which has passenger trains up to just before midnight, then freight trains a few times during the night. So, it is not a quiet accommodation at all.|Room: We occupied 2 rooms. Traditional and beautifully preserved ryokan style rooms. No mold smell, generally very clean. The futon beds smelled fresh and quite comfortable to sleep in.|Facilities: Again, beautifully preserved and clean. Nothing there was "out of place" and everything I saw there seemed authentic. The bathroom was quite small and we were told the boilers would shut down at 10pm. We had to rush our dinner to make sure we all had a chance to bathe, but the bath was not hot when we wanted to get in.|Food was quite nice. Not the best I've had for this type of setting and price but it was plenty and good quality.|Management: Noise and the managers' lack of hospitality are the reasons for the poor mark. There were a few very simple errors made by the management. We booked the accommodation notifying that we are a family of 2 plus an infant and 2 friends. Despite this information, they expected us to sleep in one room. Upon requesting another room, he hesitated and told us that they would struggle to meet last minute requests. We also informed them that we had an infant. Zero preparations were offered to accommodate the baby. When we asked to use the microwave to clean the feeding bottles, they offered to bring the steriliser bag from us to the kitchen. We had several bottles to clean and this solution was not workable. Generally speaking, every request we made was met with a hint of hesitation or...

We were so grateful that we got the opportunity to stay here! Echigoya Ryokan only allows its guests to stay 1 night, in order to give more people the opportunity to experience this special place. (There are only 2 rooms in this ryokan) But one night is all you need in Narai, and quite simply a fantastic one! ||||It may seem quite pricey to stay here, but what you get to experience and considering all the delicious and authentic meals included, its definitely worth every penny!||||Echigoya is run by a wonderfully warm and friendly family. The ryokan has been run by the same family for 9 generations. The ryokan is over 200 years old, but has been well looked after and maintained. Our room was on the ground floor, and had a beautiful view of the forest and autumn colours. The room is large, consisting of 2 sections, one for sleeping and eating, and one for relaxing and drinking tea :)||||You are provided with kimono's and coats, socks, towels and facecloths. ||||The meals were authentic Japanese meals and absolutely delicious! Meals are served in your room by the very humble and hospitable owner. He will explain every course and how they make it, which we found very interesting. ||||The bathroom facilities were very good and everything was spotless and clean. We loved the hot tub which we soaked and relaxed in on a very cold autumn evening. ||||We slept like babies on the extremely comfortable tatami beds under thick duck feather down duvets. ||||Waking up feeling revived and rejuvenated, we were ready for the next part of our journey. We loved every moment at Echigoya, which is a very...