Takachiho Kamikakure — Hotel in Takachiho

This accommodation has been voted no. 1 hotel/ ryokan at Takachiho, an isolated hamlet in the mountains where there r few ryokans n hotels. We paid over 490,000yen a nite staying at the Jade villa of this ryokan where the decoration is predominantly green : green sofa, cushions, lime-green window shades, gorgeously green carpet, n greenery outside the room . The Jade villa is clean n large. It has a bathroom with your own private onsen. The water is ordinary spring water, non-therapeutic quality. ||The good :||Mr Jiro, the owner is extremely friendly, polite n a very nice man. He came to the Takachiho bus station to meet us, n took us to the gorge so we could sightsee n have lunch. He also came later to fetch us from the gorge to the ryokan at 3pm. The next morning, we were taken to the bus station in a taxi paid by the ryokan. We had a good, restful time during our stay. ||At this price, we had high expectations of the dinner. It was slightly above average. What we enjoyed was the grilled river fish. After dinner we did walk over to the shrine (7mins) to watch the Kagura Dance but left after 45mins as I found dancers wearing masks quite scary. Besides, when u r on the move during your vacation, u r much too sleepy for an 8pm show.||To be improved :||The room needs heavy duty shade n curtains to shield guests from the rising sun as it gets bright at 4.30am (in summer). The light woke me up. ||Personal assessment -||Takachiho is about 3 hours by bus (Yes it is a long way) from Kumamoto, thus my decision to stay for the nite at Takachiho, (but u don't need to- u can take the 4pm bus back to Kumamoto). ||||Kamigakure is ||9/10 for welcome n friendliness,||8 /10 for comfort, ||7 /10 for food n ||7.5 /10 for value-for-money.||||Tip 1 : Call a day earlier to inform the ryokan if u need transport from the bus station.||Tip 2 : Since u r paying quite a lot for the room, make sure u arrive early at Takachiho || to sightsee around the gorge n check-in at 3pm to rest n enjoy the stay. ||Tip 3 : We called the ryokan directly to book, n...

My husband and I was visiting the Takachiho area back in May for my birthday. We never have stayed in this area before and we think we should try. After doing some research online, we have decided on this one and we are not disappointed but very impressed in fact. ||This is a boutique ryokan with only several rooms. It is around 5 mins drive from the Takachiho Gorge and is located not on the main road but a very quiet street (please make sure you check the gps carefully or you may miss it). Each rooms are in its individual house inside the ryokan area. Our room/house is in the very inside and when they are showing us the way from reception, we both feel like we are having a holiday on a tropical island. The settings, the design and the deco are making us feel like we are having a tropical vacation lol. Very relaxing. ||The room is a very modern beautiful designer-type Japanese style room. The room size is huge too!!! And they have indoor bath (not onsen though I suppose) and a very spacious bathroom area (they even have provided guests their own amenities kit/case like those that you received when flying business class. First time I received such a thing despite I have stayed in different Japanese ryokan for more than 20 times. Very thoughtful!). Their beds are very comfy too!! No complain at all!! ||Talking about service, yes, they provided excellent service! Their staffs are always wearing a smile and they are very polite and are taking very good care of us. They even have celebrated my birthday by providing a very yummy birthday cake and a mini birthday billboard. Their restaurant served good yummy food, too. ||We have enjoyed our stay a lot, especially the price isn’t too expensive given this kind of high quality room and service. Excellent and highly recommended!!! Although it is not those traditional Japanese ryokan style, you won’t be disappointed and it’s worth giving it a try if you are around that area and want to have an...

We were a group of three girls traveling from Malaysia and decided to stay a night here to watch the Yokagura. While Shion is normally suitable for two, we were able to book for three. They have two western beds and an added futon during our stay. The kotatsu was also warm and toasty, perfect for evening chatters after a day of adventure.

With prior communication via email check in process was very smooth. We drove to Takachiho so we informed them our car plate number and details in advance since we didn't have a Japanese phone number. We also visited during autumn so they attentively placed a cover on our windscreen overnight as the night was very cold (single digit Celsius) and it was pleasant to notice how attentive they were throughout our stay.

The meals provided were both wonderful and delicious, sourced from local ingredients too. I enjoyed both the breakfast and dinner, and had quite the refill of rice because it was really delicious.

Additionally, the staff were also very attentive, answering queries I had for our booking (communication was done in Japanese). Location is not too far from Takachiho shrine, but they also provided shuttle van for us to travel right after our dinner, and since we missed our dessert, they attentively sent them to our rooms when we were back from Yokagura.

Is it expensive? Perhaps if you looked at the price alone, but with consideration of the services and meals, and the luxury of indoor hot springs, I'd say that it was worth every yen I spent.

A short review isn't enough for me to mention how much I appreciate the service provided. Thank you very much and I hope to be able to enjoy another vacation in Takachiho soon, and I'd be glad to come back when there's another opportunity....