湯の平館 — Hotel in Takayama

If you’d like to experience a traditional Japanese ryokan, I recommend this place. The room is very spacious and equipped with a toilet. Our room did have a slightly pungent smell but our room was closest to the onsen area and it was most likely minerals from the onsen — by the end of the night, it was bearable.

Okay, the food was GORGEOUS. Especially the Hida beef! My husband and I had Hida beef previously in Takayama so we could compare and we agree that the ryokan’s Hida beef is super high quality.

For dinner, they kept sending dish after dish to the point my belly was gonna explode. They will lay out the Hida beef, vegetables for grilling, trout and Japanese appetisers first, and then followed by rice, salmon sashimi, soba, miso soup.

For breakfast, it was a simple traditional Japanese meal but I felt it was a lot for me. It was also on the sweet soy sauce side.

The private outdoor onsen was great! It was very HOT. There’s 3 of them and they all vary in different sizes.

Some tips for the foreigners:

1. It’s only a 5 mins walk from Hirayu bus terminal — it’s easier to get here by walking by the main road rather than the side road with the construction. Please be careful when walking by the main road as there are cars and buses.

2. Since this is a very traditional Japanese ryokan, as a foreigner you need to manage your expectations. The staff here are very polite and generally keep to themselves. Their English is limited so there’s not gonna be someone who will proactively explain to you every step of the way. The food may not be to your taste. Just keep these things in mind!

3. if you’re trying to book this place, you can book directly from their website and use a Google translator — the form filling is easy. With dinner and breakfast, it costs 15,000 yen. It will be slightly cheaper for just dinner and much cheaper for...

We had a great stay at this hotel! It is much better than it looks like in the pictures.

There are 3 private onsens and 2 public ones (for men/women). The only downside are the showers without privacy, only present at the public onsens but there are not many people and it was empty every time I went. Many signs are not translated so make sure to take your phone with Google Translate not to miss important things like where the onsens are.

The dinner was amazing, very good quality and lot of quantity. You’ll have kimonos to wear so it feels very authentic.

The staff is very nice and kind as...

I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who enjoy authentic Japanese style meals and hot spring. The family run this hotel with a lot of thoughtful care and hospitality. The traditional Japanese meals were authentic and served with fresh Hida beef and local vegetables. As a hot spring lover, the hot spring were beyond expectation. There are private rooms and shared rooms for hot spring, and they all share a great view of a quiet forest. (It was snowy the day I came, and the experience of bathing in hot spring while surrounded by the snowy forest was superb.) Overall, it’s a very...