Hotel Associa Takayama Resort — Hotel in Takayama

I really liked the hotel and better than expected given some of the reviews. Key points: it is outside of the town so you have to get the shuttle and very limited taxi availability at certain times of day. Although the views you get are amazing the rooms are well sized and shower powerful the hotel is dated. Think your grandmas house. Having said that I really liked it. It had a certain vintage chic! Everything is very clean and well maintained. Don’t expect modern contemporary the hotel seems to be a hub for big tour companies and the car park is full of large coaches. It therefore feels very transient. This didn’t bother us as we were only staying to a couple of days the spa/onsen is excellent. Beautiful views with a large area, sauna and great changing rooms the buffet food is good for a buffet. Again don’t expect premium food but the quality is good and it is clear the chefs care about their cooking

My only complaint and this seems to be consistent with other feedback is that we had an issue with one of the staff on the front desk. We needed to get an early train and on trying to book a taxi the day before there were no taxis. When we asked the reception member what to do he shrugged his shoulders. We said we would pay extra for the shuttle bus to do a separate journey, again he said no. We asked him for a solution otherwise we will miss our train and he just kept saying no. This may have been a language issue but it didn’t make us feel good. Fortunately another family had convinced a different member of staff to put on an earlier bus and we took that. Otherwise we would have missed our train for a 5 hour journey.

In conclusion; set your expectations right and this is a good spot for a stay...

The hotel is large and spacious, with three interconnected buildings featuring an onsen, or hot spring, on the sixth floor.The breakfast room's capacity is somewhat limited; we were seated on the third floor, a ballroom repurposed for breakfast, while the typical restaurant is on the second floor. Although the food is the same, the third-floor location lacks the ambiance and view of the second floor. While I understand that the hotel has many guests during peak hours, allowing guests to choose their seating would be preferable. We are not in a rush and are willing to wait; Japanese guests tend to eat quickly anyway.The room and hot spring were satisfactory, though unremarkable.The hotel's location is not convenient to the train station. If you are traveling by train, this should be considered, even though a shuttle bus...

Clean, big rooms with nice room and great view, laundry facilities that were easy to use. Very attentive when requesting new amenities on phone from room. Air con controlled by hotel, so only able to adjust by a few degrees in room, seems a bit ridiculous that can’t access own aircon. Onsen facilities large, clean and good (no tattoos allowed for ref) However, lots of facilities were closed, quite out of town but free shuttle available & shop on site. Restaurant manager very nice however breakfast receptionist quite rude, we were told 6.30 for breakfast but actually 7. Restaurant expensive so ended up eating out in the town and getting shuttle bus. Reception staff could have been a bit more helpful, but lots of guests to look after. Lots of tour groups here so bit of a cattle hotel, quite Corperate, not sure...