Nakamurakan — Hotel in Takayama

My girlfriend and I stayed here in Sept 2013. We were satisfied and would recommend this hotel for budget-concious people looking for a Ryokan experience. ||||This paragraph is just a personal experience: Given the few guests during our stay, the stuffed animals, dim corridors at night and that it was in the middle of a mountain village, the Ryokan felt slightly creepy, like the movie The Shining. I would not call this a good or a bad thing, but the creepiness made it one of our more memorable nights in Japan just due to the atmosphere; I look back fondly on it. Note we had a satsifactory sleep.||||Value (9/10) - Includes breakfast and dinner.||||Location (9/10) - 5 minutes walk from bus station. Surprised by the beautiful mountain vista upon opening my curtains in the morning.||||Food (7/10) - Food tasted ok and was filling. The variety was ok. However, some of the items felt dry / overcooked and the ingredients were not the best quality. Can't complain given the price. Food is served in a dining hall. Tip: the bus station has a surprisingly very decent beef set.||||Onsen (9/10) - Divided into males and females, with indoor and outdoor sections. For males, indoors were large, clean and well appointed compared to other onsens we had visited. There is also an indoor hot pool. Outdoors had a hot spring set in stones and a large-ish wooden tub. These had views of the mountains, which made for a very memorable experience. A great way to end a day of hiking in Kamikochi.||||Service (7/10) - Good as expected in Japan. English speaking front desk.||||Sleep quality (6/10) - Was too hot, so we had to open the window. We slept on futons on the tatami floor. Japanese style pillow was hard.||||Rooms (6/10) - Traditional japanese style with tatami. En suite bathroom was satisfactory. Large compared to Tokyo. Decor felt abit dated. ||||Cleanliness (7/10) - Rooms and onsen felt generally clean.||||Atmosphere (7/10) - The hotel decor feels dated. A lot of wood panelling and it has stuffed animals in the corridor (including a bear, a snake and a racoon playing ball... Now that's unique!) giving it a...

My girlfriend and I stayed here in Sept 2013. We were satisfied and would recommend this hotel for budget-concious people looking for a Ryokan experience. ||||This paragraph is just a personal experience: Given the few guests during our stay, the stuffed animals, dim corridors at night and that it was in the middle of a mountain village, the Ryokan felt slightly creepy, like the movie The Shining. I would not call this a good or a bad thing, but the creepiness made it one of our more memorable nights in Japan just due to the atmosphere; I look back fondly on it. Note we had a satsifactory sleep.||||Value (9/10) - Includes breakfast and dinner.||||Location (9/10) - 5 minutes walk from bus station. Surprised by the beautiful mountain vista upon opening my curtains in the morning.||||Food (7/10) - Food tasted ok and was filling. The variety was ok. However, some of the items felt dry / overcooked and the ingredients were not the best quality. Can't complain given the price. Food is served in a dining hall. Tip: the bus station has a surprisingly very decent beef set.||||Onsen (9/10) - Divided into males and females, with indoor and outdoor sections. For males, indoors were large, clean and well appointed compared to other onsens we had visited. There is also an indoor hot pool. Outdoors had a hot spring set in stones and a large-ish wooden tub. These had views of the mountains, which made for a very memorable experience. A great way to end a day of hiking in Kamikochi.||||Service (7/10) - Good as expected in Japan. English speaking front desk.||||Sleep quality (6/10) - Was too hot, so we had to open the window. We slept on futons on the tatami floor. Japanese style pillow was hard.||||Rooms (6/10) - Traditional japanese style with tatami. En suite bathroom was satisfactory. Large compared to Tokyo. Decor felt abit dated. ||||Cleanliness (7/10) - Rooms and onsen felt generally clean.||||Atmosphere (7/10) - The hotel decor feels dated. A lot of wood panelling and it has stuffed animals in the corridor (including a bear, a snake and a racoon playing ball... Now that's unique!) giving it a...

If you intend to visit Kamikochi, Mount Norikura, Shin-Hotaka Ropeway or other sights in the area, then Hirayu Onsen is a very convenient place to look for accommodation - much more so than Matsumoto or Takayama, as you would have to change buses in Hirayu Onsen anyway. We chose to stay in Nakamurakan because they offered a plan without meals for a considerably lower price. This way we could opt for only one night with the full ryokan experience (with dinner and breakfast), and another cheaper night so that we can have enough time to explore the area. We are very happy with our decision.||||The location of this ryokan is excellent, just a 2 minute walk from the Hirayu Onsen bus terminal. The dinner was a very interesting experience - a lot of food and many types of dishes. The Hida Beef stew was especially delicious. We didn't enjoy the breakfast as much, though. Our room was clean and huge (both in Japanese and western standards) and the en-suite bathroom and toilets were separated (with the sink outside both of them), which was very convenient.||||We also really enjoyed bathing in the natural hot spring baths: there are public baths (segregated by gender; we haven't used them) and private outdoor baths (free to reserve in 30 minute intervals). We definitely recommend bathing in these outdoor baths, even if it's freezing outside!||||Minor complaints: the room smelled of cigarette smoke, although it was a non-smoking room (it seems like the odor is coming from the ventilation system). Towels can only be exchanged for a fee. The fridge in the room is actually a minibar, so it is mostly occupied by drinks for sale. Wifi only...