Aburaya Tosen — Hotel in Yamanouchi

This review was made on Tripadvisor in April 2019

This place is absolutely fantastic, it impressed me so much that I actually decided to write a review right away, before the memories fade after our trip!

The service here is top notch, and I don’t say that easily about any place. From the moment we arrived at Yudanaka station, their staff were already there with Aburaya signs waiting for us. We didn’t even have to call for a shuttle! Check-in was a breeze as well. All staff members were incredibly friendly and full of smiles, and the hotel instructions were delivered in English to us. They took our dinner and breakfast reservations at check-in, and even served us tea and a treat while checking in.

Our dinner server for both nights, Azu/Asu (?), was amazing. She was always full of smile and seemed like she genuinely enjoyed being there. We were so impressed that we asked for her name so that we can let the owner know how great she is. Our monkey park shuttle driver and check-in staff were also incredible as well, but unfortunately we didn’t get their names.

Room: We stayed in the suite with a private onsen, and while the views weren’t comparable with another ryokan we stayed in (it had a view of Mt Fuji, so it would be hard to compare anyway), it’s not as bad as what some of the reviewers said. You still get some mountain views and the bamboo window screens gave an authentic Japanese feeling.

The only thing that was a little off was the toilet area in our room - it had a tiny sink that looked a bit like a urinal. I didn’t really notice a smell, but my other half noted that there was slight weird smell in the washroom stall. We rectified the smell issue with the included incense burner. The toilet was separate from the shower/sink area due to the in-room onsen setup.

This ryokan is full of great, small touches. Like the aforementioned burner in the room, it also has a Bluetooth speaker, yukatas, socks, slippers, and nightly sweets left in our room. The room even has a Japanese teapot set! The owner came by one night during dinner to chat with us, and she did her homework because she already knew we were from Canada! Great gesture to show that she really cares about her guests.

I will definitely be recommending this place to my family and friends. And if we return to the area in the future, we will be certainly...

Absolutely impeccable. We stayed in two types of rooms because we booked pretty late -- the standard tatami room as well as one of the new suites.

Let's start with the service. We were greeted the moment our car pulled in and treated with incredible attention to detail throughout the entire stay. Attention to detail like:

There's no check in line -- you just sit and enjoy some matcha and local sweets while the staff figure it out.

The little pocket with your room number on it has the next day's weather forecast hand written for you

Tiny sweets in the room are SO GOOD and the tea smells amazing. Just great quality ingredients everywhere.

Want off the beaten path recommendations? The staff have got you and will go out of their way to help you with the itinerary or anything else you need.

Facilities: both public baths are beautiful, well maintained and have a lovely view of the surrounding area the bubble bar on the top floor is a trip. Definitely check it out especially when it's cold out. the standard room had an incredibly large window with the perfect view, very comfy for a sleeping on the floor situation (fluffy blankets were a nice touch) and even nice toiletries. Not everything is ultra modern but it's well maintained, and plus that's kind of the vibe of the whole town buffet breakfast is solid. Great selection of local dishes easy parking on site so you can drive up and use the car to explore the area. they also offer shuttles to local station if you need them

The suite: in a word, amazing. there's a private sauna, a private onsen bath and a private dining area where you are served dinner and optionally breakfast the CHEF COMES TO YOUR ROOM TO COOK. 👏👏 we stayed two nights in this room and the kaiseki was varied and exciting both nights. We were stuffed by the end and the lady helping with our dinner was super sweet even though we spoke no Japanese and she spoke little English ❤️ the owner herself came to say hello during our dinner and then saw our car off outside IN THE COLD as we were driving...

We spent a night at Aburaya Tousen for an luxurious onsen stay before heading to Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park the next morning.||||Well within 5 minutes walk from the Yudanaka Station, we had our lunch near the station before we checked-in at 1430. We packed an overnight bag while we stored our big luggage at our previous hotel in Nagano city for free. The first impression of Aburaya Tousen is how it achieved the look of a contemporary home by the clever use of modern colours, lightings with simple furniture to make our stay a homely and comfortable one.||||We went to the public bath for our onsen as we did not book a guestroom with an attached private open-air bath. We truly enjoyed both the open-air and indoor onsen while the breathtaking mountainous and river view took us away. It even offered a lounge exclusive for guests where we got to enjoy our drinks and snacks in our own comfort. Great touch to enhance our stay in Aburaya Tousen! Another nice touch is how they switched the public bath for males and females during the dinner time so we could enjoy different baths with different views in the daytime and night time.||||The dinner experience was equally fantastic. The Japanese appetizers, the oil fondue where we deeped fry our seasonal ingredients into the oil prepared by the staff, the sushi where they were handmade in front of us by the staff, everything was great except for the mains, the shinshu beef on hot plate, which we felt was below par. An English menu was placed besides every seat so we were not lost on the food served throughout the dinner. The owner even came in and greeted us midway into our dinner and did her homework about where we came from!||||We made an arrangement the next morning to ferry us to the Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park. The staff even ferried us to a cafe opposite Yudanka Station to store our bags, so that we could collect them and took the train back to Nagano after the Snow Monkey visit. ||||||Overall, a great modern onsen stay with japanese hospitality and friendly staff. The price...