Sakaeya Ryokan — Hotel in Yamanouchi

What an amazing experience! Although TripAdvisor refers to this with a different name, our in-country travel agent (and other sites) refer to it by Sakaeya Ryokan. If you are wondering about staying here, stop, and just do it. We had a wonderful two days. We were greeted warmly and shown to our room, the Yoimachi Suite, which had two twin beds, and in the evenings had two additional futons brought in for the kids (12 and 15). It had a private outside onsen, and private bathroom and shower.|| In broken, but understandable, English, our host explained how to wear the special slippers (one pair for the room, one pair for the inn, and geta - wooden sandals for outside), the yukata (a type of informal kimono for wearing at the inn and when visiting the onsen), and the over jackets (if it was cold). He also explained (and there were English cheat sheets as well) how the local onsen (hot spring fueled baths) worked. You are given a key, which unlocks nine baths throughout the village. Each has different healing properties. If you visit all nine, you will have long life. (There is a special towel you can purchase for a minimal fee, and stamp at each onsen as a souvenir.). He also told us about the onsen at the inn, which includes both inside and outside pools, and is beautiful. He asked what time we wanted to have dinner.||The meals were amazing. We were served in a private dining room each night by our host, who was gracious as always. The Kaiseki (Japanese multi-course meal) was incredible, with too many dishes to count. Although out of the ordinary for folks from the US, I enjoyed everything, my husband enjoyed most, and even the kids expanded their horizons and had enough to fill them up. This is equally true for the vast Japanese breakfast every morning. It was humbling to see how much time and thought they put into preparing and serving the dishes. I feel like we didn’t deserve it. ||The ryokan is near Snow Monkey Park, and, for a small charge (5000 yen round trip for our whole family), they will arrange a microbus to take you there and bring you back, based on a schedule you choose. Our bus driver was very pleasant and punctual. ||The inn also has a free shuttle to and from Yudanaka train station. For some reason, our travel agent wasn’t able to arrange the shuttle to pick us up from the station, and advised us to take a taxi. Unfortunately, no taxis were available. We were able to take a public bus the short drive to Shibu Onsen stop. It’s about 250 yen per person, cash only and no change given. You can pay for multiple people at one time. We couldn’t figure out if they took PASMO. Just be prepared for that. ||Again, if you are thinking about visiting Yudanaka, look no further. I can’t imagine an experience...

We stayed in a standard room and it was very quiet and comfortable and clean! They made the futon beds for us. We didn't need any heating or air conditioning because the weather was very pleasant. The room itself is very big and spacious. They had a kettle in there with coffee if you wanted. Breakfast and dinner are included in a private area just for the members of your party. And they bring your the courses one by one (I couldn't eat anymore but the food was good).||||I'm vegetarian and my husband has food allergies, and they were VERY accommodating of that. The presentation of the food was amazing! I think there can be more variety for vegetarian options but either way the food was very filling and delicious. Couldn't eat lunch because it is so filling! I think one more thing that could have made it better is to teach people like me how to eat certain foods or what exactly it is so we know what to do. But other than that it was amazing. ||||The staff were incredibly friendly! Though language was a barrier they were so apologetic that they couldn't speak to us in English but hey, I was in Japan, I should be trying to speak to them in Japanese (not the other way around)! The staff go out of their way to make sure they are making your stay comfortable from the moment you walk in to even after your check out! ||||They have their own personal onsen (separate for men and women), but lockers/boxes to keep your stuff, soaps/shampoos/dryers for before/after the onsen. It was so nice and warm and peaceful. They have an indoor and an outdoor one. The outdoor one was amazing because it was cool outside but you're nice and warm in the water. ||||The location is perfect! Was very easy to get from Nagano to Yudanaka to the hotel. The hotel is about a 40-45 min walk to the snow monkey park with some uphill walking. or there is a bus you can take as well. we opted to walk which was nice because you get to see different Temples and shrines along the way and you meet a lot of friendly people in the area. Some people invited us to their picnic and sake! ||||It was raining on of the days, but the hotel provides you with rain boots if you'd like and umbrellas. They also provide you with kimono's, towels, and Japanese foot wear to wear to the different onsens in the area. There are plenty of shops and restaurants nearby where everyone was friendly (and I even happened to find vegetarian food outside one day)! ||||A gorgeous hotel in a gorgeous location! Would...

We stayed in a standard room and it was very quiet and comfortable and clean! They made the futon beds for us. We didn't need any heating or air conditioning because the weather was very pleasant. The room itself is very big and spacious. They had a kettle in there with coffee if you wanted. Breakfast and dinner are included in a private area just for the members of your party. And they bring your the courses one by one (I couldn't eat anymore but the food was good).||||I'm vegetarian and my husband has food allergies, and they were VERY accommodating of that. The presentation of the food was amazing! I think there can be more variety for vegetarian options but either way the food was very filling and delicious. Couldn't eat lunch because it is so filling! I think one more thing that could have made it better is to teach people like me how to eat certain foods or what exactly it is so we know what to do. But other than that it was amazing. ||||The staff were incredibly friendly! Though language was a barrier they were so apologetic that they couldn't speak to us in English but hey, I was in Japan, I should be trying to speak to them in Japanese (not the other way around)! The staff go out of their way to make sure they are making your stay comfortable from the moment you walk in to even after your check out! ||||They have their own personal onsen (separate for men and women), but lockers/boxes to keep your stuff, soaps/shampoos/dryers for before/after the onsen. It was so nice and warm and peaceful. They have an indoor and an outdoor one. The outdoor one was amazing because it was cool outside but you're nice and warm in the water. ||||The location is perfect! Was very easy to get from Nagano to Yudanaka to the hotel. The hotel is about a 40-45 min walk to the snow monkey park with some uphill walking. or there is a bus you can take as well. we opted to walk which was nice because you get to see different Temples and shrines along the way and you meet a lot of friendly people in the area. Some people invited us to their picnic and sake! ||||It was raining on of the days, but the hotel provides you with rain boots if you'd like and umbrellas. They also provide you with kimono's, towels, and Japanese foot wear to wear to the different onsens in the area. There are plenty of shops and restaurants nearby where everyone was friendly (and I even happened to find vegetarian food outside one day)! ||||A gorgeous hotel in a gorgeous location! Would...