Wafu no Yado Masuya — Hotel in Yamanouchi

In summary: great location for Shibu onsen, for snow monkey park (including shuttle) and for celiacs and vegetarians. Great Kaisekis. Spacious rooms with beautiful views of the mountains from the room. |The hotel is just below the famous Shibu Onsen "complex" (a collections of historical guest houses, each with its own onsen, plus 9 public baths available for those who stay there). Wufa no yado is not part of it, but has its own onsens (a luxurious indoor one, and a small outdoor), and definitely makes up for not being historical with attentive hospitality. It's much more than just the essentials: we arrived at night after a long travel from Koyasan, frazzled and hungry. Dinner was finished, so they made a reservation for us for a Sushi place just up the road (which was excellent by the way, also highly recommended - simple, friendly, attentive (and you will understand in a second what I mean), and even gave us when we exited an apple, one of those tasty local ones. It was a 3 minutes walk, but when we got there it turned out to be cash only. We returned to the hotel, and when we asked the young receptionist about ATM she said it was a 20 minute walk. Before we could digest it, she said she will take us there, hopped on her car and took us to the ATM (at the Yudanaka Lawson's) to get cash. So, it's not only some rigid ceremonies of hospitality, but real caring for the well being of their guests. |My wife is celiac, and this is where attentiveness was important. The people in the reception and kitchen were ever so careful to make sure she would have good things to eat! They used gluten-free miso especially for her, found tasty alternatives to things like tampura, and made their multi-course dinners and breakfasts fantastic. I highly recommend their kaiseki meals. I am a vegetarian and this was great for me too.|Besides that, everything was very much according to Japanese best practices of hospitality - no shoes, slippers provided and shoes brought to you whenever you want to go out without any delays, kimonos provided and replaced, tea and small snacks in the room and spacious rooms, lovely dining space with each group having their own private spaces with separations, and great service. Couldn't hope for a nicer stay! BTW, saw the monkeys, dozens of them, just sitting in their pool, feet away from the crowds. they are lovely. Do try to get there relatively early. We took the 9:45 shuttle, and on our way out there were quite a lot of people hiking in (the trail is wide and comfortable for walking even in the snow, and takes about 15-20 minutes to the monkey...

Wafu no Yado Masuya was a very relaxing place to stay at for my husband and I. It is located at the outskirts/beginning of the shibu onsen streets so it's a very pleasant walk especially at night. We were picked up by shuttle upon arrival at Yudanaka station. You probably won't have to call if you're arriving by the Nagano Dentetsu train as I'm sure they have a timetable of the train arrivals to the station. All the hotels were waiting for guests with their signs as we exited the station.

We chose a room with a private bath. The private bath was very enjoyable and the beds were pretty comfortable. There was a "scent" in our room but I'm pretty sure it's the scent of the tatami mats and maybe wood.

The public baths in the hotel were nice. It was very relaxing and there usually wasn't more than 2 or 3 people in the baths at the time. There's a really hot indoor bath and a warm open air bath.

The staff were very kind! They didn't speak amazing English but they really tried their best with assisting us and the service was great.

The food was fantastic and the young woman who served food to us explained each of the dishes that were brought out to us. The salmon sashimi and shinshu beef were my favorites during the kaiseki dinner. Breakfast was delicious too! We had our food served in a private dining room which was really neat and made it feel very intimate. The food was definitely a highlight of this hotel. Oh and the apricot wine that was served to us was delicious.

The proprietress came in during the beginning of our dinner to speak to us briefly and then saw us out as we left the hotel. She was very professional and sweet.

I definitely...

We chose this place to stay for two nights after our daughter made it clear we should be going to visit the monkeys at the Jigokudani Monkey Park, and we weren’t disappointed. ||The village itself might be a bit disappointing - don’t expect too much as it’s a little bit run down, with modern buildings, factories etc, and it’s only at the area containing the community hot springs that reflects ‘old’ Japan. Nevertheless, it’s a great base for the monkey park, and easily accessible by train or bus. ||They ryokan itself is also in a relatively modern 4 storey building, but in all other respects is a traditional inn. The rooms are comfortably furnished, with everything needed, although the bathroom was on the smaller side. ||The real pluses were the staff, the service and the food - all excellent. From being unexpectedly met at the station when we arrived (we told them we were arriving earlier than the 3.00 check in time) to when one of the staff found us on the platform when we were leaving to hand over a piece of jewellery my daughter had left in the room, the staff and their service were brilliant. ||We booked half board and the multiple course kaiseki dinners and breakfasts were a delight. I don’t think there are Western choices, but when in Japan…||The public onsen at the ryokan are great, and we took a private one for an hour so we could soak together. ||If there were any downsides, even though it was mid January, the indoor temperatures seemed to be set at around 30 degrees - open windows were the relief. Lastly, it’s not cheap, but we thought it was value for money all things considered, and...