Tokusawa-en — Local services in Matsumoto

We stayed here one night after descending from Karasawa Hutte. The location is great for this, as you can rest here and then the day after you have to walk only 3 hours to get to Kamikochi's bus stop. We stayed also one night at the Hutte and one night in another place on the other side of the river when we arrived, and Tokusawa for sure offered the best food among the 3. Everything was tasty and even the tea served at dinner was so good - I believe it was a premium Sencha. We booked last minute and they accommodated us and also had a great vegetarian set for me, even including plant-based meat. We stayed in the shared dorm, everyone has a tiny capsule to sleep in, but it's all in wood and not too claustrophobic. Some have windows, some don't. The shared bathrooms were always clean. There is a wonderful hot bath that we could enjoy and very beautiful common spaces. We could enjoy the garden and it felt like a holiday in a beautiful lodge even if it was really cheap sleeping in the dorm. I just would have preferred if the dorm was only for women or at least there was that option. Only one woman in the staff spoke English and I felt she was really overwhelmed handling 1000 things at the time and we felt bad having to ask her anything, when we tried communicating with the rest of the staff using Google Translate they called her anyway. We for sure want to learn some basic Japanese for the next trip and it was our fault, but I think in such a big touristic hotel it would be good to have more than one person who can communicate in...

Essentially, this is quite a bit more comfortable than a mountain hut, but less privacy than a hotel. Overall it's a good experience, but it's a bit expensive for what it is.||||It's two hours' walk from Kappabashi, on the way to Karasawa, a famous autumn colour spot, which is the reason why anyone would stay here. We stayed for two nights in a quadruple room, with tatami and futons. The room was not very spacious (but quite normal by Japanese standard). None of the rooms comes with private bathroom and you have to share it with everyone else. Luckily, the shared toilet was very clean and there was enough room for everyone to brush teeth even at the peak hours. As others have said, there are specific hours when the communal bath opens, and there's no electricity from 10 pm to 6 am.||||The dinner, however, really blew our mind -- having wagyu sirloin steak in the middle of nowhere is something I didn't expect. Other dishes are also painstakingly prepared and delicious. But on the second night, they try to make something else to avoid repetition and the beef was put into a stew.... I actually don't mind having sirloin steak two nights in a row.||||The autumn colours at Karasawa is breathtaking and definitely worth your while. But there are other cheaper lodges along the way (e.g. Yokoo), though the facilities and food may not compare to...

Our 2 night stay at Tokusawa-en was one of the highlights of our entire Japan trip. We stayed at the lodge in the traditional Japanese style rooms. Rates were reasonable, especially given the fact that both dinner and breakfast are high quality meals. We didn't have a bad meal in our two weeks of travel through Japan, but both meals here remain highlights of the trip.

Staff is incredibly friendly and helpful, and as English speakers with minimal Japanese we ran into zero issues. Reservations were done easily via email and they were very communicative with all of my random follow up questions I had leading to our arrival.

Lodge is beautiful, location is perfect and the onsen is a delight after a long day of hiking. Autumn in Kamikochi very well may be one of the nicest spots to relax, and this lodge is the best place to do it.

Lastly, this is not a review of the lodge but of logistics. It is a small hike into the lodge, but there is over night baggage storage for around 500 yen per bag per night at Kamikochi bus station. Extremely useful information not in my guide books - I packed backpacking bags but wish I had known so I would have brought a bigger piece of luggage on my...