Ichinoyu Katei — Local services in Yamanouchi

Traditional ​Japanese style room with lots of Tatami including reception area and elevator !||||Room is spacey. It is big enough for 3 pax. The room we stayed has street view, which is better than the other side, I assume. ||There is attached toilet only in room. Otherwise, you have to go to the top floor to take a bath/shower on the top floor of the inn. There is a public bath for men and women respectively (24 hours open). Other than that, there is a private bath for which you have to get a key from reception. You don't need to book in advance, just stop by reception asking for the key, If no one is using it, you can use the private bath right away. The private bathroom is not available all day long, I think it is available only between 1800 and 2100.||||I tried the public bath at night and in the morning twice. You shouldn't miss outside bath once you get to the public bath, which is beyond the door in the public bath. The area is slightly covered, therefore it should be ok even when it rains lightly. I loved the small outside bath and the public bath. Temperature-wise, it was a bit too warm for me, though. The height of fence surrounding the outside bath is not high enough, if you stand up, someone might be able to see you, so stay crouched. ||||Unfortunately I didn't book the room with dinner. Upon check-in, I ordered breakfast for the next morning. It wasn't served in our room. We had to go down the ground level where other guests also had breakfast. It was salmon, Miso-soup, which is typical Japanese breakfast. (JPY1,000 each excluding tax) You can choose either 7:30 or 8:00 to be served breakfast.||||There is a coffee machine set for every guest to self-service coffee (only morning, thou) ||||As we went there by car, it was rather easy to get to. The direction in their website is very correct. We didn't get lost. It might be a long way from Nagano JR station f train. ||As you are aware of, this inn is located in a small alley and one of the traditional Japanese inns among tiny hot spring resort. (Shibu Onsen) There are many hot spring inns in the area, souvenir shops and some restaurants. As we didn't book dinner at the inn, we had to look for a restaurant. Unfortunately, every place in the area is open from 18:00 only. (open for lunch but they are closed between lunch and dinner) There should be some which is open all day long !!! As far as I know, there are 2 buckwheat noodle restaurants, 1 ramen restaurant, 1 seafood restaurant and 1 western styled place. Not many, I will recommend you to book a room with meals even if it costs a lot. ||Also the shops in the area, you can't use credit card, bring enough cash. Inn itself is OK, they accept credit card. ||Beside of the eating place, there is a ping pong place in this area. Speaking of Hot Spring, it is ping pong. It is very Japanese culture. Play it ! ||It seems like there are 2 hostels in this area, if you want to save money, try the hostels in the Shibu-Onsen resort. ||||Once you get to Shibu Onase, you definitely have to try 9 of Public baths which are all scattered on streets in the area. It is fun ! Purchase a towel for JPY350 and get stamped on it from each public bath. Once you collect all stamps ( 9 in total), walk up to a small temple to get the final stamp ! When you collect all stamps, your dream might come true. I loved #9 the most. #9 is just in front of this inn. Those public baths are very tiny. No shampoo, no conditioner, no soap. Just soak yourself in the bathtub. Some of them are way too...

True Japanese hospitality can be found here. The staff speak very decent English and are always eager to please. |If you want to experience a ryokan and sleep on a tatami mat, this place is for you. |They serve dinner but you'll need to book it 3 days in advance. We tried the kaiseki dinner on our first night. The second night we wandered around the village and found a sushi place. There were a couple of soba places and izakayas. Not a huge choice but enough.|If you need a transfer from Yudanaka Train Station, email or call them in advance and they have a free shuttle van to take you the 7 minute ride. The van is not clearly marked. I approached one van driver parked and he kindly found me the right man in the right van.|The onsen in the ryokan has both an indoor and an outdoor bit. Nothing is more zen than soaking in the hot pool with snow flakes falling on you. It's clean and traditional (read "old") and the water is amazingly hot. The pre-soak bath routine uses very nice-smelling Pola...

Excellent!!!!

Took a taxi from Yudanaka station to drop by the Ryokan, and luckily, they allowed us to check in early. After settling in, we were chauffeured to the Snow Monkey park, which was an incredible experience. At 6pm, we changed into the traditional Yukata for dinner, and I must say, the service was absolutely fantastic. The dinner itself was not only delicious but also beautifully presented. The Tatami rooms provided a perfect blend of comfort and tradition. And I have to mention the public onsen - it was truly magnificent, offering a relaxing and rejuvenating experience.

The only regret we have is not staying longer to fully immerse ourselves in the tranquil environment of the Ryokan. Nevertheless, I had a peaceful sleep, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated when I woke up. I cannot express my gratitude enough to the staff for their exceptional service. Arigato gosaimasu for creating such a...