Kusatsu Hotel — Restaurant in Kusatsu

Stay at this hotel thanks to Tripadvisor. Reading so many good reviews and being number one made me think no more and booked the premises. ||When we arrived, it was snowing real hard. Not a blizzard yet but pretty thick. The staff pick the guest at the nearest bus station. We did ask the people at Tourist center (which can speak English really well) to pick us up. There is no way we can walk to the hotel with 2 luggage and a stroller in that condition. The hotel itself is just around 10-15 minutes walk (20-30 minutes for normal people, "not Japanese") from the bus station. |||The pick up was fast, the staff that pick us up do very kind and helpful. He understands only very little English but really shown efforts to us. He is around perhaps 65 years old. ||When we arrived at the hotel we are glad we're not walking there, there's stairs and going uphill. One of my daughter is having fever that day, so she needs rest, not hiking. ||The staffs greeted us at the front door, all the shoes need to be taken off. Including my youngest who was asleep, and everyone was given a slipper. This is a Japanese custom which we abide. So everyone in the building using the same slipper. There are 2 colors for adults and 1 for kids. Considering everyone has slightly different sizes, it really doesn't matter. As long as it wasn't too big or too small, everyone can walk with those slippers. ||After a quick checking in, we are told to leave our luggage at the receptionist where later the staff will take it to our room (hooray) not many hotels in Japan do this. So we walk freely in the hotel going up and down through the stairs with one of the staff that explain everything and gave us the grand tour. No elevator here, so everything and everyone have to use stairs. The building is wide and not tall. We arrived at our room, shown in one of my image, the wooden plate is the room's details. There are no number. Everything is written in Japanese Kanji, that's why I took an image so I remember which one is my room. The room is big, we requested a room fit for 3 adults and we definitely get what we order. It has history and cultural heritage written all over the room that using traditional tatami, futton, even heating that are rustic but still charming. Not a fireplace, but an old machine. The view in our room is charming too, maybe because of the snow or our mood itself has been lifted up when we were there. Everyone loves their yukata, it was definitely cold in the alley in front of our room but inside, we can turn on another heater. So there's two heater, one is controlled from outside by the staff. And the other is the one with the remote inside our room. The bedroom is "separated" from the seating area using Japanese sliding doors. So when the kids are sleeping. Me and my husband can sit around looking at the windows while having a chat. It's like a whole other dimensions. There's small but adequate bathroom/toilet inside our room too, but it was not a recently new version where the seats can be heated or using many buttons, this one is just a plain toilet. I'm fine with that since the main reason to be here is the 6 onsens. 2 for men, 2 for women (changed every 10 PM between the men and women) and 2 private ones which we can booked. So if you're not a fan of taking a bath with stranger, i do suggest booking a slot here. Every slot is 40 minutes, don't be too long or they'll knock your doors demanding us to go out. It happen to us once. I forgot the timing, my bad. There is a clock inside the room for private bath, hairdryer, shampoo, soap, conditioner, and face wash too. No towels. Everyone must bring their own towels to the onsen, no matter which one. ||The water was fine. It was super hot at first but then after getting used to it, we all loving it. Kids can enjoy onsen too but not recommended for longer than 10 minutes. They might faint. The water is sulfuric, it was known for its healing properties, the steam from the onsen is really good too. My daughter is heal during our stay there. She no longer has fever (which has happen for 3 days) and her flu is gone too. Everyone was having a relaxing time there. Our ache and exhaustion during the whole trip seems to be washed away. Dinner is served at the time of our preference and it was really good. The small dishes is abundant but i won't say really a lot. But enough to make us full. We didn't get to choose the meal but i think with the selection of beef, seafood, and vegetable, picky eater can eat either one. There's this "grandma" that made sure everyone's eat. She speaks only Japanese but very kind. My youngest one speaks with her, she is a toddler, so it was really interesting looking at them interact, grandma making sure she eats, she gave her rice, Japanese seasoning sprinkles for kids, and she did eat thanks to her. ||In the morning, the meal is not as scrumptious as the dinner was, so if you're really a picky eater, this won't bw good for you since there's no other option (unlike buffet). But a good 5-10 minutes walk towards yubatake, you can see a lot of other restaurants and shops that sells food. ||Check out time is 10 am, since our train departs at 3 and we have plenty of time here, we ask the hotel if we can put our luggage there so we can have a walk around the town. They happily take our luggage and there's also winter boots we can borrow. We pick our sizes (s,m,l) and walk around the town using those boots. It's a good thing since snow is everywhere and no one bring snow boots during our stay. ||After walk in the town. A few hours later we went back to the hotel and have a cup of coffee at the coffee lounge near the foot bath, we have a good time reading. There's books there. For the kids too. It was a very beautiful place that does pays attention to details. The wifi itself is very good and free. We can google around for information during our stay. When it's time to go, they also takes us to the bus with their car and we went with a warm heart. We were took care during our stay. The hotel offer traditions and modern amenities like TV, wifi, and charming old fashion tea ceremonies, onsen manju, and even the scent of the woods used in the building is just aromatic. I really love the scent near the firework at communal area where we can play Japanese game board (kinda like chess). ||Definitely a place worth...

Chanced upon this ryokan. It's an old property but has been quite well kept (because I have stayed in ryokans that are badly maintained but they charge an arm and a leg to stay in rooms that have cracked walls ). This ryokan is reasonably priced, and its location is good -about 8 mins' walk to the Yubatake area where you can have meals and walks. Trust me, you would want to stay close to the shops n restaurants (at the Yubatake area). || ||We paid less than SGD 210 per night for two nights. Honestly, this is good value . We didn't want meals. The ryokan is close to many eateries. Having stayed at other ryokans before, we know it's the meals that cost a lot. It's not necessary to have those big dinners for us. We felt we have better control of what we eat without the meals. But that's us. ||We had a small room but comfortable enough, sleeping on the futons, with its own bathroom toilet n television. We slept well. Remember to have a hot bath again at 9pm before you sleep. ||||Overall, the onsen facilities are okay, over a scale of 10, honestly about 6.8 to 7. But that's because it's an old place and the family private onsens (which need a reservation- strictly one private onsen a day) have nothing to shout about. Other private onsens we have been have either a view or a garden in it. This ryokan just has a pool in the two private onsens. The sulphuric water is however hot enough. n that's imps if you r serious abt water quality.||||The service staff at this ryokan are v good. Although they r serious n do not speak English (except a lady in the morning who can converse in English), they are very service- oriented n can anticipate what you need, for instance, at every time when we r about to leave the hotel to go out, the concierge memorises the guests' footwear n brings the shoes over. That's real pampering! ||||Tip 1 : When you arrive at Kusatsu bus station, go to the tourist information to get the staff to call the hotel. The van will be there in a jiffy. ||Tip 2 : Getting here from Tokyo, we used the shinkansen, to Karuizawa. Shopped n took the bus paying 2200 each (one hour) to Kusatsu. Returning to Tokyo, the Karuizawa route didn't suit us coz we wanted to arrive early at Tokyo. You can take the bus from the Kusatsu bus station to Naganohara-Kusatsugutchi train station (there's one at 7am), n catch the 7.48am local train to Takasaki (reaching about 9.12am), connect the Shinkansen n reach Tokyo just after 10am. ||Tip 3 : There are 2 supermarkets within 2-4 mins' walk of the bus station if you want to get fruits n stuff. ||Tip 4 : There are two streets leading to the Yubatake from this ryokan. Ask for a map from the hotel. There are many interesting shops around the hotel. See if you can find the shop that sells everything sesame. The sesame mochi n sesame ice...

This century-old hotel in the famous hot spring region had recently been renovated, and my expectations were high from the moment I walked through the doors. The staff’s warm welcome was genuinely impressive, and seeing my room initially filled me with excitement - the staff friendliness, room condition, and value seemed excellent at first glance.

However, this turned into one of my most disappointing hotel experiences ever. Despite calling itself a ryokan, I seriously question whether it deserves that designation. The hot springs were underwhelming - one indoor and two outdoor baths claiming pH levels near 1, which should theoretically melt your skin but felt completely ordinary. The temperature readings seemed inaccurate, and instead of the natural hot spring experience I expected, it felt artificial and poorly maintained.

The meal service was equally disappointing. Both breakfast and dinner had fewer courses and smaller portions than any other ryokan I’ve visited, and I couldn’t even tell if they used local ingredients. I was genuinely hungry after every meal - a first for me at any ryokan. But the absolute last straw was the towel situation. While I understand charging for extra towels, when I requested one complimentary small towel, it came with three visible hairs from previous guests stuck to it. Thinking I’d just shake it off since it was free, I unfolded it only to find two more hairs embedded inside. I was so disgusted and angry that I threw the towel straight into the trash. Such poor hygiene management completely negated all the staff’s kindness and ensures I will never return to this...