Hot Springs Hotels in Nara Prefecture, Japan

My stay at Nono Hotel Nara was excellent overall. The hotel is right next to JR Nara Station, making it super convenient for getting around. The lobby has an authentic Japanese style, where you need to take off your shoes and they provide clean socks, which adds a nice touch to the experience. Although the room wasn't huge, it was well-designed, clean, and tidy, with a comfortable bed. The biggest highlight was the natural hot spring on the first floor, featuring both indoor and outdoor pools. After a soak, you can even enjoy free ramen and ice cream! Breakfast offered a wide variety of choices and tasted great. The only minor downside is that being close to the station, you might hear some train noise early in the morning. All in all, it's great value for money and highly recommended for anyone visiting Nara.

The room was spacious, and the hot spring was wonderfully uncrowded and relaxing. Everything was very clean. There's free ice cream in the lobby, which was a nice treat after a hot spring soak! The hotel is conveniently located near tourist attractions, and it's about a ten-minute walk from Kintetsu Nara Station. The service was excellent, and there's free coffee and tea bags available in the lobby. The only downside was that the room wasn't very warm. In winter, cold air seeped in near the windows, and even with the air conditioning set to 30 degrees, it still felt a bit chilly.

Everything was excellent! This is our second visit this year, and the hot spring pools were fantastic as well.

The transportation is incredibly convenient; you can take an elevator directly from the platform to the front desk, so there's no need to worry about wind or rain. Plus, there are plenty of convenience stores nearby. The hotel's own hot spring is open all night, which is perfect if you want to avoid crowds. The entire place is clean and tidy, and the room even came with a multi-port charging cable, which shows great attention to detail! Thumbs up! Breakfast starts at 6:30 AM, which is especially good for those who need to leave early. Check-out is quick and self-service. This is my second time booking this hotel, and I'll definitely choose it again next time I'm in Nara.

This hotel holds the high standard of their group as usual. Firstly, I thought the service was not sincere as the front deck refused to reserve the restaurant for us (there were 2 other hotel's front desk rejected in this Dec 2025 trip too). But then they offered tremendous help when I encountered parcel problem and which is out of what they need to offer. That's really helpful. The superior twin room is good for family of 4 with children under 12 years old. We put together the beds and there were spaces for4 big luggage to pack and tidy up things. Thank you to the entire front desk for their help. The downside was the breakfast really average and I only recommend to try once if you are staying long.

We stayed at Mikasa Ryokan (万葉若草の宿 三笠旅館) in Nara, and overall it was a great experience — but there are definitely some things you should know and plan for in advance. 🏞 1. Location & Transportation The ryokan is located halfway up Mount Wakakusa, with beautiful views over Nara city — the scenery is stunning, especially at night. But getting up and down the mountain isn’t very convenient. At first, I thought the location was right near Todai-ji Temple and would be easy to access. Turns out: The mountain road is very narrow and winding, and it actually takes longer than expected. According to the staff, walking up the mountain is not allowed. There's a gate, and the staff inside don’t permit people to walk up. Luckily, the hotel offers a shuttle bus up the mountain, but you should arrange it with the hotel in advance. Once you’re at the ryokan, getting out isn’t very easy either. Even if you want to take a taxi, you need to book it in advance — it’s not like calling a cab from the street. So I’d recommend planning your itinerary carefully before you arrive. While Todai-ji Temple, Nara Park, and Kasuga Taisha are technically just at the bottom of the mountain, they’re not within walking distance from the hotel, so you’ll still need transport. 🛌 2. Room Experience We booked the Japanese-style room with a private open-air bath. I did quite a bit of research before booking: Sites like *********** say the room is about 28 sqm (307 sq ft) But Ctrip listed it as 56 sqm, which was confusing After checking in, I think 28 sqm is probably just the indoor area, and 56 sqm includes the balcony, private onsen, and garden area. The room is traditional Japanese-style with tatami floors and a low table in the center. In the evening, while we were out having dinner, staff came in and set up our futon beds for the night — a really nice touch. This was our first time sleeping on Japanese futons. It was surprisingly comfortable, and the room temperature was perfect. If you're traveling with kids, this type of setup could be extra fun. 3. Onsen Experience We tried both the public onsen and the private one in our room: The public bath areas are located on the first and second floors, with men’s and women’s baths alternating daily. They include both indoor and outdoor hot spring pools. The water is hot — after about 10 minutes, we felt totally warm and relaxed. The private bath in the room was also very enjoyable. The garden had high fences and trees for privacy, and the tub was perfectly sized for two people. 🍱 4. Meals We booked a plan that included both dinner and breakfast. One important thing to note — you need to confirm your dinner time with the hotel before arrival, because if you arrive after 7 PM, you might miss dinner. Dinner is served in private dining rooms, which gave us a cozy and quiet atmosphere. The food was beautifully presented and very Japanese — including Wagyu beef and sukiyaki. Breakfast was also very traditional — grilled fish, rice, and various small dishes. Personally, I prefer something lighter for breakfast, and there was no coffee, bread, or buns included. If you want coffee, you can get it later in the lounge near the lobby.

This was my second stay here. Thank you for everything. I particularly enjoyed the morning tea porridge.

I like Mercure very much. There are lounge services in the afternoon and evening. There are quite a lot of drinks, as well as cookies and candies. It is very comfortable to chat with family and friends. The room is quite large. The one we stayed in is a bit old, but the hygiene is still quite good. This time, we included a buffet breakfast and dinner. There are not many categories, but there are still surprises. It includes many specialties of Kashihara Nara, and provides a lot of sauces, which can be DIY. A student team checked in on the second day of the stay, but the hotel management is good, orderly, and food is added in time. The overall feeling is great.

The hotel is within walking distance of Kintetsu Yamato-Saidaiji Station and is also in a great location, just 3-4 minutes from Heijo Ruins Park. It's also perfectly located for soaking in hot springs, which are extremely rare in Nara City. The downside is that the facilities are old, and there are issues with facility management and maintenance, such as room and bathroom locks not locking in some places. Also, the hand washing areas in the rooms are not flush with the rooms, making them difficult to use. We strongly urge the hotel management to ensure that the age of the facilities does not become apparent.

Check-in after 15:00. The staff are very friendly, including those who speak English at a sufficient level so that you can understand each other without a translator. The room is spacious, heated/cooled by air conditioning. There is also a kotatsu, under which it is very comfortable to sit, a tea set, including a kettle. Yukata and khvori are very beautiful and comfortable. In the room there is also a memo for foreigners on the correct visit to the onsen (be sure to read it, this is important). There are only two onsen - one large with a view of the river (there are curtains) and one smaller without windows. The water is moderately hot, not scalding. As a dinner, kaiseki was provided with a change of dishes - it was very tasty and VERY much (honestly, we could not eat everything, since we usually eat much less, for which we apologize to the staff)