Shibu Onsen KOKUYA

Great onsen!   Service is awesome!  Great location.  Very clean.  Close to bus station.

From the moment you enter Kokuya Ryokan, be prepared to leave the real world behind and fully immerse yourself in the experience. You swap your shoes for slippers at the door and don’t see them again until you leave. You will receive a warm welcome from polite and gentle-mannered staff, get taken up to your beautiful room, and once you’ve changed into your traditional yukata, it’s time to let the relaxation begin. The multi-course dinner will probably be one of the best meals you’ve had in your life, with many unusual textures and flavors to try. The futons are comfortable, and your room is kept toasty warm. There are even skincare products to keep you pampered and moisturized between soaks in the onsen. Honestly, you won’t even need to open your suitcase while you’re there. The staff will take you through all the logistics when you arrive, but there are some things that might be useful to know in advance. - The ryokan sends a shuttle to Yudanaka station at about 15:00 to collect new arrivals, so time your journey to take advantage of this benefit. - The ryokan also offers guests the opportunity to catch a shuttle to the Snow Monkey Park immediately after breakfast the next morning. - After you leave the ryokan, they will take your luggage down to the coffee shop opposite the station, so you don’t need to worry about those logistics. - Trains from Yudanaka back to Nagano leave at 12:30 and 15:30. - The ryokan itself has several private onsens that you can reserve for a 45-minute slot. Because the onsens are on the property, you can go in with your partner or travel companions regardless of gender. It’s a boutique hotel, so you don’t have to worry about not getting access to all the onsens you want. - The ryokan is on the main road of the Shibu Onsen town. The hotel will give you a key so you can wonder down the main road, visiting any of the public onsens you wish - however, with so many gorgeous and more private onsens in the hotel itself, you probably won’t have time or the desire for this. - Also, there is a coffee machine in the room! (I was worried about having to survive without coffee, and this turned out to be an unfounded concern). We had an incredible and totally indulgent time at Kokuya. Experiencing a traditional ryokan is a privilege that you should try at least once if you can. And adding the Snow Monkeys in give the trip a double purpose, making it that much more memorable. The only thing that would have made the trip better is if we had been allowed to linger longer over every course of our dinner.

This place was incredible - we decided to splurge on a one night Ryokan stay during our time in Tokyo, and it was 1000% worth the trek (the super fast shinkansen bullet train made it so easy to get to!) The included 9-course dinner (AND 9-course breakfast - complete with an onsen egg!) was delicious and beautifully prepared. We felt pampered the entire time we were there, and loved that not only did we have a private open-air onsen in our room, but we were also able to reserve time in some of the beautiful open-air private onsens on the property. It was lightly snowing while we were there, and the entire stay felt so magical. And Kokuya provided one-way free transportation to the Snow Monkey park the next morning, including luggage service so we didn't have to lug our suitcases up the mountain. It was very easy to catch the local bus back, and amazing to have our bags waiting for us at a nearby coffee shop before we got back on the train. Overall completely worth it even for just one night, we loved this stay and would definitely recommend it to others wanting the authentic Ryokan experience!

Booked & paid for 4 people. Upon arrival they told us the 4th person would be additional 20,000 yen (for towel & mattress). The food was terrible. The service was non-existent. This is a 1-star hotel. Similar to backpacker hostel. Most of the dinner was left uneaten. We didn’t bother going for breakfast (which we had paid for). Couldn’t leave fast enough. Very disappointed. Total rip-off and tourist trap.