Hotele z: breakfast w Gunma Prefecture, Japan

I chose this hotel because of the brand, having stayed at their Izu property before. The Kusatsu location, however, felt a bit lacking. Also, 'low floor' didn't mean a lower level in the main building, but rather a room in the East Wing instead of the main building. The Ctrip prices were quite erratic! While they did refund me 100 for the price difference, that refund came at the cost of not staying in the main building! The evening buffet was decent, but the steak station was always empty, with only a few pieces on the plate and no fresh ones being brought out after cooking.

Stayed for 2 nights in early Dec 2024. Booked the mountain view twin room with cypress bath which comes with both dinner and breakfast. The ryokan styled hotel is located diagonally opposite from the shibukawa bus stop and about 5 mins walk (turn right from the hotel) to the Ikaho stone steps around the mid section of the steps. The hotel is old ryokan style but well maintained and does not see much wear and tear. The lobby which is on the 3rd floor (ground level) is big. No shoes allowed in the hotel, guests have to deposit their shoes at the entrance. Staff were all friendly and polite though not all can speak well in English. They do go much more to make you feel at home. Yutaka is provided at the lobby. My room which is located on the 4th floor corner is considered big. Old styled ryokan kind of design but with western bed. Though the room is laid with tatami on the floor but can still hear people walking if they area heavy or run. Corridor noise does filter in as well but muffled. Unblocked view of the mountain as the hotel sits on an elevated hill. I would recommend to stay with mountain view. The cypress bath can fit 2 person but takes a while to fill, I rather go to the public onsen. Besides the usual amenities, they even provide face wash, face moisturiser, etc in the room. Safe box is provided in the room as well. Wifi seems weak. No place in the bathroom however to hang your clothes or towel. There is an indoor onsen on the first floor and an outdoor one on the 8th floor. The onsen are gender separated. They rotate the male and female onsen on the first floor though both has the same look and facilities. The onsen on the 8th floor has a nice view of the city but no shower facilities. There is a massage chair on the first floor as well. Breakfast and dinner are served on the 2nd floor. I would not say that this is the best, but definitely delicious and sufficient. Check in at 3 pm and check out at 10am which I find a bit too early. Hope they can consider to extend. Overall I would recommend this place to stay if you are coming to ikaho.

Traveling with my best friend, we booked a tatami room with half board (dinner and breakfast included). It had two beds within the tatami setup. The room was compact but very clean, and they provided a basket for each of us with a bath towel and toiletries, which was super convenient for taking to the hot springs. The absolute highlight was the two meals – fresh ingredients like Japanese cuisine and the exquisite presentation of French dishes. Absolutely perfect!

This hotel is super close to Yuda, and the area around it is really lively. The hotel itself is a bit older, and the room facilities are just okay. There's a hot spring on the first floor, but they also partner with two other hotels, so you can go soak for free at their newer locations, which is a nice perk.

The entire hot spring town is absolutely beautiful. Since it was newly renovated in 2024, there was no musty smell in the room. The staff were professional, polite, and warmly welcoming without being intrusive, and their English was excellent. There's a shuttle service from the hotel to the station, or you can walk there yourself. This hotel is exactly what I imagined a Japanese onsen hotel to be. The hotel's own hot springs are fantastic. The location is truly the best – some hotels are up in the mountains or require a bit of a walk, but Ichii offers direct views of Yubatake. On the first floor, there's also a large souvenir shop with many unique items that aren't available back home. I'd definitely choose to spend a whole day exploring Karuizawa and then stay at Ichii again!

You need to wear slippers to get in. The staffs can only speak little english, but they are very kind and polite. The room is huge, it's like an apartment. It also has nice snow view from window. And the location is very close to the main road. It also close to the bus station. The dinner and breakfast also tasty. Japanese fine dining haha.

The hotel was very clean, and the staff were incredibly polite. It was definitely worth the money I paid. I also got to try both types of private open-air baths, and the in-room open-air bath was spacious enough. All the meals were delicious and thoroughly satisfying. My only minor disappointment was that the next course was brought out very quickly, one after another, before I had even finished the previous one. This might have been because we had the 8 PM dinner slot. I'd recommend booking your dinner time early if you can. I wasn't able to choose and only had the 8 PM slot available. Also, I was advised that the earlier breakfast slots were recommended and that other times might not allow me to fully enjoy the meal, but that wasn't the case at all. Everything was fine.

This onsen ryokan in Kusatsu has a public bath and rooms with private hot springs. The add-on wagyu beef set was also of good quality. You can also walk to the nearby sister ryokan to use their public bath.

This was my first and only stay at a ryokan so I don’t have much to compare it to. I chose this lodging because of the cats and good reviews on the food. The cats were really sweet and I enjoyed playing with them. I have 2 cats of my own so it was really nice. The food was so beautiful and delicious - the mushroom soup at dinner was amazing. I really enjoyed it. The private bath rooms were very convenient and open 24 hrs. I thought the facilities were clean and very pleasant. The location was very close to the central area and a quick walk to all the important sites including the bus station. The only comment I have was in the morning someone was smoking and the smell got ****** into the 2nd floor hallway so maybe more care should be taken to be sure the smoke stays outside. The host was so nice and sweet and I used google translate to ask questions. The matcha madeleines are so tasty I bought a box to take with me.

The staff here was amazing. The service was exceptional and the sanitary also really good. Not just that but the food wasn’t just good but also offered an amazing in depth experience into the deep depths of Japanese cuisine. I would recommend anyone to come here if seeking a quick easy nights rest as its close to transportation.