Homestays w: Nara Prefecture, Japan

„房間是自助check in和check out的，不用擔心太遲入住。我是自駕遊的，這所酒店提供了免費車位，十分方便！美中不足是酒店沒有升降機，而我被安排在一樓的房間，所以要抬行李上一層。 房間的空間感比想像中大，廁所和浴室是乾濕分離的，浴室內有浴缸。 房間的設備頗充足，酒店更提供了ReFa吹風機和晾衫架。房間內更有一個小型的開放式廚房，有微波爐和電磁爐，但入住當天，電磁爐暫時未能使用。”

„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.”

„We had a good time at this place. Everything was very clean, the check-in was very easy and despite the thin walls (occasionally you could hear other guests use their door lock or the hotels neighbors coming home to their house) we had a good nights sleep. Would come again. Very spacious rooms compared to other Japanese hotel rooms. Bonus: there was a super clean and almost unused community kitchen with washingmachines and dryers.”

„小さい子連れで宿泊しました。浴衣もスリッパもぴったりのサイズ、好みの柄を選ぶことができ、また、ドリンクサーバーも滞在中はフリーに使わせてもらえて、子どもたちも終始楽しそうでした。また、建物は、古いけれどリフォームで美しく保たれており、館内は高齢の両親にも優しい作りでした。 また、食事は朝夕ともホテルのレストランでしましたが、二家族揃ってゆっくり食べさせてもらえて、とても楽しい思い出になりました。 元々は、父が長い距離を移動できないという理由で、駅近のホテルを選んだのですが、サービスも大変よく、結果的に最高の選択となりました。”

„很滿意的住宿，一共兩層樓，一樓是廚房客廳、一個大床房和衞生間還有淋浴間。二樓是三張床還有衞生間和淋浴間，而且還有一個小廚房。空間很大，一二樓都有暖氣，冬天住的很舒服，走路30秒就有一個停車場，停一晚的價格是700日元。走出這條巷弄就能到奈良近鐵站，地理位置非常方便，步行可達7-11和羅森。廚房用品超齊全還是明火。”

„雖然酒店附近的景色看起來好像位置比較偏遠，但酒店位置其實還不錯。隔壁就是平城宮遺跡，離近鐵大和西大寺鐵路站則大約十分鐘步行距離，到奈良公園等熱門景點只是兩個車站。 酒店可預約接送車到鐵路站，看到有住客用，不過我沒有用到。 房間比我想像中大一些，酒店的溫泉設施不用額外收費，有室內池也有戶外池，酒店職員的服務很好，總體而言非常推薦。”

„The location is very close to JR Nara Station and is convenient for travel. The building is a small modern design building with space and facilities to meet the needs of convenience and quietness.”

„We love the special Japanese style rooms. The garden is big. But this property is a bit too cold in winter time. Owner locked one aircon in the room. Only left one aircon on, which is not enough during night time. We were suffering all the nights and early morning. I suggest owner to provide at least one mirror at the property, we couldn’t find any mirror for make-up.”

„Highly recommend this accommodation! The bed is very comfortable compared to other hotels. The house and room feel very cozy especially the sofa in living room!But there’s no dryer in the house and bathroom. You would need to dry your clothes at balcony or living room.”