Hotele Hot Springs w: Gifu Prefecture, Japan

Six months later, I returned to Takayama and stayed at this hotel for the second time. The service quality felt just as excellent as it did during my visit in February. Every staff member was incredibly friendly. The breakfast included a chocolate croissant that was absolutely delicious – I highly recommend trying it. Takayama in summer is so different from winter, but the warm feeling this small town gives me hasn't changed. I'm still touched. See you next time.

The Wi-Fi was terrible; there was none in the room initially. They fixed it later, and I got two bars of signal, but it was still poor. There's no hot spring here; what they call a hot spring is just tap water. The bedding was awful; I got bitten all over and felt very itchy, and the duvet cover kept coming off the comforter. This price is just not worth it; my child's skin was red and itchy from bites.

The hotel is very close to JR Takayama Station. After exiting the station, you don't need to cross the road; just turn right towards Tokyu Stay, and you'll find it after passing Ajikura Tengoku. The hotel's decor is very unique. We booked a corner triple room, so the space was incredibly spacious and comfortable. Besides drip coffee and tea bags, the room also provided bottled mineral water. There's an open-air bath on the 9th floor – simply flawless. Before my trip, I read many reviews recommending Hida beef, but to my dismay, I discovered Ajikura Tengoku was closed when I arrived (ugh!). Luckily, I quickly found Maruaki, a famous Hida beef restaurant open year-round. The beef was incredibly rich and fatty – you'll definitely fall in love with Hida beef! I'm already planning to come back next year! 😋

May 15-16, 2024 From the moment we saw photos of this special place on the internet, we knew we had to stay here! The natural rock onsen baths caught our imagination - and our stay was wonderful beyond expectations! The resort is located in a forested valley is stunning, next to a rushing river. Natural mountain hot spring water is channeled into 7 lovely outdoor onsen baths, as well as ensuite baths. The facility is beautifully designed with gardens and multi-level suites, with each of the levels looking out to the river, with plenty of seating to enjoy the relaxing and lovely views. We were treated with limitless thoughtful hospitality from the moment we arrived, to the moment we left - in fact, one of our group kept commenting ”the y[the staff] must think we're really special!”. The suite was beautifully appointed with tatami mats, traditional Japanese decor, comfortable beds, yukata and slippers are provided along with tabi socks and plenty of clean linens. Our suite had its own private onsen bath encircled by natural stones, and constantly running hot spring water. Such a contrast to water-parched California and even Hawaii where we're from! The outdoor onsens are open all night, for viewing of the starry night sky. The kaiseki dinner was exceptional, with many many delicious small plates, each exquisitely prepared and presented - a petite, freshly caught local fish was skewered as if swimming and roasted in a salt shell. Utterly delicious! In the morning, after a similarly wonderful breakfast, we experienced a mochi-pounding session with the hotel staff and guests joining in - lots of fun - photos were provided! Transportation - It was a challenge figuring out how to get to this place - finally, we had a Japanese-speaking hotel clerk call the resort, and got instructions for the 1-hour bus ride from Takayama bus station to Shinhotaka Onsen / Nakao Kou-gen-guchi. There are buses running every hour! We walked to the resort from the bus stop when we arrived, and a shuttle van to the bus stop was thoughtfully provided by the resort when we left. PS) I was unable to upload photos. Please provide an email, because you won't want to miss seeing this beautiful place!

A perfect ryokan stay! Takayama Ouan is just 5 minutes from JR Station. The no-shoes policy with tatami throughout creates an authentic feel. The highlight is the stunning 13th-floor rooftop open-air onsen with city views, plus three free private baths – great for tattoos. After soaking, enjoy free ice cream and Yakult. Evening complimentary ramen at 9:30 PM is a nice bonus. Breakfast buffet with Hida beef is exceptional. Excellent value and highly recommended!

I highly recommend this onsen hotel! The environment, service, and food are all excellent. They have two outdoor private onsens and two indoor private onsens, all free of charge. The public outdoor onsen is also very large, and some rooms even come with their own onsen baths. After your bath, you can enjoy complimentary milk and cold drinks, and in the morning, Yakult. There's a sake happy hour in the evening, and free ramen for a late-night snack! I've stayed at over 20 onsen hotels, and this is the first time I've seen such generosity, haha. The hotel pays great attention to every detail, which is fantastic. For dinner, we chose the Hida beef kaiseki meal, which was also quite good. They offer a free shuttle service. I'll definitely stay here again next time I visit!

The biggest advantage of this hotel is its incredibly convenient location, practically a 2-minute walk from the JR station. It's especially ideal for anyone needing to use JR trains. From the room, you can directly see the station and trains, which is a real treat for train enthusiasts. The hotel provides washing machines and dryers; you can even leave the washing machine running while you're out. However, a full wash and dry cycle takes quite a while, about three hours, so it's best to plan accordingly. The in-room amenities are also impressive, with a ReFa showerhead and hairdryer, offering a pleasant experience. The hotel offers free luggage storage, which is convenient both before check-in and after check-out. For shared facilities, there's a public bath on the 2nd floor, and a free foot bath on the top floor. There are also private hot spring rooms available for 2750 yen for 45 minutes if you prefer a quieter bathing experience. One thing to note is that the room windows have a screen-style design, so remember to draw the inner curtains at night, otherwise, it can get quite bright in the morning. Overall, this hotel's location, facilities, and attention to detail make it very suitable for short trips, especially for those who enjoy taking JR trains or have an interest in them.

Traveling with family, we booked three rooms and experienced two different room types. All the rooms were spacious and clean. The Japanese-style room had a charmingly small door. The mountain-view private onsen room had a translucent door, and the large window next to the private onsen had no curtains, which felt like a lack of privacy. Besides the onsen, the hotel also offers billiards, table tennis, and karaoke. The staff were all very enthusiastic, and breakfast was quite refined. There's a free shuttle bus to and from the station during the day. Overall, it was a pretty good stay.

The hotel views were great, but the outdoor mixed-gender onsen wasn't as good without snow in winter. The food was average, not as amazing as I'd hoped. The outdoor hot spring was a bit small; it would be hard to enjoy if there were many people. We ran into a ********* tour group, but thankfully we managed to go at different times. However, it was very thoughtful of them to call our room at 9 AM to save us breakfast, as we missed it going to the outdoor hot springs early. I'm very grateful for that.

It was a lovely stay at Onyado. The service staff were very friendly and the place was relaxing and clean. Food provided for half board was delicious and there was even ramen provided for supper. Private onsen available for those opting privacy but if not the public onsen onsite was great as well.