Hot Spring Hotels in Shimotakai District

I had a large tatami room with side sitting area and sink as well as an ante-room. I had three delicious Japanese meals at the ryokan that were served with polite elegance. The two in-house onsen baths were a joy to use after a day of skiing. The staff was knowledgeable about how to get around by the buses and suggested the best restaurants for days that I did not eat at the ryokan. Senshinkan Matsuya was situated in the center of.Shibu Onsen town next to three of the public onsen. I could not ask for a better stay!

Wow! An amazing little Ryoukan in a lovely town with fantastic owners. This ryoukan is a traditional old fashioned style with a lovely private onsen in pictures The room was large and your right on top of one of the 9 onsens. As a ryoukan in the town you will have access to the 9 healing onsens which you can use at your leisure and complete the denyouko towel for blessings The onsen is run by a lovely lady who is really friendly. Typical Amenities included plus free yukata and geta to borrow whilst your walking between hot springs plus free cold milk which is just heavenly after a hot soak. Honestly the cold milk really made my day!! 🥰 Air conditioning was very effective considering the size of the room and the breakfast was too much to finish and offered a taste of everything Lastly you are on top of the onsens as soon as you step out and monkey park is a 25 minute walk north but talk with the Owner, she has a link to the Monkey security cameras so can tell you ahead of time if theres any up there to see currently (i went during Estrus season so no monkeys for me) When it came to checkout the lady gave me a small bento of Onigiri and Pastries and even drove me down to the local station 10/10 would stay again

This is a traditional Japanese ryokan, and the room was very clean. They have separate private onsen baths for men and women on the top floor, as well as private family baths. The meals were abundant, and they even prepared our futons for us at night. The service was a major highlight: the elderly gentleman from the ryokan drove us to the station, and after we got on the bus, the lady from the ryokan kept waving goodbye and bowing. She continued to wave until the bus crossed to the other side of the river. I looked back, and she was still waving, then bowed again as the bus reached the other bank. I was truly amazed! Overall, I highly recommend this place.

Our family made a special trip from Tokyo to Nagano, and besides exploring the surrounding attractions, watching the snow monkeys soaking in the hot springs of Nozawa, and visiting the Togakushi Shrine, the highlight of this trip was staying at Issa no Komichi Biyu no Yado. Initially, we had modest expectations, thinking of it as just another experience. However, upon arriving in the snowy Yudanaka Shibu Onsen, we were immediately impressed by the warm and professional hospitality. From the thoughtful reception to the exquisite dinner and the unique public onsen, every aspect exceeded our expectations and left us pleasantly surprised. This wasn’t just a hotel stay—it was an unforgettable journey into the heart of Japanese onsen culture. If you’re planning a trip to Nagano, this is definitely a place worth visiting to experience the perfect blend of hot springs and nature!

The hotel was great and exceeded our expectation in all ways. the parking was large and easy to access. The facilities were great especially the onsen on level 5, the view of teh onsen out to the mountains was fantastic. The reception and staff in the hotel were super courteous and smiley and friendly. The breakfast was beyond expectation , the hotel staff will meet you at the lobby and guide you to your seats/table where all the food has been prepared and laid out. the food was great and super filling, with appetizer, miso soup, side dishes, main, rice, fruits, green tea/coffee and also dessert in the form of yoghurt. Aside form that, for the Western breakfast, they set up a toastbox at the table for you to toast your basket of bread assortment. Other worthy aspect are the 8-10pm Sake hours, where you are given tokens to sample the range of sake and wine from their coin-operated dispenser, along with free snacks. When they make up the room daily, they will also leave sample of snacks on the table daily. Overall it was a great stay and i will definately recommend this hotel to others/my friends.

I feel like we got the best surprise as I was unsure what we were expecting. The room space is cozy but just enough for a family. The service is exceptional, the staff are friendly and helpful. The buffet breakfast is really good and dinner was exceptional with many courses and changing everyday.

Located just within 3min from Yudanaka station, Raki Onsenryokan is run by a Chinese family. As a quiet town on its own, no one was tending to the reception when I arrived, after ringing the bell, a lady came down to help with the check in - very straightforward. I believe the family stays in the same building as they said if we ever needed anything, we could just ring the bell at the reception. Obviously I had booked a room too big for a solo traveller as this was the only room left as ”non-smoking”. Toilet and sink are at two different parts of the room which was a little inconvenient. Ryokan offers free drive (15min) TO snow monkey park, but not return, so please cater at least 35min to walk from park exit to the bus stop. Ryokan also provided a hearty breakfast, overall for the price paid it was a decent stay!

We really enjoyed our week long stay at Hoshikawakan in Jan 2026. We have been driving around Hakuba for 4 weeks to visit various ski resorts and spent our last week at Hoshikawakan to visit Shiga Kogen. The room was spacious and clean with a small toilet like most Japanese hotels but there was a large public onsen and 2 smaller private onsens that can be reserved once each day for 30mins so you could always take your shower in the onsens like the locals do especially later at night about 10-11pm where I was the only one in the public onsen. The hotel had a lovely buffet breakfast spread with local soba, Japnese curry, cold minced sashimi fish, grill fish station, fried eggs station that will keep you adequately fed for the day's ski trip - it even has a hot drink station with free oden daily at 3-5.30pm which we enjoyed as a snack after a hard day of skiiing. The service was excellent too with the staff helpfully arranging to ship our ski equipment directly to Hanade Airport, daily clearing of snow off the carpark and new towels provided daily. The location in Yudanaka is great too especially if you drive as it is between Shiga Kogen (25-35mins drive) and Kita Shiga Kogen (15-20mins drive) with many attractions like Shibu Onsen, Yudanaka Brewery and Snow Monkey Park within 10-15 drive. There were also ample dinner options nearby within 10-15 mins walk but you may need to try and make reservations by walking in on your first night. The only downside was that the WiFi network is poor and patchy when overloaded by a lot of guests over the weekend but otherwise it was good.

We really enjoyed our stay at Shiga Kogen Sunvalley hotel. It's only a 20 mins bus ride from the Snow Monkey Park. The bus stop (S15) is about 100m away but when it's heavily snowing, it could be a little difficult to pull your luggage across the road. During the winter season, there's a free shuttle bus that takes you around the different resorts. The hotel also has ski rentals and the pricing is very reasonable and convenient for hotel guests to pickup and drop-off. The onsite onsen and sauna is clean and well maintained. We had breakfast included - food selection is good with a mix of Western and Japanese cuisine. Dinner required reservation and you have a choice of Japanese set course, or a casual course. Usui and the team really know how to provide great hospitality and we really enjoyed our stay.

It was cheap and very good! What particularly impressed me was that the front desk staff greeted me with a smile until I left, and were polite and kind in explaining things to foreign guests. I felt very at ease ❤️