Onyado Tsutaya

A sort taxi ride from Yabuhara postal town and the Nakasendo trail, this was one of our favourite stays on our 2 week trip to Japan. Very authentic, beautifully appointed ryokan with onsen, and a boutique hotel feel. Welcoming staff who spoke great English. Our Japanese style room was very comfortable and we appreciated the private onsen on the balcony off our room. The multi course Japanese dinner was amazing, as was breakfast. Wish we had spent a couple of nights here and got to explore Kiso-Fukushima town as well.

We stayed two nights and were ‘ upgraded’ to a ‘newer’ room in the just completed annex across the street ( at more cost). This has about 8 rooms over three floors. We were given room 1 on the ground floor and the windows were at chest height outside so everyone walking by looked in at us. If you closed the blinds you were in a box with no natural light. The room lighting was ‘mood lighting’ with no lighting to read by. The beds were huge and comfortable but no room for two chairs. We had to share one chair. The fridge door was hung on the wrong side so it opened against the wall and you had to be Houdini to get things in and out. The bathroom and toilet were immaculate but the water is warm not hot in the shower. Towels are very thin and very small. No luggage rack or spare surface means you need to have your suitcase on the ground. The main building is across the street and has an exquisite lounge area and exceptional onsen facility. Breakfast and dinner were excellent. However, if you are in the annex you must get across the street in the rain to all these things. Reception staff were mostly very helpful but when we asked for help calling our next hotel in Kyoto they couldn’t help us. In summary, make sure you stay in the main building.

Although we booked 2 nights at Onyado Tsutaya, we were told at check-in they were full and we had been given a room in a separate building "Annex Hatago" (across the street and a few doors down from the actual ryokan.) Given there was an actual name for the separate building, we should have been informed upon booking that we were staying elsewhere and not in the ryokan itself as we had booked. As this information was not relayed to us until check-in, we felt completely misled right from the start. If you've ever stayed in a ryokan, it is all about the atmosphere, hospitality and food. The annex is a non-descript block facing a parking lot. It has no atmosphere and it is hard to experience anything but aggravation walking up/down 2 flights of metal stairs on the outside of the building (no elevator in the annex) and across the street for dinner on a cold night in your yukata. We are fully able to climb the stairs (we walked two different sections of the Nakasendo during our stay here) - it just wasn't what we expected given the hotel indicates it has an elevator. I was also surprised to be left a placard informing us that rooms were not serviced when staying more than one night. While I am all for a green environment, daily service to the room is usually a guest's option rather than a lodging's mandate. Summing it up, no, I would not recommend a stay here as it felt like a bait and switch. Having said that, this is the first time in all my years of traveling throughout the world that I've ever experienced such deception when booking a room.

We enjoyed a beautiful Japanese style room, comfortable and spacious. The food was outstanding, many traditional dishes. The service was excellent. The onsen was clean and very enjoyable. They cater to western travelers, with instructions in English.

Service is excellent. The people and their enthusiasm is great Food is good although the Sashimi was a little fishy Having an open view of the river in the open onsen would be amazing Worth a try and love the location on the river Not many restaurants nearby so need to walk closer to the train station

What a gorgeous welcoming to arrive here after walking from Tsumago. Lovely well thought out reception and magnificent rooms. Everything one could dream of while walking and then it was topped off with the most delicious dinner. This was by far the best meal we have had while in on our Japan odyssey.