Hotels Near Kenmei-ji Temple in Nozawaonsen

The owner, amiable, breakfast is delicious

We stayed at this hotel for five nights, skiing, looking at the village where Nozawa Hot Springs is located, and I heard that place was highly rated. The hotel is located in the remote village, about 500 meters from Shin-yu double chair ropeway, take the ropeway to Hirage Gondola( There are ski schools, information desks, coffee houses, etc. The ropeway is free, but if you want to ski, you have to buy tickets at the top. You can't ski back to the base of the ropeway and you have to sit back on the ropeway. The walk to the ropeway was more plodding but short and no one in our group felt difficult, we were wearing ski boots and carrying snowboards. We were taken to our room upon arrival at the hotel, The waitress made tea and poured it on us, she was very hospitable. The hotel room was very clean. Our room had two Western beds and a tatami area with Japanese mattress. The waitress put down the mattress for us every night, Then put it away when we have breakfast. The room has a refrigerator, minibar, hot water bottle and green tea, a snack or cake every day, air conditioning, alarm clock, flat screen TV (all Japanese stations), good shower and pool. But we mainly took a shower in the hotel's hot springs, first in the purification area and then sitting in the hot spring pool for a few minutes. This was relaxing after a day of skiing. The hot springs were large and basically you enjoyed the hot springs after dinner. Breakfast was Japanese, with some western stuff, bacon, sausage and excellent, including grilled fish, salad and steamed broccoli with good Japanese salad dressing, all sorts of vegetables and pickles, rice, flavor, dumplings, porridge, etc. Also the best croissants and good coffee. Breakfast was included in the room rate. Unfortunately we didn't try dinner at the restaurant because communication went wrong. Dinner was expensive, 500 yuan per person, and served Japanese cuisine with fixed dishes. No one in this hotel has good English, our Japanese is limited so we have some small things like recommending restaurants for dinner, how to use an electric kettle, whether there is a shuttle bus from hotel to ski resort (no, indeed), the hotel lobby and the village behind the wheeled jar bird Stories, etc., are in trouble. Like many Japanese hotels and restaurants, smoking is a problem, and especially in cold weather. There is also a computer in the stairwell with high-speed Internet connection (free), but no wireless network and no Internet connection with the computer you bring. The village is great. There must be many small restaurants to try, both cheap and some high-end. Most have English menus and the owner has enough English to handle a la carte, but it is hard to deal with special requests or problems (e.g. whether eggs are hot or cold). Pork ramen is always a safe choice, tasty and cheap. There are 13 hot springs (indoor hot springs, pools for men and women) in the village and they are all free (you can donate some money in the box). We didn't try the hot springs because they were always overcrowded when we went and the hotel had its own hot springs.

On such a hot day, there is no air-conditioning on the 4th floor. I vaguely feel that there is discrimination in the room booked through Ctrip. The next day we negotiated to change to the 6th floor.

We travelled as a group of three families (5,5,4) and enjoyed our stay at Hotel Housei very much. While my family are frequent travellers to Japan, it was the first time for the other two families and they were keen to try Japanese accommodation - tatami, futons, and onsens. We were able to book three tatami rooms all with private onsen and they were fantastic - especially as the majority of our travelling group were a little shy to go nude in the public bath 😬 The futons were comfortable, the rooms were cosy and warm, and we enjoyed the complimentary tea and traditional sweets, and the yukatas to wear. The instructions for using the private bath were very clear and the bath itself was lovely to soak in and enjoy. The staff were very friendly and could communicate well in English. They made excellent restaurant suggestions for our group of 14, and also assisted with sightseeing and snowboarding suggestions in the area (less snow this year so usual spots not open). They always welcomed us warmly when we returned each day from our adventures and we enjoyed their personal touch. The hotel offers a free shuttle bus to the snow monkeys, local ski field and the train station, but we had hired cars so did not need to use it. They had a valet parking service which was very handy! We thoroughly enjoyed our time in this hotel and will stay again!

From the moment you enter Kokuya Ryokan, be prepared to leave the real world behind and fully immerse yourself in the experience. You swap your shoes for slippers at the door and don’t see them again until you leave. You will receive a warm welcome from polite and gentle-mannered staff, get taken up to your beautiful room, and once you’ve changed into your traditional yukata, it’s time to let the relaxation begin. The multi-course dinner will probably be one of the best meals you’ve had in your life, with many unusual textures and flavors to try. The futons are comfortable, and your room is kept toasty warm. There are even skincare products to keep you pampered and moisturized between soaks in the onsen. Honestly, you won’t even need to open your suitcase while you’re there. The staff will take you through all the logistics when you arrive, but there are some things that might be useful to know in advance. - The ryokan sends a shuttle to Yudanaka station at about 15:00 to collect new arrivals, so time your journey to take advantage of this benefit. - The ryokan also offers guests the opportunity to catch a shuttle to the Snow Monkey Park immediately after breakfast the next morning. - After you leave the ryokan, they will take your luggage down to the coffee shop opposite the station, so you don’t need to worry about those logistics. - Trains from Yudanaka back to Nagano leave at 12:30 and 15:30. - The ryokan itself has several private onsens that you can reserve for a 45-minute slot. Because the onsens are on the property, you can go in with your partner or travel companions regardless of gender. It’s a boutique hotel, so you don’t have to worry about not getting access to all the onsens you want. - The ryokan is on the main road of the Shibu Onsen town. The hotel will give you a key so you can wonder down the main road, visiting any of the public onsens you wish - however, with so many gorgeous and more private onsens in the hotel itself, you probably won’t have time or the desire for this. - Also, there is a coffee machine in the room! (I was worried about having to survive without coffee, and this turned out to be an unfounded concern). We had an incredible and totally indulgent time at Kokuya. Experiencing a traditional ryokan is a privilege that you should try at least once if you can. And adding the Snow Monkeys in give the trip a double purpose, making it that much more memorable. The only thing that would have made the trip better is if we had been allowed to linger longer over every course of our dinner.

Small and cute place to be. Once you get to the train station or bus stop, give them a call and they will come pick you up. You can walk if you want, but it does go uphill a little bit if you have suitcase with you. Staff is really nice and accommodating. We did have one of our friends ending up pregnant on the trip after we had booked the trip and she was not able to eat many of the foods. They were really nice and worked with what she could eat and even gave her a little omamori (like a charm) for her healthy and safe pregnancy and birth. Would recommend to others. The individual onsen in each room is wonderful and if you want to have more people gather together, get the bigger rooms. Mt. Fuji is visible but understand that it depends on time of day and season. Due to the smaller space, there is only one area to gather downstairs, which is also where you check in. Not a big deal for us, but for those who wants like a whole area to walk around in the hotel, then may want to look at those bigger hotels.

- background The hotel representative did mistake to charge ¥1300 yen less (not fulfill coupon requirement) when I checked in: “another manager officially acknowledged their mistake.” Action: - calling to my room! - posting memo to come to the front desk right away!! - taking about one hour at the front desk to solve the issue even in the evening !!! Question and problem - why not ask me to correct the difference in the checkout? (Seems their awful business rule) - no understanding customer’s time and how to solve issues with the customer (my hourly wage should be more than ¥1300 but even their due to their mistake) Summary and action: Although the representative accepted their mistake (coupon applied-just ¥1300), they spent about 1hour to solve an issue and keep awfully asking me to come the front desk during the stay. Why not ask when I checked out? Definitely it might be related to their unacceptable business system. It seems that the hotel employees are not understanding what the hotel business is and the concept of hospitality especially solving issues of customers Unlike their competitors like APA and Dormy-in, it is such a poor service and not well maintained hotel itself. I am not using anymore my stays chains and not recommend at all. I am also exploring any action to payback my time from their service. In the bottom line, hopefully the Covid-19 will impact on this kind of business to remind not even omotenashi, but just basic hotel customer’s very basic right.