Asama1155

Shikanoyu Tsuchiya

"The price is reasonable for one night with two meals included, and the bath is also good👍"

Manza Onsen Nisshinkan

"Fantastic location at the peak of the mountain . the room is small, but tidy. Buffet dinner and breakfast have good varieties. Very Japanese , we all enjoyed . It snowed heavily on the day , we stayed indoor the whole day, onsen is good too. But can’t go to the outdoor onsen as the snow was too heavy."

Manzatei

"After 30-40 minutes of walking along the mountain path from Kusatsu, you will arrive at Manza Onsen, which is located at an altitude of 1,800m. The smell of sulfur is very strong. The temperature is lower than Kusatsu Onsen, and although there is no air conditioning, it is cold at night if you leave the window open. There is nothing around except the hot spring, but this is not particularly inconvenient during your stay. After checking in, I went to the open-air bath, where the bath attendant massaged the water and measured the temperature. The source of the hot spring is said to be 80 degrees, but when I went in, the temperature was just right and I wanted to stay in it forever. The indoor bath has a very high wooden roof, and it is fun just to look at the atmosphere. The shower is a push-type, but there was one that turned off after about 5 seconds. The other showers were fine. The temperature of the private bath was also just right. After the bath, you can eat popsicles, coffee, tea, and herbal tea in the lounge. There is also a reading space and manga, so you can relax. We ordered the Joshu beef sukiyaki course, but in addition to the sukiyaki, they also served a lot of tempura and teppanyaki. It was a little difficult to finish it all. The reviews said that they served a lot, so I had a loaf of bread I bought in Kusatsu for lunch and dinner, but my wife hardly wanted to eat breakfast the next day. (Everything tasted very good...). When I went to the open-air bath around 7am, there was a wild rabbit having breakfast outside. Its tail was very cute. The staff were also polite. I think it must be very difficult to maintain this level of service and quality at such a high altitude. I took one star off because the wifi was easily disconnected and the amount of food was large, but I would like to go again."

YADOKARI VILLAGE KITAKARUIZAWA

Yutorelo Garden Kitakaruizawa

"We stayed in a twin room with a garden on the first floor for two nights with our dog. It's not exactly spotless, but it has plenty of dog amenities such as a dustpan, deodorizing spray, and pet sheets, and there's also an indoor dog run, making it a great place for dog lovers. The hot spring is colorless, transparent, and odorless, so it doesn't have much of a punch, but it's a weak alkaline simple spring, so it feels good on the skin and is very soothing. The food wasn't fancy, but it was just the right amount for a senior couple and was delicious. The staff were also kind."

Hanaichi

"Hanaichi is a small ryokan is quite remote and is best accessed by car. Although I had never heard of Hanaichi, upon doing some research I found that it gets top marks for its service, Onsen and food, so we decided to check it out. Arriving at the ryokan is not particularly wow-inducing; it's on the side of a road and does not scream "luxury" looking at it from the outside. The reception area is much the same - it looks more like a rural country home with a mishmash of furnishings and decorations that suit the owner's preference rather than a cohesive design approach. It's not bad, mind you, but not exactly elegant. There isn't much in the way of property grounds to speak of, but at least there is a common lounge area and several private rental Onsen baths on site, so you're not stuck in your room the entire time. The 7-room ryokan was founded in 2002 by the current owner and his wife, who both decided to open a ryokan only after drilling over 1000 meters below ground and hitting the Onsen jackpot. As a result, the Onsen is straight from the source, directly below the property, and it is top notch quality with no filtration system necessary due to the constant stream of hot springs that feed into each bath. This is part of the reason that - in spite of each room having its own private Onsen, Hanaichi also has 3 additional private baths that are available 24 hours a day and on a first-come, first served basis for paid guests at the ryokan. We booked the "Tsukishi" room, which is a 75m² junior suite-style accommodation that features two beds, a living room, a dining table with two chairs, a snakk sitting area with a "Kotatsu" (a heated coffee table that keeps your feet toasty), a patio and a small area that is meant to be a work area. The Onsen is not open-air, although you can open the windows to let in some fresh air if you so desire. From the patio, you do get a bit of a view of Mt. Asama (Tsumagoi is located on the opposite side of the mountain from Karuizawa) although the ubiquitous power lines and a cookie-cutter white building detracts from the ambiance. One of the benefits of staying in Tsukishi is the option for guests to have meals served in their room for 2000 yen extra, but we didn't feel the atmosphere was particularly appealing, so we decided to dine in one of the semi-private rooms at the main restaurant. The executive chef is the son of the owner, and he did a pretty good job with the food offerings. I remember it being pretty good, but not particularly memorable. Mrs. KI-NRT, however seems to recall the meals being excellent, even if she had a hard time remembering specific dishes. Everything was elegantly presented, and Hanaichi's kitchen staff did a competent job of bringing out the best of the local fish, meat and produce. Nothing was super fancy - among the offerings were salt-grilled Iwana (White-spotted Char), White Onion Spring Rolls, Joshu Beef steak (Joshu was the name of the province that currently is known as Gunma) "

Kyukamura Tsumagoi-Kazawa

"2024.10 Saturday / Kyukamura Tsumagoi Shikazawa (Kusatsu, Tsumagoi Trip) [Accommodation fee] 32,600 yen / 2 people / 2 people: 150 yen bath tax. Includes 1 night and 2 meals. Use Kyukamura points for 1,360 yen ・Standard accommodation planbr ~ Buffet made with carefully selected ingredients ~ ・ Birch building 8 tatami Japanese room front side (non-smoking) [Impressions] Since I made the reservation at the end of August, this was the only room available. (The last room at this point) This is the 13th Kyukamura. The parking lot is slightly sloped. The entrance is on the second floor, so I carried my suitcase in the elevator. The campsite is also on a slope, so evening and morning walks were good exercise. I liked the hot spring, and although the open-air bath is small, it has a sense of openness while looking at the garden, and there are benches. The source of the hot spring is said to be in two places, the open-air bath and the indoor bath, so I was able to relax at the right temperature. The main dish for dinner was tempura, but there was so much batter that even I had to avoid it when eating. Other dishes we enjoyed included zenzai, cabbage dishes, and oden. For our evening walk, we watched the stars through the clouds. Some brave souls joined us in yukata robes and sandals... In the morning, someone from the information centre acted as our guide. We were able to hear interesting stories about trees, but we had to leave midway due to our breakfast reservation. It seems that you can also rent electric bicycles, but be careful as there are many slopes. [Previous visit] Onioshidashi Park [Next visit] Aisai no Oka"