Kyakuden

We stayed here as we wanted to see the Snow Monkeys in summer and Obuse is a small town in the region. Masuichi was wonderful in all regards; big room, great bath/shower, perfect beds, awesome staff, delicious included breakfast and a great izakaya 20m from the door. Obuse is so peaceful and charming too, particularly after 3pm when last of day-tourists have departed. We were so glad we chose here as our base for two nights (and the monkeys with babies were brilliant too!)…

I’m surprised that this is not rated five stars overall. The bathroom area was spectacular and very clean. The room we stayed was very large, high beamed ceilings ..and the sheets and towels were as good as any luxury hotel…. for sure, but there are spots that are in need of a touchup, but it’s a special, special place and right in the center of the pleasant culdesac village. The breakfast was superb… we shared the Benedict snd Fritata, the later of which was nearly an inch think… excellent coffee, fresh bread and local jams. Very nice seating along the glass wall.

Not an onsen ryokan, but a good option if you want to stay the night at Obuse (there are very few options within the town itself!). It is not inexpensive, quite pricey in fact given dinner isn’t included (and the obusedo honten restaurant is shut most of the year except for summer till autumn). ||We had a night’s stay in the Living Room type of room which is on the ground floor, and is essentially a living room separated from the bedroom by a narrow corridor and the toilet/bath/shower/wardrobe. This means we could have the kids sleep in sitting room away from the bedroom, which really helps. The space is huge and generous, great loccitane toiletries and generous amount of towels and slippers and bathrobes. The bath is amazing: big and glass walled and the water pressure is incredible, it fills up the bath in no time! Great for a soak. ||The ryokan itself is beautiful, with a central “courtyard” around a koi pond framed by maple trees. The reception is also beautifully appointed, and so is the library. ||Breakfast is at an Italian restaurant, part of the group (which also includes a chestnut sweets shop, and sake shop) which is quite nice but “western style” with eggs, bread and toast, ham , pea soup (??), yoghurt etc. ||Service is generally good and lovely. It is worth staying a night at Obuse as it is truly a lovely well maintained town, very interesting with the Hokusai museum and the chestnuts!! (Do try the cafe serving montblanc dessert — it is heavenly). And lovely gardens too, really gorgeous. ||The hotel is very much reflective of the town, and we enjoyed our stay, though it was very pricey. (We had dinner at a nearby Japanese restaurant — ie 1 minute walk) which was decently good.

In our travels, we are not hesitant to take a smallish detour just to check out an interesting, highly rated establishment. Our stay at the Masuichi Kyakuden in the obscure town of Obuse was the result of this wanderlust, and turned out to be one of our best decisions ever, ranking among our top five hotel nights.||||From start to finish, we were taken care of by two people: primarily by a lady who checked us in, brought us to our room, served us during dinner and checked us out. Another member of the staff parked the car for us and returned the car (with the windscreen defrosted) the following day.||||During dinner, we discovered that we were the only people staying at the hotel that night: “the chef is all yours”, she proudly declared. It then dawned upon me that the staff to guest ratio, at this point, would have equated to 3:2. The happy result of it being off season, the second weekend after the new year holidays.||||The food was delicious and delicately presented. When I enquired about the beautiful washi paper used to line the plate, she came back with four more sheets for our keepsake. She explained that the chef himself designed the paper, using a brush to paint it.||||Although not an advertised service, the ryokan also took our clothes, laundered and folded them, and even ironed my shirt, for free. (We were on a two-week-long road trip, and I had emailed the hotel earlier to ask if there was a coin laundry nearby.)||||These little touches make stays memorable, and the ryokan had nailed it.||||I won’t go through too much detail about the nuts and bolts of the Masuichi Kyakuden itself as previous reviewers, and the hotel website, have done a better job on this. Except to highlight that we loved the idea of it being located in a repurposed sake warehouse, that it has luxurious heated wooden floors, and that it boasts of a huge glass tub, which actually (and uncommonly) filled with hot water more than quickly enough before the impulse for a soak went away. ||||If I were to nitpick: the room we booked, the study type king bedder on the ground floor, was a tad dark. But I understand that, working with heritage buildings, you have to accept compromises with layout and such.||||A tip: check in on the dot at 3pm, then go visit the excellent Hokusai Museum next door, enjoy some chestnut confections at the Obusedo Honten and a sake tasting (six choices costing ¥170-¥310 each for a very large shot) at the Masuichi distillery. All of these shut by 5pm, at least in winter.

Obuse is a delightfully restored Japanese village centered around the Masuichi Sake Brewery. Masuichi Kyakuden is composed of seven old buildings, some of which were warehouses, that have been completely restored and modernized. Twelve uniquely furnished rooms, are western style with Japanese architectural elements beautifully incorporated into the decor. Each room has a glass-enclosed Japanese ofuro, deep soaking tub for two. There is a library room and a lounge that overlooks a koi pond.||||We have stayed at the hotel on three different occasions, spring, summer and late autumn. Springtime is our favorite because Obuse, along the river, is lined with magnificent cherry trees, perfect for hanami. And, we visit Obuse often, as it is an ideal spot to take visiting house guests.

Booked one night here on a 2 week trip through Japan. We stayed at several cool spots covering hotels (including the Ritz in Tokyo), Ryokans and even a hipster hostel and this was BY FAR the best. ||Obuse is a lovely town to visit - we could easily have stayed 2 nights and the ryokan is in the heart of town. ||The building is amazing, the service was impeccable, our room (the study one on second fl of main building) was so, so wonderful. It featured heated floors, a gigantic bathtub, views of a koi pond, and must have been 700-800 sq ft. ||We had breakfast and dinner during our stay and both were very, very good.||My husband and I actually considered adjusting our itinerary to stay an extra night and while we didn't, this place and the town captivated us and will be a special memory. Stay here!||And special thanks to Yoichi - he took great care of us - before and during our stay,

The buildings of an old sake brewery have been preserved and turned into a boutique hotel. |Very spacious rooms with high ceilings accentuated by those old beams and girders, large beds; a love seat with an Ottoman - the list goes on and on. |The bathroom is abandantly filled with the typical Japanese amenities (including tooth brushes, razors, cosmetics ); toilet is separate. |Rainforest shower : deep triangular bath tub comfortably seating two. |Dinner was served in a Japanese restaurant on the premises (right next to the main gate) and our excellent western style breakfast we had at their Italian restaurant.|A Hokusai museum is just opposite the hotel's main entrance. We were told that Hokusai spent his final years here courtesy of the sake brewer. While the museum attracts a lot of tour busses during the day NY 5 PM they are all gone. |

Nice! Not the best place we stayed in but nice! Great breakfast and helpful staff. We got the tatami bed which was not terribly comfortable for this western guy but my wife loved it. Great fun all in all. Nothing else to report. Recommended! GO!