Miyama Ouan

It was an amazing experience from start to finish. We were warmly greeted by the staffs and offering any assistance they could. The room was very spacious and well equipped. We spent a night here but wasn’t keen of leaving the hotel at all. The public bath is a great spot to enjoy the view. They also offer private baths, both indoors and outdoors. The lounge offer complimentary sake and it was quite a cool new experience for us and even the Japanese guests alike. We opted for the premium lounge for the extended free flow into the evening. It was of great value. The hotel also offer a terrace with bonfire overlooking the pond. Dinner and breakfast were alright, nothing special. Staffs were kind and attentive.

Stayed for couple nights and was such a treat. Location, Rooms, Onsen, Foods and Hospitality were all excellent. A gentleman who escorted us to the room was so friendly and helpful, really made our stay comfortable. Love to come back again.

Visited in Nov 2024. Was checked into room 208(?) if I remember correctly. It was the room that was enveloping the lift. The room was dank and toilet reeked of a pink mould smell. Something about the room felt very wrong, and gave me a terrible feeling. Immediately decided to request for a change of room which they acceded to, but the new room was very small. Further, upon checking my booking recently, I realised that I was not even given the room I had booked! The food was buffet style. Breakfast and dinner were both good with decent quality food. There’s also free ramen during supper. I thought the onsen was very enjoyable, especially the outdoor one. In all, I had a bad experience due to the room. Price was also pretty high tbh. For the price point I think better alternatives can be found.

Getting here from Tokyo without a car is a little challenging but completely fine in the end, you just have to make sure you catch the bus from Kumamoto. The hotel is immaculate. Staff, decorations, rooms, private baths everything was on point. The staff does not know much english, but fear not! They all are equipped with translation devices and when you know even a few words in Japanese it will make their day. Please be friendly to the awesome staff here. The only bad thing we encountered was not caused by the ryokan but rather the foreign visitors (China and Russia) -> they caused havoc in the serene relaxed ryokan. Screaming, running kids, everyone blasting music from their phones and so on. BUT THIS IS NOT PROBLEM OF THE HOTEL but foreigners that are not interested in surrouding themselves in the Japanese culture. The surroundings of the hotel are lush and very calm. The Japanese Alps are a place we will make sure to return to. All in all an awesome experience.

The best outdoor onsen that I’ve ever experienced. This hotel is luxury. They even give you free sake and ramen during certain times of the day. The rooms are amazing with large windows and great views from each room. Based on the layout, most rooms should have a view since it’s on the outskirts of Hirayu Onsen town. Service is above Japan’s standards. If I come back to Kamikochi, then I would stay here.

For me, the hotel is a little expensive but the might be the best choice around Hirayu Onsen, especially you could enjoy the view from the it. Personally I like the design of the room, which you walk-in in a narroe hall, the find out the larget place with the huge window. In winter, it's all white outside, but the view is good and you will feel very comfortable when you just sitting inside and look at it. You have several choices for Onsen and I will recommend you to try all of them, especially the outside onsen. For some of the onsen, it will be cold for you to walk to it, since part of the road will be outside. I know it is kind of interesting but remember to wear warm if you want to try them. The hotel also provide spaces for relaxing after onsen and late night soba. For dinner and breakfast, the solo traveller will be seated toward the window, which is great, as you could see the view of snow mountain. The food is delicious and you could even add orders or Yakiniku and so on. I highly recommend the Hida beef, you should try them. Personally, I will definitely choose this hotel if I come to Hirayu Onsen again.

Room 808. OMG !!! I don't know which room we had initially booked, a cheaper one for sure, but at check-in we were offered this room for an additional 10k yen and we decided 'why not'. The room, or shall I say apartment, was fantastic. Huge. There's an indoor sitting area with zaisu chairs and heated blanket/table and floor to ceiling windows opening onto your private patio. I can only imagine how amazing this would be in winter with snow. The patio has its own hot onsen bathtub; as well as a hot foot bath. The entire apartment was beautifully made out of wood, was brand new, and smelled wonderful. The hotel also has public onsen and sauna. Gender separated. And there are also two (four?) private outdoor stone-basin hot onsens that are free to use for 45 minutes when available. (No bookings.) The entire hotel is shoes-free. You lock your shoes at the entrance and wear slippers in the hotel. They also give you some yakutas to change into and wear. More clothes and pj's available in the room. The whole day there are free non-alcoholic drinks and snacks. In the afternoon there is free hot sake with grilled fishtail. Interesting, not bad, but not something I would drink often. In the evening there is free-flow whiskey/etc for a very reasonable 1,100 yen. Dinner is served at two times. We chose the late one. My wife is allergic to shellfish, so she got a customized menu. I just took the regular sushi menu. I don't really like sushi, but this was quite excellent. The 'yellow tail' was fantastic. The presentation and detail were amazing. Also, at this point, a heartfelt thank you !!! to Ms.Miho who served our dinner and was most pleasant and helpful in explaining. At dinner, the booking time for breakfast is made. Breakfast was very good, if you enjoy a traditional Japanese breakfast. I did. A lot. But TBH, I still would have preferred a Western version. (Or maybe just been offered a coffee.) Here my only complaint: when booking breakfast, why weren't we offered a table with a view? We were not !!! happy being seated in a booth when many tables right at the window, with great views, were available. Insisting politely, we asked to be moved to a window table. (And, yes, many other tables at the window were available while we ate, so we didn't steal anyone's table.) Very quick and efficient pick-up at the bus terminal and then drop-off. Check-in was the most detailed and lengthy process ever. (Not complaining.) The staff use Japanese-English translation devices for every sentence. It makes things very easy to understand. There is also a hot foot bath in front of the hotel. (Public? Semi-public? For the driver who doesn't stay here? I'm not sure.) I also had to post a picture of the hairdryer. It is by far the best I ever used. Later I found them for sale at BicCamera for well over 30k yen. (Or was it over 60k yen? I can't remember.) More expensive than Dyson. Not a cheap hotel to stay. But I am confident that we will come back. Looking at the hotel layout, there is an overwhelming variety of rooms to choose from. I think the 302 and 401 series rooms would be a cheaper but still very nice alternative. They have indoor onsen baths with large windows, as the reception explained.

A lovely hotel with good onsen and great food. It was very relaxing and a real treat to be pampered with soaking in the onsen and the beautifully prepared meals. I didn't get to use the outdoor onsens because the weather was still too cold for me so I stayed in the indoor onsen. Also, the lighting in the outdoor onsen was too dark for me so I was scared of falling. It would be better to use the outdoor onsens during daytime.I hope to return some time soon.