Ryokan Hanaya

A truly exceptional experience - a largish traditional ryokan just a small distance from the beaten track. We speak very limited Japanese but the hosts were welcoming, generous, and together we were able to work past any language barriers. The food was incredibly good- local, tasty, and generous portions. Comfortable futons for an incredible night's sleep. Outdoor and indoor onsen were in great condition, nice and hot, and just what we needed after skiing up north. The real deal and exceptional value for what was provided.

Founded in 1917, this long-established hotel is almost entirely registered as a tangible cultural property. Its vast grounds are dotted with buildings connected by corridors. Each room has a different layout, so you can enjoy a different atmosphere every time you stay. The design of palace carpenters and the furnishings that have been used with care since ancient times create an atmosphere of Taisho-era romance.

The vintage atmosphere emanates naturally from the tastefully decorated rooms, possible only through the long passage of time. The house tour is a must-do if you love classic Japanese interior designs. Silky onsen water, too!

My husband and I do not speak Japanese but visited Hanaya with our daughter who does. I don't know if there is English-speaking staff, but imagine we could have muddled our way through with a phrase book or two. We stayed in a room (actually a large 3-room suite) with a private hotspring bath. The rooms and the views from the many windows were beautiful even though the gardens were not in full bloom. The dinner and breakfast (served in our room) were exceptional. The staff is ultra-helpful, friendly, and anxious to please. This was the highlight of our 11-day trip to the Tokyo area and I highly recommend it. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Yes! Definitely a lot of bang for the buck.

We spent two nights at this inn/hotel. I do not know how much English is spoken as I muddle along in Japanese and my wife is Japanese. Rooms were large, well kept, straight out of the early Taisho Era (1912-1925), Food, dinner served in the room, breakfast in a very nice dining room were excellent. One of if not our best experience in 45 years in and out of Japan. The public baths are excellent and the rotenboro (outdoor bath) is also quite nice. ||||I can not recommend this place too highly it is one of my best experiences in Japan ever.||||Bessho-Onsen is a small village with 3 lovely temples one of which has a pagoda which is a national treasure. All three are well worth visiting. Allow two days, our third day we went over for a day tour (taxi and walking) of Ueda which is 20 minutes away via the Ueda-Bessho Train, quaint and charming. ||||About 75 minutes by bullet train from Tokyo Station to Ueda and then 20 minutes on to Bessho.

I was so excited to stay here from years before, perhaps my anticipation made me judge it harder. First, the good: it's a historic building lovingly maintained and makes you feel as if you've traveled a hundred years back in time. Slight imperfections like a crack in the wash basin just add to the ambiance. Ours was a pretty standard room in the main building that was ample for two with futons on the tatami at night. There was also a little sitting area to read and drink tea in while looking out on trees that were filled with birds. TV, refrigerator, toilet also in-room, but no shower or bath. I believe the more expensive rooms have baths and in-room dining. The hallways squeak a little, but didn't bother us. The dining room, lobby, and garden are similarly atmospheric. The hot spring baths were all quite hot for me. The best temperature was the outdoor one, but the marble baths were the most interesting. You can just dip your legs if too hot. There are various hours when men and women can use the three baths. Now for the not-so-good. The doorman/valet provided absolutely the best service. The other staff were by turns unenthusiastic, robotic, or timid. The dinner was fine -- very good even, except for one terrible course -- but the courses came out very slowly and were all typical fare including sushi -- in an area that is as far from an ocean as one can possibly get in Japan. I would like to have been asked in advance about dining preferences and for the menu to include more regional fare. But really, they are just catering to their clientele, which seemed to be almost entirely retirees with only a few young couples or families. I don't think this place is right for children, but the other guests really ruined the atmosphere by drinking too much, being loud in the dining room and baths, and being obnoxious to the staff. If you're really into history and architecture and can put up with typical Japanese-oriented service, I'd say why not go once. Otherwise, there are better ryokan experiences to be had.

I went to this ryokan with my husband without expecting much at the beginning other than seeing the old traditional taisho architectual style for the ryokan. But upon our arrival we were greeted very politely from a staff offering us an umbrella ( as it was raining) and treated well from the start. We loved the exterior and interior of this inn and I am glad that I made a right choice for the place to stay in Ueda, Nagano. My husband is English and Japanophile. He was very impressed with the decor of this ryokan and said he couldn't find any fault with this ryokan - several choice of hotspring baths, each room was large enough fitted with its own bathroom and very peaceful and the food was lovely. I read some of the negative review by a foreign tourist about this ryokan, but honestly I don't quite understand why they were not treated well by the staff. They have to realise at times inns in some remote places might not have got used to have foreign visitors stayin at their traditional inns, so possibly they might not know how to treat the foreign visitors, especialy if they are only used to be treated in the same way as they were in a hotel in a big city. They should have realised that Ryokans are different from hotels ! Anyway we both love this ryokan so much that we will definitely return to stay at this place again.

At the moment we entered the room #26 after checking-in, we were shocked with the status of our room. Its windows and walls were dirty, water tubs were rusted, private ‘Onsen’ room seemed not well-attended and so on. Any customer, who expects common-sence-level of cleaness in such a prestigious Ryokan (authentic Japanese ‘Onsen’ hotel), would claim against such a poor standard of amenity. Our first impression, therefore, was disastrous.||||However, during our dinner (served in rooms), the more we talked with a staff, the more we were fascinated with charm of this Ryokan. Such change might be generated by her hospitality and, more importantly, her affection to the place. To her, every item in our room, furniture, ramp, ornament and so on, has its own history, and is associated with memories of the ex-owners and co-workers who used to be here. Through learning the history by her talks, our view and evaluation changed gradually. ||||Although we still stress the needs to attend the room amenity, we finally became fascinated with the real history (since 1917) and dignity of the place after using their authentic marble public bath halls and all-wooden dining halls. On the 2nd day, therefore, we were fully satisfied to stay here.||||As said, staff's hospitality was excellent, and such attitude came from their affection to the place and we believe that it had played a vital role to sustain this authentic Ryokan for years. || ||Served Japanese cuisine, dinner and breakfast, was impeccable. We could feel, from the materials, the cheff’ heart-felt intention to entertain customer by making full use of local and natural crops. We heard that he had been trained in Kyoto, and that made us think that his such skill gave a new lives and tastes to his selected materials.||||So far, this is an excellent Ryokan and it will attract a number of Japanese repeaters, but, even for overseas visitors, we would recommend the Hanaya to be in your itenerary if you want to experience traditional hospitality of Japanese style hotel. ||||We suspect that some part of this Ryokan belongs to the natinonal cultural assets. It may be hard to rebuild or modernize the buildings and even harder and more costly to maintain them as they are. But we hope that not only such properties but also its unique hospitalities tradition which we experienced will be handed down nicely to next generations to sustain the authenticity of this place.

What a great ryokan! They really made my onsen (hot spring) experience AMAZING! I've always wanted to take my mom for a trip and this time it finally came true. We picked this place as she's been here before and she said she'd love to come back. We took Shinkansen from Tokyo station to Ueda, Nagano (approx 1.5 hrs) then took Bessho dentetsu (I'm not sure if the name is correct) to Bessho. From Bessho Onsen station you can take the shuttle that takes you around to major ryokans in the area (I believe the latest shuttle is before 6pm). When we got there, we were warmly welcomed by a few staff at the entrance. After we signed some forms, the staff took us around the ryokan. There are three onsen: Wankakusa, Dairiseki, and Rotenburo (outside) and each onsen will be switched from women to men depending on the time of the day. We stayed at Hanare No. 65. I strongly recommend you to stay in one of their hanare. If you stay in Hanare, they'll bring your dinner to your room and there's a small onsen bathroom in your room! The room was very cute and spacious. It's so quiet and you could hear the river outside. When you open the window you can enjoy the flowers in the yard. The food was amazing too. The latest time they serve food is 6:45 so I recommend you to check-in before. Although they start serving at 6:45, by the time they bring the last course meal, it was 9:15. I was so full and falling asleep.. If you're planning to take a bath and do stuff after, you can choose to start eating a little earlier (they will ask you what time when you check-in) I heard around in May-June you can see lighting bugs around the ryokan. I definitely wanna come back during the season with my husband :)