Uematsuya

The hotel is authentic to the extent that most of the visitors are local Japanese, plus it's super friendly to Taiwanese people as the female owner from Taiwan would receive us welcomingly. Strongly recommend to those who wanna escape from the city hustle and bustle and get a taste of Japanese culture.

Was absolutely wonderful to stay in this fantastic ryokan. Staff were all marvellous, especially the dinning hall who took pain to explain the food to us so we can immerse in authentic keiseki meals. Rooms were fantastic... tatami mats and balcony that opened to snow covered trees. Food was out of this world, and every dish/meal was a special. Everything about the facilities was very well thought out we spend a great deal of time in the very lovely open air onsen. Location was alittle away from the retro looking train station... but it was a nice walk to and fro. There are temples around the corners where you can visit and have great photo opportinities. Thoroughly enjoyed Uematsuya Ryokan and i will stay here again when in Nagano. Please keep up the great work.

Love Japanese Onsens and this Onsen did not disappoint. While this is more of a hotel style with traditional Japanese rooms (as compared to Bessho Onsen which is a more traditional Japanese Inn), it was still worthwhile. The overall service was great. The meals which were included in our booking were outstanding. While the town was quiet it was still Interesting to walk around

We visited Bessho Onsen on a weekend getaway from Tokyo and found it a perfect place to relax and unwind. ||||The friendly, helpful staff at Uematsuya were very accommodating, giving us a cup of tea in the lobby when we arrived and meeting our dietary restrictions, providing an excellent kaiseki style dinner in our room made predominately with local ingredients (very impressive!). We even got local sparkling wine.||||The baths were excellent, with both indoor and outdoor options. The two sides swap from male to female at 11 pm every night, allowing patrons to enjoy both baths at different times. Like many older ryokan buildings, it was a bit labyrinthine to find the bath, but ultimately no problem. ||||Breakfast was served in a common dining room decorated with very dramatic black and white drawings of Sanada heroes.

centrally located if visiting temples is of interest. not too far from local train station, bus stop even closer. adequate selection of nearby coffee shops, snack bars etc. excellent breakfast. table set with wide variety of dishes primarily Japanese style. self-serve salad bar, rice and soup. very well equipped room. enough outlets for charging various devices. very helpful and friendly staff. multi-lingual. excellent communication.

My friend recommended Shirahone onsen to me. Since I've already booked a ryokan at Shirahone onsen, I wanted to try out a different ryokan nearby. Then I noticed another famous onsen nearby called Bessho Onsen, and Uematsuya is one of the best ryokans in this area. It turned out to be one of our best onsen trips. ||We took the train from Tokyo station to Ueda station. Since we were traveling on December 29th, and it was during the Japanse new year holiday season when many locals were also traveling, we didn't get the tickets with reserved seats. Our strategy was to get to the platform early and stay in front of the line. Even so, we only got one seat. So for anybody traveling during the busy season, we would recommend buying tickets ahead of time with reserved seats. ||There is a local train running between Ueda Station and Bessho-Onsen Station. It only takes about 30 minutes. ||The Bessho onsen town is pretty small, and we didn't see many shops open when we got there (probably due to holidays). There was still time before check-in, so we strolled around after checking in our luggage. There is a small temple called 北向观音. It is an ordinary temple, but the photos here are very suitable for Instagram. One restaurant called 日野出食堂 is still open. The restaurant is famous for its hand-made soba noodles. We noticed that there was one plate of soba noodles on almost every table. The waitress doesn't speak English, but with the help of Google Translate, we were able to figure out the menu and order the right food with my broken Japanese. We really like their soba and udon noodles. I found out that I didn't bring enough cash, so I went back to the hotel for help. The receptionist told me that there is no bank in the town, but he could exchange some cash for me. So a tip is that always bring enough cash. ||The water of the open-air onsen was luke-warm, but the water of the indoor onsen was warm enough. There is a persimmon tree near the open-air onsen. There are lots of frozen persimmons on the tree. ||Our dinner was served in our room. Breakfast was served in the dining room. The staff who served us were really nice and professional. They made us feel at home and taken care of. The food was top notch and they made sure you get enough food. ||The staff here is really competent and they did everything to make sure that you have a good time here. I will probably come back if I get a chance.

This place is not so far from Tokyo and easy to get to. Take a Sinkansen line and get off at Ueda station, from where you take a lovely local train to Bessho Onsen. Ueda city is OK but I would not spend too much time there. ||Bessho Onsen is only for those who really enjoy hot spring otherwise the whole village will be closed after 19:00. There are neither cafes nor proper restaurants opened in the evening, so you must reserve your room at least with half pension. The hotel is located at the edge of the village and it is a kind of modern Ryokan but the bath halls are excellent and most enjoyable. Our room was clean and spacey, on the riverside, and we could see the green hills in front of us. There are some temples around the village. One of them is Anrakuji, with its impressive wooden octagonal pagoda built in the Chinese Sung architectural style during the Kamakura Period (1192-1333). The pagoda is the only example of its kind left in Japan and is designated as a national treasure.||We took a wonderful one day trip to Nagano-city (there are two ways: by local Shinetsu line, which takes 40 minutes from Ueda or by Shinkansen, which takes 10 minutes from Ueda station to Nagano station) where we visited imposing Zenkoji temple and spent enjoyable time shopping and having lunch at a nice restaurant.

I have visited this Ryokan for more than 5 times as my first experience there was totally beyond my experience and eventually brought me back again and again.||||Great experience||From the design of Ryokan speaks the combination of old Japanese Ryokan history and evolution of new development. Around the cozy lobby, you see many little surprises from their decoration, lounge & a cute souvenir gift shop.When you walk around the lobby, you may also find a beautiful set of samurai arm suit. ||Rooms are traditional japanee design that makes everyone feel working back from time. Hotspring is fantasy, especially the outdoor hotspring pool allows you to look out the view and enjoy great moment of peace (You must also note that traditional Ryokan swap hotspring rooms for male and female everyday so that you get the chance to enjoy different setup). ||||Great Hospitality||Pick-up service from train station, friendly greeting & smiles, Was surprised to find out the son of owner was studying/working in Britain & his wife is actually a Taiwanese who speaks English, Japanese & Chinese. Made it extremely easier for the exploration of the area with her great and kind guide. ||||Amazing food||You don't only find traditional Japanese cuisine here. Son of the owner who was studying/working in Europe made their menu multi-national and many innovation of Japanese food with European setting/flavour. And...they taste great~||||Highly recommend everyone to pay a visit and have a great relaxation there.