Kokuya Ryokan Shibu Onsen

Amazing stay to get pampered and enjoy some onsen relaxation doing a classic Japanese experience
The staff goes out of their way to make you comfortable
Me and my wife came after a very intense week in Tokyo to break the sightseeing and relax before continuing our holiday
Was lovely to be served tea in our room from the girl tending to our check in while she was explaining all we needed to know.
Dinner was also great Kaiseki style, with local produce and the lady tending to us in the dining room was lovely as well. There was even a lovely guy speaking some Italian.
The onsen is wonderful, 8 options all gorgeous looking, you can book them and is always private use, you even can get access to the public onsen in the village, 9 in total.
We just wish we had more time here as we were getting soooooo relaxed.
Cherry on top is that they organize a shuttle for you to get your train on time when leaving and they come to say bye personally.
All around great experience

Service was great and the room very comfortable. Onsen use is included in price and there are various ones to choose from.
The food was fantastic! They even we t to the trouble of creating an English menu for me even though it was not necessary.
The location is also convenient. I definitely recommended!

We stayed at Kokuya for 2 nights during our 2 week Japan trip for our 10 year wedding anniversary. This was one of our "splurge hotels" and we found it very worth the price. Aside of our lack of being used to the traditional Japanese style floor sleeping futon, this has been the BEST stay of our Japan trip. The service is 5 star, food is amazing, staff is extremely welcoming and friendly and the 8 private onsens are the best in town. Rooms are spacious and comfortable, ours had a toilet and a separate vanity, space for a little indoor balcony and all moder amenities (kettle, mini fridge, safe box, etc) we did not need more! The hotel provides the master key to visit the 9 public onsens, a free shuttle pick up to and from the bus station and a shuttle to the Snow Monkey park. We highly recommend staying here for your best Shibu Onsen experience!!

Amazing staff! Couldn't be more accommodating with our arrival, departure and duration of stay. 100% recommend if you are checking out snow monkeys.

Very nice experience staying here, would like to have stayed more than one night. The onsens are nice plus you get access to the public onsens. The dinner was lovely and the staff so helpful. Highly recommend!

I recently stayed one night at the shibu onsen kokuya during a nine day vacation in Japan, this was my first ever visit to Japan. The shibu onsen kokuya was an incredible bed and breakfast, I would recommend their services to anyone interested in viewing the jigokudani snow monkey park, or anyone looking to experience top tier traditional Japanese cooking and a wonderful private bath. The rooms are a little bit worn and dated, so if you're a ruthlessly picky traveller then you may be dissatisfied, but I think this hotel has a rustic charm that should be appreciated.

The hotel staff are incredibly skilled and were conversationally fluent in English. Upon checking in they reviewed the timetable of our departing train and helped schedule our departure for the following morning, they scheduled an early serving of breakfast and drove us to the station for no extra charge to accommodate our schedule.

The private baths were a wonderful treat, we visited during a slow period of travel so we didn't need to make reservations for the private baths and we could come and go as we saw fit so long as they were unoccupied. The private baths were stocked with complimentary iced lemon water, complimentary soaps, and they were very clean.

The food at the shibu onsen kokuya was also incredible, dinner was a 10 course tasting menu of traditional Japanese dishes, all of which were top tier. Breakfast was also a tasting menu with a wide selection of delicious foods.

The surrounding area is transfixingly beautiful. The town of Yamanouchi is nestled in picturesque mountains and the ryokan is a short hike from the famous jigokudani monkey park, which is a must see experience for anyone on vacation.

The shibu onsen kokuya was a wonderful bed and breakfast and I sincerely hope to stay here again in the future.

We were visiting Shibu-Onsen for two nights. While two friends were staying at a low-budget Ryokan we selected another option, which was then Kokuya. The picture looked just beautiful. But before arriving I got nervous because of the various mixed reviews. But we have to say it was a wonderful experience worth the money even though it’s a bit pricey. Personally, I’ve visited Japan many times and stayed in Ryokan hotels around Japan quite often. For the food I would rate Kokuya as really good, but for the Onsen experience it’s definitely upper class! The Japanese style breakfast was exceptional. We had a Japanese room with a private Onsen, which is really enjoyable especially in the morning after a cold night. Generally speaking that option is good unless the night temperature gets below 10°C since the shower is also outside. We visited in late October. The hotel also offers eight different Onsen (for hotel guests only) that you can reserve for you privately. All of them are just beautiful. The hotel staff including the owner are all very polite and helpful. Personally, I cannot understand why some reviewers complained about the staff being rude. The rooms and walkways are a bit old but still okay and nice. Since the hotel has a long tradition and was extended over time it comes with many stairs, which are easy to handle for average people. There is also a free shuttle transfer service from and to Yudanako train station. The village is also very beautiful. You can visit 9 small public Onsen in walking distance for free. It’s a great option to talk to other foreigners or Japanese people - all extremely friendly with quite good English. One day we walked along the various temples and then through the Forrest (regular street) towards the snow monkey park. The small hike is fun and you’ll see monkeys all around. For the return we walked along the official path leading through a cozy neighborhood with beautiful Japanese houses (around the sake brewery). I recommend staying at least two nights to enjoy the village and snow monkey park. If you stay three nights you may visit some other attractions in different villages around. Make sure to arrive around 15:00 so you got enough time to visit the public onsens around the village before having dinner.

WOW - you have to stay here. This was one of the highlights of my trip to Japan, and I’ve been 4 times.

The owner and his staff are absolutely incredible and accommodating. They prepare fantastic breakfast and lunch, and the hotel provides a relaxing atmosphere. The hotel sits up on top of the hot springs and you can see that downstairs. The variety of onsen available was amazing and I truly felt they were healing.

If you do stay here - I recommend staying more than one day to get the full experience. You won’t be tired of it! Close to national parks for hiking or to Nagano for further day trips (like Matsumoto!)

My New favorite in Nagano, truly outstanding service and delicious onsen experience, even if you reserve room without onsen this is a great place to stay as it have many private onsen to choose from, although I strongly recommend to reserve with private bath as it gives you additional romantic/relaxing vibes

Amazing food, great welcoming friendly staffs, large room with Onsen and multiple authentic onsens. The location in the middle of the pittoresque Shibu Onsen is also a great point about this hotel

Absolutely loved my experience here. The staff very kind was extremely helpful getting around and offer shuttles to the train station, the snow monkey park, wherever you need really. My wife and I stayed in a great room with a private onsen and we also used one of the other 8 on site. The food was excellent and the service was great. If you're visiting yudanaka you need to stay here.

We stayed here for one night and it was so amazing! The ryokan is very foreigner friendly and the staff spoke decent English.

We were able to drop off our luggage earlier than the 15:00 check in time and then went to explore the monkey park using the local bus. The ryokan only provides one shuttle to the monkey park at 0910. They also offer a shuttle to and from Yudanaka Station but our schedule didn’t align with the times (15:00 and sometime in the morning) so we didn’t take it. They partner with a coffee shop near the station if you want to do luggage storage there.

When we came back at 15:00 for check in they had already placed the luggage in our room for us. Since it was our first time at a ryokan, they helped explain all the technicalities. We then were able to reserve 2 bath time slots. From 15:30 to 21:30 the baths are all reservation only for 45 min time intervals with 2 slots maximum. After 21:30 it’s a free for all if it’s vacant. We loved how they were all private so that we could enjoy them together. (Instead of splitting by genders) Our favorite baths out of the 8 were Issa - which is a large open bath with a sauna. Fukuroku is a series of wooden tubs connected to Issa that was quite nice too. The water temperature used there is of the actual onsen water though so it was really hot. (They had taps to adjust the temperature but it took a while). Each of the baths also included a pitcher of iced lemon water to stay hydrated. There were so many baths we didn’t have time to explore the public ones which they gave us a large key for.

As for the food, all of it was amazing! Dinner was served at 18:00. It was a 10 course kaiseki meal featuring Nagano specialties such as shinshu wagyu, nozawana (picked turnip greens), shinshu salmon. We were stuffed after the meal.

For breakfast, we had the option of choosing 8:00 or 8:30. It was also a large amount of food.

Highly recommend staying here! We had a great time and the town is super cute as well.

Excellent staff! Definitely worth the cost with the 8 onsens on the property all were available and clean for private use. This was especially convenient for my as someone with tattoos. The service was extremely personalized and attentive. The luggage drop off at a coffee shop, and free shuttle to the snow monkey park were reliable and helpful. Do be weary that they don’t allow personnel in the building until check in at 1500- I tried doing early to drop my luggage off but was unable to do so, however the town has a lot of shrines and paths to explore on the side.

The onsens at this Ryokan were great! They are private onsens so I was able to enjoy them with my partner. I would recommend only getting breakfast added to your accommodation and enjoy dinner in town instead.

The stay was amazing with great customer service and facilities. Amazing to have such variety of onsens and the food was great too. Must go in Nagano

Very nice onsen style hotel your own hot spring water piped in to your bath on the deck. Several Public bath houses very close by , many neighborhood food options a brewery within 10 minutes walk. Very nice area in the mountains.

I had never stayed at an onsen ryokan before, and this one went above and beyond my expectations. The inn itself is beautiful, the rooms are a bit old but well kept and our private bath was amazing. There are many baths to choose from here, so you have lots of options, but I highly recommend getting a room with a private bath so you can hop in and out as much as you like!

The food was excellent traditional Japanese style and they give you so many different dishes to choose from it can be a bit overwhelming, but everything is delicious. Above all, the staff were what made this a five star experience. They were very kind and accomodating, and even went so far as to drive us to our train when we missed our shuttle. I cannot recommend this onsen more, the welcoming staff and overall experience is magical!

This Ryokan is awesome! A lot of options of onsen, nice staff and the food was amazing! This is a good options too for those who may be shy to get naked in-front of people or have tattoos, since all onsen are for private use. The location of the onsen is also gorgeous.

The best experience staying at a hotel ever. The onsen rooms were amazing. It was my first time trying onsen. Really recommend Issa outdoor onsen, a must try. I visited in winter with snow outside. We had the room Ayame and it's very spacious with private onsen outside. The hotel was not very crowded when we visited so I had all the onsen to myself. There are also some private onsen rooms. The dinner and breakfast are also fantastic a truly authentic and luxurious experience. You won't regret it. It doesn't feel expensive for what we got at all. The town is also amazingly cute and attending public bahts with other Japanese onsen goers was a very interesting cultural experience. So amazing!

Hospitality and service of the highest level in a beautiful old house.