Name: Nakao Kougen Hotel
Address: 37 Nakao Okuhida Onsengo Takayama 506-1422,, Takayama, Takayama, Takayama, 506-1422, Japan
Rating: 9

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Matsumoto Airport

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Nakao Kougen Hotel

Takayama

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1. Bedroom: It’s HUGE by Japanese standard. Good enough for a comfortable rest. I did notice that the housekeeping staff didn’t refill the tea in the room which was kinda weird

2. Bathroom/Onsen: the very reason you stay here: Private onsen. Got three big bottles of bodywash, shampoo and conditioner inside. Toilet’s located separately on different room. For a room that constantly gets overwhelmed by sulphur traces, the bathroom is well-maintained. It doesn’t take away the relaxing good experience with the hot spring

3. Breakfast: pretty basic. The kitchen seems to rotate it from Japanese to Western breakfast, if you stay more than one night. Don’t expect fancy meals. It’s also not buffet style but good enough to fill your stomach. 

4. Wifi: works great

5. Location: Kinda far from the town centre. You need a vehicle to get to the hotel. Parking is free.

6. Things to know: this is an onsen town. However, if you are looking for a hotel with exclusive onsen access inside guest bedroom; this is the one. The nature’s view from the restaurant is also breathtaking

Private Onsen inside Guest Room

On the positive side, the location is good for who wants to explore Kamakochi, the rooms are spacious with a private onsen. 

On the negative side, the facilities are outdated and not conform at all with the pictures. The hotel as not been renovated for probably 20 years or more! Food for diner and breakfast is disappointing. The staff had trouble dealing with a buffet for all rooms. Plates were often empty and we had to wait. 

All in all, quite expensive for what it is. Would not recommend.

Disappointing

Our family of five adults and a toddler (one and 3 months old) stayed for 4 nights here. The size of the rooms and bathrooms are no joke - simply luxurious, by Japanese standards. The private onsen is also something to note if you do not like soaking in public baths.

Pros:
- Breakfast included: Good enough variety buffet of Western and Japanese food, if you are not overly fussy. The food is the same every morning.
- Staff are friendly and fluent in English so this is a great place to stay for English speakers. They are mainly from Nepal and are friendly and informative of the area.
- Hugh deck outside the dining hall to see stars and mountains
- Good for families with toddlers/young children as the rooms are huge, they can easily entertain themselves in it
- Common area has a microwave, coin operated washing machine and dryer, vending machine, coffee machine 

Cons:
- Do not expect 5 star hotel service. Housekeeping is done everyday but the staff check what you need to be done in the morning at breakfast - e.g bedsheet change, dustbin emptying, towel replacements etc. I was ok with no changing of the sheets and towels daily for environmental reasons, but even when they come clean the room, don't expect the city hotel standard
- The rooms and other facilties are overall very Clean. However, the shower area in the onsen had a clump of hair at the drain cover from previous guests and there was some mildew on the water pipes. This is likely from the constant humidity from the onsen as the bath is always filled from the piped water but still...would have been nice if those were removed.

Overall, we had a comfortable stay. Our toddler enjoyed the onsen very much too. We adjusted the temperature of the bath by draining some of the water out and filling it with cold tap water. A good place for families and couples alike (there was a good mixture in the guests staying) if you are not particularly fussy about the appearance of cleanliness. Guests are also required to remove their shoes at the entrance inside the hotel and change to hotel provided slippers. 

Easier to access probably if you have a car. Great and easy access to Kamikochi and Mount Norikura as we drove to the nearby areas of Hirayu Onsen, Honokidaira and Akandana Parking for the buses into the parks. 

Private onsen, giant rooms, basic 

Doh did not realise that Takayama is a region as well as a town and this hotel is that this was a good hour and a half bus ride into the mountains outside the town of Takayama.
That said I enjoyed my stay..with some caveats. The service was very thin ( e,g no-one on duty between 12 and 3 each day), room cleaning was patchy and the breakfast was not that good,especailly the western choices.Wifi not that strong.
However, the views are amazing and the personal onsen in your room looking out over the mountains is luxury which makes me give 4/5!

NOT in Takayama city

Important part at the top of the review. I've seen a few people mention the distance from the bus stop. There is actually a bus stop very close to the hotel but I think you need to book your ticket at one of the bus stations to get the bus to stop there. Its called Hoshinokane-mae. For us this hotel was a bit of a quirky gem. The service is good and the rooms are massive,especially when you consider the price. The selection of food at the breakfast and dinner buffets is eclectic but pleasant. The hida beef has an extra charge but is well worth trying, so succulent and tasty. We came in February when a lot of the local businesses are shut down (I think their peak season is spring) so it was so peaceful and the surroundings are staggeringly beautiful in the winter snow. The Shinhotaka Ropeway is about an hour's walk away. It's a great walk giving you time to take on the view but it is along a main road and there is a long tunnel which could be a little risky when it gets dark. The bus stop at the bottom of the hill has buses that will get you to the ropeway and back. It's a little off the beaten track but really worth the visit. 

A true quirky gem

The hotel is located in a picturesque part of the mountain and the surroundings are beautiful. The best parts about the hotel are the personal onsen, big room (enough to squeeze in 7-8 personal beds along the entire length!) and the (shared) massage chair.

Visit if you are keen on these amenities.

But do note: don’t expect service to be good. The frontline staff has probably changed since the last reviews. When I visited, it was an exclusively Indian-run affair. There is none of the usual Japanese detail and warmth of service. In fact, it is a bare minimum but with a smile. During dinner service they watched from the door and paced up and down the room, making it very uncomfortable. 

Our group planned to make an early start the next day before their breakfast service started and asked if something simple could be prepared. They said it was not possible - instead we were given a boiled egg and asked to take food from the (already stone cold) buffet to prepare for the next morning.

Avoid the food if you can. It is preferable to eat elsewhere and return for a good night’s rest. Dinner is buffet style, dishes were set out and left to grow stone cold. Pasta was rock solid. Not many choices available. Every dish tasted very salty. For 2000 Yen per person, it is not worth it. The highlight was the desserts which were frozen - the cakes were the saving grace.

In the room - the carpet was stained. Bedsheets had bloodstains.

Halfhearted service, poor food

Our t room was large, reasonably attractive and light. Bed was comfortable. Staff were good too and there was a massage chair and washing machine available. However, the quality of the food detracted from the experience. The dinners were exactly the same each night except the meal where we ordered the Hida beef supplement. (It was not worth it) The food seemed to be quite low quality, although there was plenty of it. There was nothing aesthetically attractive about how it was served either. Probably suits budget travellers which is a pity- with a beautiful Kaiseki meal such as we have become used to on this trip, the stay could have been  quite luxurious. As it was though, I was disappointed that we had included meals in our package and thought that our experience would have been better if we had driven to restaurants in the area. Also, our GPS system could not find the hotel based on the telephone number given and we had to use Google Maps -this would have been impossible had we not carried a remote modem. However, despite the detractions, the hotel was in a beautiful area and the room was probably the largest in our travels.

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