Hot Springs Hotels in Shimotakai District

Amazing family run ryokan just few minutes drive from Snow Monkey Park. Booked a room with a private in-room onsen but it didn't make much sense as the bath was hot but there was no hot water in the shower. The room was spacious with comfortable beds and futon. Nice yukatas and socks were provided in the room. Public baths in the ryokan are great (especially outdoor area), we tried both of them. The kaiseki dinner and japanese breakfast are VERY delicious. The staff and the owner are so nice and welcoming. The free transfer to the Monkey Park is available at 9:45 am

We had a wonderful stay and truly enjoyed every moment. The hostess is incredibly welcoming and a genuinely lovely person — she even kindly drove us to the train station, which we deeply appreciated. The breakfast was outstanding, and the onsen was beautiful and very peaceful. Having a private onsen was especially convenient, as it allowed us to enjoy the experience together as a family without needing to separate. Our room was very spacious and authentically Japanese, with excellent-quality bedding. The mattresses, pillows, and high quality shits  were exceptionally comfortable and made for a perfect night’s sleep. A lovely touch was the complimentary milk served in adorable small glass bottles — delicious and charming. The location is simply ideal: perfectly situated near public onsens and great restaurants, truly the best location one could imagine. We would happily return and highly recommend this stay to anyone looking for comfort, authenticity, and warm hospitality.

This is one of the best place I stay for my entire trip. It is a family run traditional ryokan with not many rooms hence the service was great and professional. They provide us a free shuttle from the Yudanaka Station to the hotel as well as the shuttle service to the snow monkey park area. I booked the room with breakfast and dinner included so I was quite impressed on the quality of the meals prepared for us. Very happy with it and we are super full after the meals. All in all we are happy with our stay and would highly recommend it to all.

Authentic Onsen Experience at Biyunoyado Our family had a wonderful stay at Biyunoyado, a great choice for experiencing an authentic Japanese onsen. The service was excellent, and the hotel even offers a shuttle bus to the Snow Monkey Park and station (though we didn’t use it since we drove). The staff were very friendly and spoke both Chinese and English, making communication easy. The onsen was a highlight, providing a relaxing and traditional experience. We also enjoyed the delicious breakfast. The only downside was that the room was a bit small, with limited space for luggage. Overall, Biyunoyado is a fantastic place for those looking to experience Japanese hospitality, great service, and a soothing onsen.

It was a great stay. The staff was super friendly and spoke English. The had parking vallet, provided an outfit to change into and roam outside. The hot springs was super relaxing and great for the feet and body. We tried five of their private hot spring rooms out of the many more they had, some had super hot water while others were warm. The outside room hot springs were beautifully decorated. They gave us access to the 9 public onsens that had different minerals in the  for body healing. At night it was even more beautiful with the night walk and the town puts on a beautiful show and night market. Super glad we booked the stay.

This hotel delivers everything you want from a family holiday. Although it is situated away from the centre of the village, we found this to be an advantage for our family, preferring a quiet location. Only 5 mins walk to the Chuo main terminal, where you can catch the free local shuttle bus to the ski fields. Getting to the hotel from Iiyama station was also easy via Nagaden Bus No.9 from bus stop 2, which drops you off right outside the hotel (last stop). We had breakfast and dinner included. Dinner was exceptional with a different Japanese 10-course menu every night. We also added the optional extras which had horse meat one night, and A5 wagyu on other nights. Onsite onsen was great after a full day's worth of skiing. We also found the hotel staff extremely helpful and friendly, and Yumi was on hand to help with any odd requests. Thank you to the whole team for an unforgettable holiday experience!

I had a wonderful stay at Amagawaso in Shibu Onsen. The ryokan is run by an elderly couple who don’t speak English, but they were incredibly sweet and welcoming. With the help of Google Translate, communication was easy enough and actually added to the charm of the experience. They provided yukata and geta for exploring the town, as well as the key that gives access to the nine public onsens in Shibu — an amazing and unique experience. On top of that, the ryokan offers a free 40-minute private onsen session, which was a lovely touch. Our room was very spacious, and shortly after we arrived, the hostess came in to prepare complimentary matcha tea for us. She also gifted us steamed buns filled with red bean paste, which felt incredibly thoughtful. The location is also very convenient for visiting the Snow Monkey Park, making it an excellent base for exploring the area. Overall, the hospitality was genuine, the onsen experience was fantastic, and the atmosphere felt authentically traditional. Highly recommend staying here if you’re visiting Shibu Onsen or planning a trip to see the snow monkeys.

This hotel is definitely an older building and it does show. It’s well maintained but know that going into making a booking here! The staff are really incredible, I had an incident with my door and they immediately fixed the problem for me. Additionally I was hoping to get to the Snow Monkey park earlier than the shuttle service was set to depart and they were nice enough to take me! There were some minor cleanliness things like cobwebs and the fridge had a slight mildew scent to it that made me weary to put anything open inside. Additionally there was no hair dryer, I probably could have asked because it’s such a staple amenity but I was in a rush and never did. It’s about a 7 minute walk from the station and there’s a Lawson and Pharmacy en route if you need to grab anything. It’s about 4 minutes from a bus that can take you deeper into the area with more food and shops too. There isn’t much else in this area but it is about an hour from central Nagano. If you’re a solo traveler looking to explore the area but not wanting to spend too much on one of the famous ryokan’s in the area, I definitely recommend!

We really enjoyed our week long stay at Hoshikawakan in Jan 2026. We have been driving around Hakuba for 4 weeks to visit various ski resorts and spent our last week at Hoshikawakan to visit Shiga Kogen. The room was spacious and clean with a small toilet like most Japanese hotels but there was a large public onsen and 2 smaller private onsens that can be reserved once each day for 30mins so you could always take your shower in the onsens like the locals do especially later at night about 10-11pm where I was the only one in the public onsen. The hotel had a lovely buffet breakfast spread with local soba, Japnese curry, cold minced sashimi fish, grill fish station, fried eggs station that will keep you adequately fed for the day's ski trip - it even has a hot drink station with free oden daily at 3-5.30pm which we enjoyed as a snack after a hard day of skiiing. The service was excellent too with the staff helpfully arranging to ship our ski equipment directly to Hanade Airport, daily clearing of snow off the carpark and new towels provided daily. The location in Yudanaka is great too especially if you drive as it is between Shiga Kogen (25-35mins drive) and Kita Shiga Kogen (15-20mins drive) with many attractions like Shibu Onsen, Yudanaka Brewery and Snow Monkey Park within 10-15 drive. There were also ample dinner options nearby within 10-15 mins walk but you may need to try and make reservations by walking in on your first night. The only downside was that the WiFi network is poor and patchy when overloaded by a lot of guests over the weekend but otherwise it was good.

Located just within 3min from Yudanaka station, Raki Onsenryokan is run by a Chinese family. As a quiet town on its own, no one was tending to the reception when I arrived, after ringing the bell, a lady came down to help with the check in - very straightforward. I believe the family stays in the same building as they said if we ever needed anything, we could just ring the bell at the reception. Obviously I had booked a room too big for a solo traveller as this was the only room left as ”non-smoking”. Toilet and sink are at two different parts of the room which was a little inconvenient. Ryokan offers free drive (15min) TO snow monkey park, but not return, so please cater at least 35min to walk from park exit to the bus stop. Ryokan also provided a hearty breakfast, overall for the price paid it was a decent stay!