Great service and availability for any request I had. The several onsens are what make really the difference, as you can enjoy them privately (they are shared, but used privately), without the need to go to the public ones. Great kaiseki dinner, I stayed 2 nights and they served different menus both days. The ryokan is located in the center of the village, with all public onsens and other services easily reachable within few mins by walk.

The hotel is a bit run-down, with old furniture and worn-out walls. The wifi is very weak and unstable, and in several areas of the hotel there is no wifi at all. There is no luggage storage, and you are expected to leave the village, not just the hotel, at check out time (I was planning to leave the room at check-out, and stay in the village until after lunch, but I couldn't do that, they rushed me to go to the train station just after the check-out).

We booked a private onsen room with half board. The shuttle that picked us up from the station was great. The room was spacious with traditional Japanese flooring and all amenities provided. The service and food was five star. The staff explained everything about using onsens in English. There are also eight different onsens at the property for guests to book and use. The onsens were lovely - clean and really great for bones after sleeping on a futon. The food was really a fantastic, authentic, traditional. Japanese experience and we would definitely recommend choosing the half board option. The location was perfect - lots of interesting, narrow, winding streets to explore and really close to the snow monkey park. A free shuttle was provided for guests to get to the snow monkey park (before the crowds arrive).

The hallways to rooms are narrow with a good number of steps - this did not bother us as it did give a more traditional Japanese ambiance to the property but it could be a problem for some. The staff did carry our heavy luggage to our room. The hallways could do with a bit of an update - carpet is old and wearing and marked walls which just took away from the experience a bit. Sleeping on the floor on futons was a great traditional experience but a challenge. I would imagine some guests would not handle this well. Best thing to do for us was to soak in the onsen as soon as waking to loosen the bones. Anyone who is a fussy eater might not cope so well with the food.

Outstanding level of hospitality! All the baths outside of guest rooms post-Covid are private: you either sign up to book in advance for 45 minutes (then it gets cleaned for 15 minutes) on busy hours or you can use it freely and no other party will come in. This includes the enormous formerly women’s or men’s baths. They replenish your towels and yukata every day! They set up your futon beds during dinner and fold them up and place a table with traditional warmer during breakfast—even on the day you check out! In the afternoon, there’s a sweet treat waiting for you on the table. We were assigned the room Fuyo and its tub was lovely, with landscaping and I think granite in a square tub fed by six sources of mineral water. The cleaning products for face and body were also high quality. Fresh flowers in the room! Excellent and huge dinner and Japanese breakfast, varied daily!

Loved our traditionally furnished room with private onsen on the terrace. We also booked a private session in one of the other on-site onsens, which was a great experience. Breakfast and dinner were beautifully presented and of excellent quality. Guest service was impeccable, nothing too much trouble. We were provided with traditional robes and shoes in which to tour the 9 public onsens in Shibu Onsen which was a fabulous experience. Shuttle service to the train station and monkey park was efficient and very much appreciated.

Nothing

Incredible service, welcoming staff, everything is taken care of for you the moment you arrive! They offer a free pick up and drop off to the Yudanaka Station, as well as drop off to the Monkey Park. The walk back from the Monkey Park is not long at all and is very scenic - so I highly recommend doing that instead of taking a bus or taxi back to the ryokan. The ryokan is located in the heart of the onsen town, minutes away from the shrines, shops and restaurants, as well as public onsens. Inside there are 8 shared onsen rooms, including both indoors and outdoors options. No booking was required, you could just come in any time provided it is not occupied by someone else. We travelled in early January just after the new year and found no issues using these rooms! Food was really good as well, and we feel like it got even better on our second night - it won’t be the most magnificent meal you can get in a ryokan, but it was great quality and variety!

We booked a room with our private outdoor onsen - which was absolutely amazing! What we didn’t realise is that the shower was also outside - and it was absolutely freezing and uncomfortable coming out in the morning and taking a shower when it’s around 0 degrees outside… Also, while sleeping on futons sounds fun in theory, it’s very far from comfortable in reality. While the futon itself and the blanket are nice and comfy, the pillow was like a brick. We couldn’t get a very good rest during our stay. Finally, remember that this is an old ryokan and walls are paper-thin. You can hear everything and everyone. We were prepared and brought some ear plugs with us - solved the issue!

This is a truly wonderful place to stay & highly recommended! The staff are fantastic - so kind, warm & welcoming with a brilliant sense of humour:) We loved our constant greeting of 'Harris San' given with never-ending smiles & enthusiasm. Nothing was too much bother - a staff member carried our son's breakfast to our room when he was having a lie in one morning & our requests for two vegetarian options & one non-fish eater were all catered for as if it were no problem at all. The suppers were delicious with a wealth of dishes & tastes; also incredible presentation. We ate like royalty! Plus an excellent selection of drinks on the menu. The many onsens in the hotel are absolutely lovely & a perfect temperature I struggled with the heat of the local ones though they were great to try - you get an access key to all of them in the village once you check in). The hotel onsens varied in size & setting - some indoors, some outdoors - with even a foot-massager in one! Onsen dress provided plus free covers for our tattoos needed for public onsens). Our room was traditional & spotless; it was converted to day-living or sleeping mode whenever we were eating. There was always a little snack left for us plus plentiful tea & even a heater under the table with blankets for a traditional experience. We had free lifts from & to the train station plus to the snow monkey park - perfectly arranged early in the morning so that we could visit without huge crowds & to see feeding time :) Overall, a really fabulous stay! A brilliant experience!

There were so many different onsens to try, and the outdoor ones were amazing. The ability to privately reserve the onsens made it a much more enjoyable experience if you want to share it with your family. I would come back again for that reason.

Some of the public bathrooms and areas around the onsens would benefit from some refurbishment/maintenance, especially those in the basement. The shuttle for the monkey park only takes you there but not for a return trip. It would be nice if a return trip could be offered at a predetermined time.

This Ryokan was our favourite experience on our trip and one we will never forget. Every detail was unique and lovely, and every person working here is fantastic. We were picked up from Yudanaka station right as we arrived, which was so generous and good. Then once we arrived we were shown to our rooms and also served dinner by Hiro who was an exceptional host. The private onsen room we had called "Ayame" was quiet, comfortable and peaceful. Despite being surrounded by baths everywhere there was no humidity and it was fresh and cool. The rest of the private onsens throughout the ryokan were each so unique and interesting, with the larger open air baths being my favourite. You can reserve these if it's during busy times or if it's low traffic you can just go into any of them and lock the door behind you, meaning you can go as a mixed sex group or couple. If you have breakfast and dinner, these are extravagant and large multi dish meals full of variety, with everything being high quality leaving us feeling fueled and refreshed. I could go on forever about how great Kokuya is, but it's better to go there and see firsthand how amazing the building, the people and the onsen village of Shibu is! There are some things to be aware of that might be unusual for others booking who aren't used to Ryokans or Japan The tatami mat sleeping arrangements are hard, but I like this and anyone who prefers hard mattresses and sleeping on your back will enjoy them. Also note that the meals are large and varied, there is a western style breakfast available but to really enjoy this Ryokan you should be prepared to dive into Japanese Kaiseki dining with everything that it involves, from the raw fish and raw egg to the sea urchin and everything between. If you are too fussy and dislike most of the things it would be a big waste and loss for you. If you enjoy this, you will love it!

Very atmospheric ryokan with lots of private baths from which you can reserve two upon checkin. The hotel provides transportation from Yudanaka Station as well as to Snow Monkey Park so it is very convenient. The meals were very good featuring fish and veggies from the area.

The baths, while plentiful in number, are all fairly small. Also because the ryokan is old, there are very few outlets in the room. And lots of stairs to go up and down to the baths, your room and the entrance. For the elderly,it would be difficult to get around.

This property has a great selection of onsen that can all be booked for private use. As someone with tattoos I can’t use public onsen so this is perfect. We booked a room with private bath but we actually didn’t need to as there were so many others to choose from. You also get a key to the other onsen in town but we don’t use any of them as the hotel ones were so good. They also serve amazing Japanese food.

The decor is a bit tired but it didn’t detract from the stay as you are really there for the onsen and the food.