The meals were lovely, and the staff were eager to help out in any way. Our trip was quite short, arriving at around 4pm and leaving in the morning by 10am, and we would have liked to have stayed longer to really enjoy the village. It started snowing on our arrival, and we walked around the village, which is truly lovely. But the shopfronts were already closed, which was a shame. The public onsen within the hotel was nice. We enjoyed dressing in the yukata. The room was lovely, too, looking out onto the river. The hotel was a short walk downhill from the train station. But we were fortunate to catch a local bus back up the hill in the morning, with our luggage, as it would have been quite a challenge otherwise, and the staff were incredibly kind and helpful, even running out in the rain to help us catch the bus.

Nothing really. The beds were a little uncomfortable (traditional futon), but that may have been more because we weren't used to that style.

Very comfortable and excellent dinners! We've stayed at many different ryokan over the years and the food here was particularly good. Baths were pleasant and well-maintained as was the entire hotel. Great service, very friendly. Location is quite central, easy to walk to from the train station and near the historic part of the town. Reviews complaining about the meal times, handing in keys and lack of laundry room have clearly never stayed at traditional ryokans before. All of these are very typical.

Loved having the sound of the river. Very friendly and delightful staff. Spacious, gracious rooms.

Not having free wifi in the room. A shortage of plugs to charge phones, computers etc

We had one of the biggest rooms in the property, with a separate living room from the bedroom, plus a seating area overlooking the river. Lovely traditional style, futon beds were made up ready on our arrival. I really liked the public bath, particularly the outside one. It was raining/snowing a lot the morning after we stayed, and there were umbrellas we could borrow, as well as being able to sit in the lobby for an hour or so after checking out. Sweet little old lady who is the owner. Breakfast was Japanese, lots of little tasty dishes, more than enough.

It was all good.

I read about this ryokan from craigmod’s blog and was really happy that we managed to stay there. We loved this traditional ryokan and appreciate the hard work and sincerity put in by generations of this family to upkeep their inn in a beautiful state. The food they prepared for us was so delicious. The hospitality unmatched to the extent that elder Iwaya okami san with her walking stick bid farewell to us with her bows and waves till we are out of sight.

None

The staff was very kind and the location is pretty good. Not too far from the station by foot and there are nice restaurants nearby. The inn has an awesome bathhouse on the top level and a few minutes away there is a public foot bath as well.

The bed is a futon bed. We liked the experience and it wasn’t our first time on a futon but our only issue was the traditional beaded pillow which we are not accustomed to. It was quite hard 😅

Location was great, hotel was easy to find. The hostess was an extremely nice grandlady. She made sure we were fed at Kiso and personally called the restaurants to make reservations for us and make sure the restaurants were in fact open. She even called us at the room every night to wish us good night. Terrific customer service, very warm and friendly and homey. She also gave us traditional origami towards the end. She told us to visit back, planning our next trip already. Great big clean and spacious room. Extremely beautiful backdrop of a river view with comfortable traditional tatami beds.

Nothing. This was a great experience. I didn’t like that we could not stay there longer.

I had just completed part of the nakasendo trail and needed a quiet, comfortable place to rest up. I had a very spacious ryokan with all amenities I needed provided - ensuite shower, hairdryer, kettle etc. The onsen was a bonus for me because there was no one else around - although the onsen could be slightly hotter in temperature (my preference). The lovely grandma at the inn showed us to our ryokan personally and was so very kind! Breakfast and dinner meals were also absolutely luxurious - best ones I’ve had throughout the trail. Will definitely come back again!

Wifi was only available in the lobby.

Fabulous family run traditional Japanese inn. The room was very spacious and mattresses comfortable. The dinner and breakfasts were excellent. We used their laundry service which was very efficient. The staff were very helpful at helping us arrange transporting our luggage to the next town while walking the Nakasendo. We had some confusion in the morning around our credit card payment and didn’t realise our payment had declined. They came to find us at the train station and were extremely apologetic, helped drive me to a 7-Eleven to get cash out and dropped me back to the train station in time to still catch our train. When we reached Narai and collected our luggage, they had left us a gift to apologise for the confusion which was unnecessary but very kind! The accommodation, food and staff here were fantastic, we would love to go back.

The location is great, right near the river, surrounded by restaurants and a 10 minute walk to the station. It’s an easy train ride to/from the Nakasendo towns and Kiso has some lovely preserved buildings in the town. Several beautiful shrines/temples scatter the town. The staff are friendly and helpful, the traditional breakfast they serve is something you must do at least once. The onsens are on the top floor, one indoor and a smaller outdoor onsen - four in total because the onsens are gender segregated. the view from our room looked out onto a Japanese red pine and across the town. the beds in our room were traditional futons which we love but some people may have issues with.

For some reason we had to hand in our key every time we left the hotel. This was a minor annoyance. Although everyone in town was polite and most people are friendly we got the feeling that Westerners aren’t common and are tolerated rather than welcomed, especially in a couple of restaurants. This wasn’t a big deal for us but could come as a surprise to some people.