1. The owner and staff were outstanding. Very polite, prompt, caring, and genuine. 2. Dinner and breakfast were absolutely delicious, especially the grilled Hida Beef and sashimi made from the rare local fish. Highly recommended. 3. It was easy to find with Google Map and had free parking nearby. 4. The room was spacious, clean, and comfortable. I was prompted by booking.com to pay extra to upgrade to the room with AC. I called the hotel and learned that they had AC in the room without upgrading.

For everyone’s awareness and planning purposes: 1. When we arrived at around 2:30 pm, the ryokan was dark and there was no one at the front lobby. They open at 3 pm so I suggest you get there after 3 pm. 2. Onsen itself was great. It’s a natural and constant-flow onsen, no circulating of the water. I believe others have commented this too but some spots may be visible from the nearby buildings.

The staff were very friendly and hospitable. Meals (dinner/breakfast) were extensive and gave us an opportunity to try local produce and lesser known dishes. There is both an indoor and outdoor hot spring. A great place for quiet relaxation.

Room was noticeably old though some parts of the establishment seem quite new - maybe they are in the process of refurbishing.

Greatly enjoyed our stay. Historic onsen, in the same family for 3-4 generations. It feels like the 70s in a good way! Slippers provided at Check in. Large rooms, well provisioned. Excellent natural onsen baths. Delicious kaiseki dinner and breakfast meals, including "famous Hida beef" and many others. It's a great location for exploring up the valley to the Shiratone (? maybe misspelled) Ropeway and other locations in the Alps. It's very good value, there are some more expensive onsens, but we think this one has everything

Nothing comes to mind

The location was excellent! Just beside the bus terminal where we took the bus to Kamikochi, and a great restaurant within 5 min walking distance and a souvenir store which sells sake and snacks just 1 min walk away! This family-run Inn was just the perfect way to end our Japan trip! The owner and staff were warm, hospitable, and friendly and you could tell they all took so much pride in their work - from the way they arranged the slippers for guests, to the way they made your bed, to the way they folded the yukatas they provided for your stay. The room was so spacious and we loved the onsen! We will definitely be back for your lovely hotel and the gorgeous local sake! :)

Nothing at all! Loved everything!!! If they provided me with a bolster, that would be my favourite hotel in the world! :)

The breakfast and dinner were both absolutely AMAZING!! Wow. Like a many-course meal with such exquisite details and thoughtful presentation. The rooms are lovely, and the staff are super hospitable and helpful. I was quickly offered an umbrella when I arrived (it was raining), and anything I needed was answered very fast. I was there to visit the Hirayu onsen and was amazed at how good this ryokan is, it was worth going just to stay there.

There was almost nothing not to like about this place, it really exceeded all my expectations.

Hiratakan, located @ Hirayu Onsen we experienced the best ryokan. The check-in process was smooth. The room was super clean with great amenities. Hirataken is located 200 meter from the bus stand to Kamikochi. We were hiking Mt Hotakadake the next morning and the gentleman very kindly asked us to park our car at the hotel. We explored Hirayu in the evening and it was beautiful with free public onsens everywhere. In fact there is one onsen right opposite to Hirataken and we dipped our tired feet the next day after we finished our Mt Hotaka hike and it was so relaxing. We loved our stay at Hirataken and would definitely recommend it to other travelers.

Everything was perfect

We stayed in the Japanese Style Superior Suite and really enjoyed our stay at Hiratakan. The private onsen was fantastic! The lovely owners of Hirotakan made us feel comfortable at any time and were very helpful. Every morning, we enjoyed a very nice Japanese breakfast with hida beef curry, homemade honey and miso grilled on a hoba leaf. We also enjoyed a great day trip to Kamikochi (by public bus) combined with a hike in the nature along the azusa river.

Guests being used to western style rooms (with a bed) may have to slightly adjust and get used to sleeping on a futon.

The staff was very helpful and super friendly. We enjoyed the time in the hotel onsen, which had a nice outdoor area. The rooms were very spacious, clean and bright and we liked especially the traditional japanese style. The cherry on top was the food. The breakfast and dinner were of such a great variety that we felt that we got a good impression of traditional japanese dishes. The taste and presentation of each dish was amazing. The hotel location is also great since it is only 2 minutes by foot away from the bus terminal were we took a bus to Kamikochi which only took 30 minutes. The town itself is very small and has one convenience store.

1) Separate WC, basin & shower. Spacious rooms. 2) 2 mins walk from the bus terminal. Very easy to locate. 3) indoor and outdoor public bath & separate private bath with mineral rich water. 4) extremely industrious owners who did everything from serving, checking in / out, packing of the rooms (eg packing away the futons when we had our breakfast etc). The whole ryokan is incredibly ran by 4 full time & 1 part time staff. 5) Very sumptuous and generous breakfasts and dinners 6) all outdoor shoes are left at the entrance of the ryokan and all guests change into slippers upon entering. Very hygienic! 7) lovely 2 layer yukata provided, the prettiest provided by all our accommodation during this trip in this region of Japan.

1) no laundry facilities but this was expected 2) no black out curtains but this too was expected of a ryokan.

The location is great. Snowy mountains, and lots of onsens, including a foot bath right outside the hotel The highlight was the private cedar wood hot tub (well, onsen) in our suite. Staff were very nice and breakfast was pretty good too

My only real complaint was the WiFi. Maybe my phone isn't the highest quality brand but there was no WiFi. Also, I found the pillows to be very hard but that's maybe the traditional Japanese style.