Hotel Marusansou

The hot springs were fantastic, and the price wasn't too high. Dinner was lovely, and breakfast had a fair selection. For the cost, the quality was great. I'm almost satisfied.

The food, service, and rooms were all nice and clean. I enjoyed staying here, and feel like it deserves a higher rating.

The building has been renovated and was clean, though this is a long-established inn in Kamiyamada Onsen, Chikuma City, Nagano Prefecture. The breakfast buffet had little variety and wasn't very tasty, and the futon was so thin my back hurt. Most other things were relatively good. When I turned on the TV in my room, it didn't work. I called the front desk, and a young staff member came quickly but couldn't fix it right away. They later brought an older staff member, who found the antenna input terminal was broken. They just showed it to me and didn't apologize. At other hotels, I've often been moved to a better room in this situation, so I was skeptical of the customer service. I'd never before had a hotel not apologize at all.

The hot spring water felt mellow and gentle on my skin, and the staff were kind, courteous, and considerate. The doormen greeting guests outside especially stood out to me. I was also glad to see the young staff learning Japanese culture and the restaurant's concept so diligently. They are still in training, and their guidance seems thorough. I hope they continue to grow. I couldn't read the characters, but apparently the official name is "Maru Sanso." The rooms were very clean, and the cleaning was thorough. It's affordable too: a room with an open-air bath would normally cost 50,000-60,000 yen, but here two people can stay for 35,000 yen with breakfast and dinner included. It's parallel to Kamiyamada Onsen (and Tokura Onsen ().) Chikuma City is in the middle of Hakuba, Azumino, Nagano, Shiga Kogen, Ueda, Matsumoto, and Suwa, so getting around is very convenient. A few years ago, we faced a major turning point, but we all worked together to get through it. I feel that's led to the good experiences we've had since. People often say a lot of a country's culture starts with its language, so I hope Japanese language education continues to get attention and that our country keeps flourishing.