Hotakaso Yamano Hotel

The hotel is quite far from the usual tourist spots, and it took us a 15-20 minute drive to reach nearby coffee shops and restaurants. In return, the hot springs were quieter and less crowded. The rooms and onsen were fine, and the food was very good. We booked the 1night2meal package, and both dinner and breakfast were excellent, especially if you like Hida beef.

We barely saw anyone else at the outdoor bath. We went twice on the first day and once the next morning, and only passed a few people who stayed in the water for less than 10 minutes. It felt surreal. The baths are huge, so even if two or three full tour groups are in the mixed bath together, it doesn’t feel cramped. Getting there takes a short cable-car ride from the main building, and the cold walk was worth it despite the wintery cold snap. I rated the rooms 4/5 because the TV was broken and a lamp didn’t work. The front counter didn’t seem surprised when we mentioned it, but we didn’t want to switch rooms and told them we didn’t mind.

For UK visitors, I’d say don’t stay here. We paid almost £300 for one night for two adults, dinner included, and I’m quite distressed by how much it cost. The cost just doesn’t feel justified, even though I’m usually easygoing and easy to please. The rooms felt dated in a bad way, and the hotel looks like it hasn’t been renovated in at least 20 years. The bedding had stains, though the bathroom and the rest of the room were very clean. The views are exceptional, and being close to the Ropeway seems to be the main reason to stay here. I’d suggest staying an hour or so away and driving to the Ropeway early instead. Dinner was included and decent quality, Japanese-style, with no other meal options. It can feel daunting if you haven’t had this kind of meal before, so I can’t recommend it unless you know what to expect.

We stayed for two nights during a six-week slow trip around Japan. The hotel is clean and the staff are friendly. Older staff speak only limited English, though the basic signs help. It’s a dated place, but it remains popular with Japanese guests and tour groups. From our research and what locals told us, Hotakaso Yamano Hotel opened in 1984 as Okuhida Onsengo’s only Northern European–style mountain resort hotel, combining Western resort comfort with a traditional Japanese onsen stay. It feels very much of that period, and the chalet-style building faces the Northern Alps. It’s a solid surviving example of Japan’s 1980s “alpine resort” boom, with large baths fed by plenty of natural spring water. We enjoyed leaning into the old-fashioned onsen hotel routine, wearing the hotel yukata and provided slippers instead of our own shoes. The Swiss/French-themed restaurant at the front and a “Night Club” are still listed among the facilities, but both seem to have been closed for years. That adds to the bubble-era nostalgia. The fire-pit lounge has a drinks vending machine. A 500 ml beer there costs 500 JPY, much less than the 880 JPY listed on the lobby menu. The mixed onsen was good, and getting down to it in the little cliff-side car was a quirky part of the experience. There’s no wash area at that level, so wash thoroughly in your room or another bath first. We also booked a 30-minute private onsen for 1,000 JPY, which was very relaxing if you’re not entirely comfortable in a public bath. Dinner was a full kaiseki-style meal made with local Okuhida ingredients. It was memorable, beautifully presented, and very traditional, but one night was enough for us because it’s a lot of food. The menu isn’t in English, so you’ll need to work out the dish order yourself or use an LLM like Gemini or ChatGPT to help. One practical note for bus travel: when we got to the stop outside the hotel about 10 minutes early, a black car pulled ahead of the bus to try to pick up fares. The driver said the price was the same as the bus, but we already had tickets and weren’t sure it was a licensed taxi, so we declined. The bus to Takayama costs around 2,120 JPY from that stop. Bring change or notes no larger than 1,000 JPY for the fare machine.