Hiranoya

Breakfast was delicious, and the staff were very kind. It's a quiet, relaxing inn, with a warm, comfortable bath.

I came to Nagano during Golden Week in May looking for a hot spring and Japanese-style room, ideally at a ryokan, and found Hiranoya. Getting there from Nagano Station takes just over an hour, though the train and bus connections are awkward. The inn's car picked me up at Suzaka Station, which made things much easier. My plan included breakfast only, so I bought a bento box at the station for dinner and borrowed the inn's microwave to heat it. The room was spacious and very clean, with a round window that let in extra light and gave it a lovely feel. Since the inn is right by the river, I could hear the water flowing all the time. Yukata and towels were optional, so I brought a tracksuit and my own towel to sleep in. The basement hot spring smelled pleasantly of sulfur and was always quite hot. I used the tap there to cool the water to a comfortable bathing temperature. The bath is open 24 hours, and I went in three times. I chose the raw egg breakfast course. It was delivered to my room at 8am, though they apparently ask what time you prefer. Raw egg rice was delicious, as expected, and the miso soup was good too. After checkout, they drove me to Suzaka Station at 10am. They took care of everything. It was a wonderful trip, thank you so much.

The hot spring water was excellent, and the bathtub has handrails that make getting in easy. Yamada Onsen's large public bath is right across from the hotel, so be sure to use it as part of the package. Parking is in a free village-run lot about a minute's walk away. Dinner isn't served as a cost-saving measure, but the service is excellent and breakfast comes to your room. The staff were very kind as well. Depending on your plan, towels and other amenities cost 1,000 yen.

We spent two nights here while visiting Yamaboku Ski Park, and plan to make this our regular place when we come back to Yamaboku. The young proprietress and everyone else at the inn treated us very kindly. Rooms and shared spaces are roomy and traditional, a nice setting for relaxing. We ordered dinner bento from a nearby restaurant and ate in our room, which suited us well. Breakfast used fresh ingredients, including eggs with sunflower-colored yolks from Takayama Village. The indoor bath is open 24 hours. Only guests can enter the public bath, Taki no Yu, using a wooden key, which gives it a lot of charm.