The toilets can be a bit far from the room.

Tucked away in the mountains 30 minutes away from a parking lot and wonderfully secluded and comfortable. The baths were excellent. The food was excellent. The rooms very comfortable.

Stayed in April 2024

Long walk from the room to the onsen

Meals were traditional Japanese cuisine which was well prepared and interesting

Stayed in April 2024

Very relaxed and family friendly, well equipped kitchen, free parking. Renting a car in this area was useful to get around.

Stayed in March 2024

Outstanding place in the magical japanese mountains with fabulous Onsens. Friendliest staff. Delicious japanese food. Cozy, large and clean rooms. Exciting hiking to frozen waterfall and stargazing event. It was a wonderful experience! Thank you very much!

Stayed in March 2024

Rooms are relatively noisy. Movements of neighbors on their tatami matts trembled through ours. Sparse availability of towels, per guest you get 1 midsize towel per day, even though the main attraction are the various onsen. The hotel charges you for any extra towel, without upfront notification (in English). When the weather is bad, or when there is too much snow, hiking will be impossible so bring your own entertainment like a good book. Lunch menu is available, separately charged. We brought our own snacks. Plan your travel well, when using the right connections it took us at least 3 hours from Nikko Toshugu to this hotel.

The wooden construction fits lovely with the natural surroundings. Breakfast and dinner were exceptional and are, next to the onsen, the second reason to travel to this location. The four outside located onsen have a great view on the surrounding natural environment. We were lucky re the weather: a few inches snow from the days before, no wind and sunny, allowed us to use the hiking paths up and down the river. Hiking booths recommended.

Stayed in November 2023

Hacho No Yu is an oasis in the mountains. We loved the kind staff, relaxing baths, quiet atmosphere, and amazing food. Appreciated every minute - only sad to leave!

Stayed in November 2023

Absolutely rare experience. don't miss it. Magical.

Stayed in November 2023

There were no instructions in the room, the QR code linked information was incomplete. Also, I think people come here to get away from technology, not to have to use more.

Food was amazing, beautiful spot and the onsen were lovely. Staff were very friendly and helpful.

Stayed in October 2023

No coffee

The 24h bath

Stayed in November 2023

Best hotel of this trip. The location is super exclusive and totally worth the effort getting there!

Stayed in November 2023

Really loved location - situated on a beautiful valley. An amazing wooden building with outside onsen.Super nice and helpful staff. Incredibly delicious food. Totally worth staying for few days to get some rest. Highly recommended!

Stayed in October 2023

Although it takes a bit to reach the Ryokan, we really liked it there! It is surrounded by forest and very calm! We stayed one night and did a short hike when we arrived. The outdoor Onsen are super nice and mixed, which is very convenient if you want to spend time together. The staff was very nice and the food delicious!

Stayed in October 2023

Before arriving as I didn’t get any answer to my message on Booking to arrange pick up, I directly called the hotel but was hang up on when the staff couldn’t speak english. Mixed baths are mostly occupied by men, women must be covered with a towel but none is provided and only the possibility to buy an extra one has been offered to us (only 1 small outdoor bath where women don’t have to be covered). The main problem for us was the temperature inside the facility, most of the heaters were turned off so it was very cold on the common areas (especially the shared bathroom).

The location is gorgeous, the standard Japanese-style room are nice, well-equipped and spacious enough for 2 people. The food was excellent, and the Onsen was good. Overall friendly staff.

Stayed in October 2023

Amazing location, the outside onsens were beautiful and the staff are all very friendly, nice and accommodating!!

Stayed in October 2023

This is not a dislike. Just be aware that Hatch-no-Yu is not easily accessible. That is part of what makes it so amazing. It is good to know when planning that you will not make it there quickly. Once you get to the last train station you have another two hours by bus and shuttle, which only run 4 or 5 times a day. So plan on taking most of a day to journey there, and the same going back. That said, the journey is absolutely worth it.

I cannot in words accurately describe the beauty and tranquility of this place. Many of the people I met there extended their stays because they loved it so much. If you want to escape the world, there is no better place. It is literally hidden deep in the mountains between waterfalls and a river. The inn itself is elegantly simple and purely Japanese. The rooms are a cross between alpine luxury lodges and traditional Japanese style ryokans. You can also get rooms with western style beds, but the futons here were the most comfortable on my whole trip, so I recommend going that way. The lounge is a mix of western and eastern culture that will make you feel adventurous and at home at the same time. The meals are traditional kaiseki (many courses), and the quality is gourmet restaurant grade. The service is the most attentive I had on my whole trip. One nice man even insisted on getting me a new pair of slippers to walk to the next room because I had forgotten mine. Because Nikko National Park is literally huge, you will only be able to see a small part of it by using the inn as a starting point. However there are plenty of options for hiking from this spot. They also offer guided treks throughout the seasons. If you have a chance to be guided by Kikuchi, you must do it, and tell him Cody San says hello. The onsens are beautiful and relaxing, with amazing views of a natural waterfall. Everything here is fresh and immaculate, with most of the facilities being newly renovated, while retaining an authentic style. They take absolute care of you here. Because I had to leave before breakfast, the kitchen even made me a very nice bento box for the train. The owner personally came to see me off, as did the guide I became friends with. The value for the price is seriously unbelievable. I cannot say that enough times. I am certain if you stay here you will be far from disappointed. Personally, after a very long adventure, this was the place to end my journey.

Stayed in October 2023

Nothing!

We loved our stay! It’s in a quiet beautiful setting with lots of rivers and waterfalls and enchanted forests. The onsens were restorative. The food amazing.

Stayed in October 2023

This is such a beautiful onsen tucked away in the middle of the mountains. They have 6 onsens to choose from and 4 are outdoors. Two are unisex. This being our first trip to Japan we weren't to sure on the etiquette but the staff explained everything and made it easy. For those first time travellers like us the Unisex onsen is generally quite quiet but you are allowed to use towels provided and keep them on in the Onsen. For the same sex ones it is kind of expected to go without a towel. There is no shower in room or shared shower facilities at the property and the bathing area at the indoor male/female onsen is where you rinse off. Alternatively clean yourself at the basins provided. The surrounding area is wonderful for hiking and I suggest taking good hiking clothes and shoes. They offer busses from the nearby parking area to the lodge if you are self driving. You do need to contact them to tell them which bus you need to catch. You can also use the onsens after and before checkout time if you want to catch a later or earlier bus. As far as I'm aware there is a bus from Nikko to the parking area that services the lodges in the area but I did not ask the details of this as we opted to rent a car. Be sure to contact the property to pre-book the traditional dinner for at least one night. There are other meals in the lounge area available but I think the traditional dinner was a great experience for locals and travellers. Biggest advise is don't be afraid to ask what the etiquette is if you aren't sure. We just kept asking and staff were happy to answer our questions.

Stayed in October 2023

It's a loooooong climb (stairs) up to the lodge from the main reception area. Not suitable for elderly. It's true that they are not responsive on email / Booking.com. I had the fortune of having the hotel manager from an earlier accomodation call them ahead to confirm pickup and other accom details. We did ample research prior in any case and were fully cognizant of the pickup details shared on the website and elsewhere. Ryokan staff are made up most of young student foreigners. Hence English speakers will have no trouble communicating with them but expect a lil bit of gen z attitude, which entails not doing more than necessary (which can explain the lack of confirmation to email reminders to pickup details...). We could not find our yukata and we were told to just make long climb (see above) back to find them before they would provide spare sets.

Breakfast was so delicious and exceeded expectations. I didn't realise the mountain lodge was a luxury room and came with freebies such as complimentary mini bar and ice cream mini tubs. Facilities were great. I think the shared rooms looked cosy too. Ryokan is a lot more popular than expected. Hordes of elderly hikers hike up to the Ryokan and stay the night which is so cool. Loved being in the middle of nature. Pity I didn't bring the right equipment for a proper hike as the woods were very beautiful but a little muddy in the late summer. Mixed onsen baths are beautiful, especially the one facing the waterfall. Make sure you bring an extra towel along (or buy the onsen bathing suits on-site for 1100yen) to cover up there. It's not full nudity there, you dirty @*£#. Full nudity is reserved for the single sex baths.

Stayed in September 2023

Disappointed they didn't respond to messages via booking.com so we had an anxious bus journey out to Meotobuchi Parking uncertain that we would be collected by their shuttle. Very relieved when they did collect us!! Also for 3 days as vegetarian, the food was delicious but a little repetitive.

A beautiful remote location with friendly helpful staff, delicious food kindly accommodating vegetarian options. The forest environment and onsen is worth the travel to get there, totally relaxing stay.

Stayed in October 2023

The whole experience was beyond our expectations. Hacho No Yu is perfectly surrounded by nature, you really feel like you are in the middle of nowhere (in a good way) when you're there. There are trails leading from the property where you can explore the surrounding forest during day hikes if you please. The staff is all excellent and extremely accommodating. The food was delicious & really nicely presented. The onsen were the perfect way to end the day in complete relaxation. If you get the chance to go stargazing then would absolutely recommend that as well!

Stayed in September 2023

Next time I would book a room with a private bathroom

The location was great secluded, quiet and special. The staff were great attentive and the food was very good. The facilities were also very good.

Stayed in September 2023

Everything. The food was amazing. The hotel was clean and beautiful. The scenery is stunning. We genuinely wish we could have stayed longer and hope to return one day.

Stayed in July 2023

I was hoping to love this place based on the reviews I’ve read. But we had a very uncomfortable stay and couldn’t wait to leave. Where do I begin? The service could do with improvement - many staff members were sweet and working hard, but they were all very young and not Japanese, apart from the manager, and it felt like they were following a script and any deviation from it was either refused or irritating and inconvenient for them. When we arrived it was snowing and someone did help bring our bags through the snow into the building from the taxi, but no one helped us bring them from reception through the building and up the two flights of stairs to our room. When we left no one even helped us take them out of the room, let alone to the taxi, which is difficult when you have a two year old to look after. Some of the staff were very sweet with our son but they also hushed him at dinner when he was only making a moderate amount of noise, making us feel uncomfortable at mealtimes. Our room was uncomfortable and small - One window wouldn’t shut properly and since we arrived in a snow storm and the only source of heat was a gas heater which emits toxic fumes into the room, we were very cold at night. Plus there were lots of very bright lights shining into the room and no curtains to block them out. When we spoke to the staff about this, they unscrewed one light bulb - which made almost no difference. My partner and I wore night masks to block out the light, but our two year old wouldn’t so he woke up every night at 3.30am thinking it was morning and wouldn’t go back to sleep. So we ended the trip feeling exhausted. One member of staff suggested he wasn’t sleeping because he was jet lagged but we’d been in Japan a week when we arrived and he’d been sleeping til 6.30am previously. On the last night, we asked if we could eat dinner early so we could go to bed early and get some sleep, and because our son was getting tired and cranky from about 6.

Beautiful surrounding in the forest. The outdoor hot springs were lovely - especially the main mixed one overlooking the waterfall. It was great they were open all night and we could star gaze in the hot water. It was also great to be able to bathe as a family with our two year old son. The first and river around the property were beautiful and it was great to be able to walk straight out into the forest. It was nice they had a little art area and the cafe area was cosy. April was very sweet with our son and tried her best to help us.

Stayed in November 2023

Tried to contact the property via email and phone to arrange pick up, as stated on here - for days no response, tried to costumer service from booking.com no help - they were also not able to reach them. In the end decided not to risk to travel there by public transport to not get stranded- paid for nothing, no refund. So disappointing!!!

Abysmal!!!!

Stayed in August 2023