Good: Very close to the World Heritage sites, the famous bridge, a bus stop to the ropeway and waterfalls etc. Not good: the rooms (especially bathrooms) are tired. Some of the staff are terrific; the rest are untrained and/or not given the tools to do an excellent job. Case in point: we had no idea we had to serve ourselves rice (everything else was served to us), and then desert was delivered before our rice course. They also nickle & dime guests for use of a parasol, make you bring your own flimsy towel from your room to the bath, and use bad translations that are off-putting (“if you do X, you will be punished”).

We had a lovely stay here.

This was a real highlight of our trip to Japan. The food was amazing, and getting to the

The highlight is definitely the breakfast, which was a truly great experience for those seeking an authentic Japanese ryokan. The view of the gardens there heightened the experience, and the public bath was modest but very nice and in a beautiful area. The building itself shows signs of age (especially the walls) and the amenities were certainly not modern, but that was all made up by the conscientious and helpful staff and the very friendly shuttle driver who went out of his way to help, including letting me stop at the other train station on the way to the ryokan to pick up tickets. The whole city is very quiet and shuts down early, but there are a few nice restaurants a short walk down the hill, and if you are heading to Nikko Toshogu itself, then it's easily walkable right from the hotel. Don't bother getting on the bus (as long as mobility isn't an issue). Entering the forest at Shinkyo is nice, and getting there just before 9:00 helps avoid the crowds. For smaller groups, I would recommend this place.

The meals were extraordinary! The service was great and the dining environment was beautiful. Close to bus stop so it was convenient to go to Lake Chuzenji. Also a short walk to see shrines in Nikko National Park. The Onsen has a beautiful view!

Good location

Thank you Nikko Hoshinoyado- we had a wonderful Japanese experience in Nikko and at the hotel. We are sorry we don’t speak Japanese, and that made little things challenging a bit. We wish we knew that for a best experience we should have booked dinner at the hotel because we did not find a single suitable place to eat within walking distance of the hotel (October 18, 2024). So we did not have dinner that night. Breakfast, on the other hand was fantastic. We also loved the Onsen experience. Arigato Gozaimas!

The staff are wonderful, the food is delicious and the rooms are comfortable, with excellent views of Nikko. Definitely take the shuttle from the subway if you can, I made the mistake of walking as it wasn’t that long, but the last stretch is a very steep hill

Our two day visit enhanced our cultural understanding of Japan from authentic cuisine to traditional ryokan. The English speaking manager suggested several activities beginning at Tobu bus stop 7 (walkable one block from hotel) to stop 26 Kogan Falls. The serenity of the landscape surrounding the hotel relaxes the stress of Tokyo. My only regret is not finding the private shower!

Our Japanese room was lovely, and the front desk staff was very helpful. The servers at the kaiseki dinner could have been more assistive in explaining the meal, and a history of yuba and tofu making would have been nice. The visual presentation of the meal was excellent, while the servers seemed more interested in the mechanics of serving and cleaning up.

Good typical Japanese experience with futon on the floor and a shared onsen for bath and shower. Location is good but be warned the town doesn’t seem to get a lot of overnight visitors so there is slim pickings for dinner. The breakfast was very traditional Japanese. Lots of things you’ve not tried before and some a little peculiar.

Tl;dr: I would not recommend this place. The location is great and onsen and grounds are fine. But at $400/night for two people and half board it’s way overpriced. The wallpaper is peeling, the carpets are dirty, it smells a little funky and there is no shower in the room. The dinner / breakfast are fine and the staff friendly but I would expect more at this rate.

Everything is great. There is no bath in the room so you have to go to the onsen room to take shower.

We were let down overall by our stay at this hotel. The room we stayed in was really dated and the overall smell of the hotel was not very pleasant. The room walls were dusty. For the condition of the hotel, I think we over paid. The positive about the hotel is its location near the shrines and bridge. The hotel did provide shuttle services from Nikko train station which was really nice. The staff did speak English.

This hotel is very over priced. The great thing about this hotel is location, walking distance to main shrines. Otherwise it is outdated and smells like mold-throughout the entire hotel. The room is already over priced and then they want you to pay for private bath time. There is no shower in your room, so it’s public bath or pay extra. Also, there is an extra charge for extra towels. I do take into consideration this is supposed to be more simplistic and traditional however an update should be done for the price. They do have a nice restaurant with pretty view of the small garden.

Restaurant was the best

Staff is very helpful and hospitable. Public baths are clean and not too busy. The staff gave good explanation on the Onesen. We took the Japanese breakfast and it was OK but not great, we didn't find a lot of alternative dining options close by. Location is great - next to the temples and close to the bus station. The one thing I would improve would be the towels - They give only one towel per person which is not enough if you go 3-4 times a day to the public bath like we did, and there's no way to dry your towel quickly especially in the winter when it's freezing. Overall we enjoyed our stay and the public bath was great.

Location was right outside the Nikko Park and major tourist attractions. The dinner in the hotel was quite good but a bit expensive. The onsen was incredible too. Highly recommend this place.

This Ryokan is wonderful, amazing, delightful. Japanese style rooms, architecture is showing it's age a little but retains all of its charm and character. 1/2 board (breakfast and dinner) is the way to go. The meals were amazing, so well structured, theme was apparent, the food itself was an adventure. Onsen was really pleasant after walking through the world heritage parks.

A fantastic ryokan experience. We had a delux room with private bathroom. Slept on mats on the floor which was surprisingly comfortable. The onsen offered 2 small hot baths covered and open to outdoors. Breakfast was amazing, offering Japanese and American style cuisine. Had difficult time finding restaurants for dinner, not many choices and they fill up early. Walkable to most sights.