Name: Hoshino Resorts KAI Matsumoto
Address: 1-31-1 Asama Onsen, Matsumoto, Matsumoto, Matsumoto, 390-0303, Japan
Rating: 8

24-hour reception

Elevator/lift

Smoking areas

Smoke-free property

General

Room service

Fridge

Hairdryer

Rooms

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Wheelchair Accessible

Wheelchair access to restaurant

Accessibility

Coffee/tea for guests

Breakfast

Cafe

Restaurant

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Wi-Fi in the hotel

Internet

Library

Recreation

Parking

Conference Hall

Business

Beauty and wellness

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the guest house

Matsumoto Airport

Hoshino Resorts KAI Matsumoto

Matsumoto

child-bed

child-bed-fee

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shared-bathroom

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limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

The pictures do not look like the rooms we new we were staying at a Ryokan as we had stayed in Hakone.
No comparison this is a bare bones place. Oh they have a pianist play late evening but the room is awful two chairs and a table beds are made up when at dinner.
The Onsen is hard to use as no where to hang a towel without it getting wet.
No food mid day only breakfast and lunch.
By the the city is shut down on Wednesdays.
Would not recommend to no Japanese.

Take your own pillow unless you like buckwheat

A pampered environment, complete with private and public onsen facilities. Delicious 8 or 9 course set meals for breakfast and dinner! Amazing attention to details in every sense - the rooms, hotel public areas, food preparation and the extras, such as travel library, nightly mini concerts. 

Luxurious

Having previously had a wonderful time at Hoshinoya Karuizawa, our family of four felt we could trust their brand and devised a driving holiday which took us from Kawaji over to Nagano.  KAI Matusmoto was the third of four Hoshino branded resorts that we stayed.     

Of the four resorts, KAI Matsumoto was the most different in that it had a very boutique\city hotel feel to it.  The main lobby is an extremely impressive space and, whilst not overly large, really makes the resort feel special.  We really enjoyed the live music that was played in the evening.

Our room was smaller than the other KAIs but was the most modern and stylish.  Again there was a partition between the main sleeping and living areas.  It also had a private hot-tub on a small balcony that the whole family made use of (individually…its very small).  

Dining here was something that was very special.  The dining rooms appear to occupy two floors that surround an internal courtyard that had a typical Japanese style garden.  Eating dinner in the evening, overlooking the courtyard, with snow falling was a magical experience.  We had ordered the special meal as we were only staying one night and it did not disappoint.  Although I have said that Kawaji had the best standard food, Matsumoto gave us the best meal of our entire trip plus also introduced us to the amazing Kato.

KAI Matsumoto also appeared to have the most elaborate onsen configuration.  With only 1 night we didn’t get chance to make the most of it but what we saw we really enjoyed.

The resort is on the edge of Matsumoto itself; although it’s only a short drive to Matsumoto Castle.  The castle is not massive, but extremely impressive and we really enjoyed visiting it.  

Although it was only a short stay, it was a very enjoyable one and we would definitely return.

Hoshino Resorts KAI Matsumoto - 3 of 4

We stayed two nights and had a wonderful time, rooms were gorgeous and onsen waters were so comfortable and calming. It was a refreshing stay, felt rejuvenated after, since we came here to recover from work fatigue. Thank you to the team at Hoshino Kai Matsumoto for making us feel welcome and at home. Food was fantastic too! Thank you to the chef. Also enjoyed a lovely concert in the evening by a wonderful pianist and flautist. 

Gorgeous resort, lovely onsen waters

Great staff, great onsen, lovely and relaxing stay. This is the third time we stay in a Hoshino group property for our yearly anniversary trip, and we are very happy with Kai Matsumoto. We had a special dinner menu on our first night and the beef is fantastic, along with all the many other courses.

Relaxing anniversary trip

I visited many Hoshino resorts in these years because I like there environments, mood, designs, food, services and staffs too.  I am a bit disappointed when I stayed in the Kai Matsumoto in June 2019.  This is the first Hoshino resort made me felt like a local 70’s style hotel.  Everything seems old fashioned but not like all the other Hoshino resorts.  The most important part is not up to their Hoshino standard.  We choose this Hotel Brand is because of Quality.  The price we spent was definitely not lined up with this hotel’s quality.  I am a big fan of Hoshino resorts, I like Hoshino chain, so I will still try the other resorts.  Hope the next one will not let me down.

Kai Matsumoto

We recently completed another vacation with stays in the Grand Hyatt Taipei, the Westin Seoul (should not even be included in this group of hotels because we would not return), the Conrad Tokyo, ANA Crowne Plaza Kanazawa, and the Kai Matsumoto--so we had a chance to compare several hotels.  We stayed 1 night at Hoshino Resorts Kai Matsumoto.  We highly recommend staying here if you are looking for a private onsen experience in Matsumoto.  However, we want to lower people's expectations by pointing out the GREAT and just Good.  Yes, the overall experience was awesome!  We loved our onsen, and the garden terrace.  (TIP, the afternoon sun was beating on us around 4pm.  It wasn't that it was too hot, we were there early April when it was quite cold.  But the sun was in our eyes which made it uncomfortable to soak in the onsen.  So ask about that and try to get a room that doesn't have that problem, if possible.)  The garden was beautiful, and we can only imagine how awesome it would have been if the cherry blossoms were in full bloom (we were just a little early, but we can't complain too much because we caught full bloom in Tokyo).  The room is very nice (but we have stayed in nicer rooms at other hotels) and the staff set up the futons while we were downstairs for dinner.  As others have mentioned, the hotel is a good 20 minutes by taxi from the train station (and from the castle) so keep that in mind when planning your stay.  We upgraded to the special Wagyu dinner, and while everything was beautifully presented (and we loved the temari ball bowls), the food was just good, not great.    Please don't expect Michelin quality food. As long as you keep that in mind, you will be fine.  We LOVED that the hotel brought out a glass of champagne and special decorations to celebrate my partner's birthday.  (Thanks goes to Mieko at the Conrad Tokyo for informing Kai Matsumoto about James's upcoming birthday!)  Unfortunately, we missed the concert because James was not feeling well.  Lastly, I can't remember the gentleman assigned to help us our first evening.  But he showed us around our room after we checked in and he was our server for dinner.  He was EXCELLENT!   Good English, and great attitude and excellent customer service! Overall, we highly recommend visiting!  Just don't set your expectations too high!

Excellent experience if you are looking for a private onsen experience in Matsumoto

A short stay at Hoshino or Hoshinoya properties should be on every hotel lover or travel lovers bucket list. 
The meal inclusions and ninja like precision and service from the staff as well as the small unique touches make it worth while and although in the metropolitan area is very serene 
It is located a little out of the very city centre however there is a bus stop a mere 100m from the properties entrance
In the two nights we stayed, we had two different set course dinners however should the stay have been longer, it would have doubled up again so best for two to three nights

An Experience to Remember

The Kai Matsumoto is a very fancy ryokan with a high level of service. From the moment you arrive, you can expect total relaxation as they take charge of your baggage, and settle you into the hotel.  We booked a room with an in-room onsen, which was lovely. Our rooms were huge, with multiple tatami mat rooms, a nice bathroom, separate sink area, shower area, and then the outdoor onsen, made of stone and filled continuously with hot spring water.  The bath products they provided were wonderful, and we loved spending time in the refreshing onsen waters, with the chill air of the mountains as a contrast to the hot waters.  

The meal was very fancy indeed. They made a less fancy meal for our son.  You do not eat in your rooms, but inside a private dining area.  It was a lot of food, and I did get stressed out feeling I couldn't eat all of it.  But maybe that wasn't necessary to worry so much about. I liked most of it- it was very creative, with interesting ingredients and lovely presentation. I have eaten widely around the globe and there were several new things I had never tried.  There were a few things I didn't care for, but I suppose that would be true even for a Japanese visitor.

The room had lovely yukatas of high quality for all three of us.

If I could go again, I would not recommend going at the beginning of the trip, because while it was very relaxing, we were far too tired and jetlagged to really enjoy the wonderful kaiseki meal.  

I was less thrilled with breakfast, possibly because horse mackerel is my least favorite fish and breakfast was a whole horse mackerel along with an onsen egg and some pickled vegetables.  I'm more of a yogurt and coffee girl, but you know, this is the ryokan experience (and no wonder the Japanese people are so longlived, their diet is so healthy).  Again, breakfast was very well made and presented, with great service.

I wasn't able to use the public onsen, which looked to be quite large with a number of differnet baths, because I have large tattoos that wouldn't be easily covered by a bandage.  They do allow tattooed visitors to enjoy the onsen with a hotel-provided 2" x 2" bandage, but I didn't know how to cover my armband and I didn't want to offend anyone, so I stayed in our in-room onsen.

the highest quality and the best service.  Recommend for romantic retreat

We travel quite a bit to Japan (around twice a year) and have stayed at a variety of accommodations, from business hotels to high-end ryokans. 

Hoshino Resorts was something that I've heard a lot about. I am particularly fascinated by its KAI sub-brand, which (so I've read) buys over struggling ryokans and refurbishes them to higher standards.

Given that Hoshino Resorts pitches its properties at the top end of the market (and prices them accordingly) I have had high hopes when I booked one night at the KAI Matsumoto.

These expectations were unfortunately not met. Prior to checking in, I emailed to ask if the ryokan could help arrange a ticket for a museum – a simple request that has never stymied any other Japanese hotel with a concierge service in my experience. I was told no, albeit in the politest way possible, due to a vague “travel business law”.

During dinner, we were served by a waitress who clearly looked like she didn’t wish to be working that night. She didn’t smile and hurried us throughout the kaiseki meal, often bringing the next dish to the table before we had finished the previous one. Maybe she was having a bad day.

The rest of the staff were better but none of our interactions stood out.

Despite paying top dollar for our room, which came beautifully appointed with a kitchenette, an outdoor terrace, a garden and an open-air bath, our stay just did not feel special, unlike the many other wonderful ryokans we have experienced in our years visiting Japan.

The two-star rating reflects the positioning and pricing of this property; in a lower-end establishment, I’d have given this a three or a four.

Hoshino Resorts KAI Matsumoto

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