Name: Luna Observatory Auberge Mori No Atelier
Address: 1810, Shirakawa, Minamioguni, Minamioguni, Minamioguni, 869-1502, Japan
Rating: 8

Air conditioning

Smoke-free property

Heating

Garden

No elevators

Reception desk

General

Non-smoking rooms

Family room

Rooms

Common kitchen

Restaurant

Vending machine

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet access

Internet

English

Japanese

Languages Spoken

Parking

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Temperature control for staff

Personal protection equipment for staff

Extra decontamination measures

Temperature control for guests

Personal protection equipment for guests

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the hostel

Kumamoto Airport

Luna Observatory Auberge Mori No Atelier

Minamioguni

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

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4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

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

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

We pulled up late (at 6.15pm) on 15 Apr 2015 to this beautiful, charming auberge. We had been in Kirishima, and the main Kyushu highway was damaged and unpassable due to the 6.4 quake that had struck Kumamoto on the evening of 14 Apr. Thinking that all the following shocks thereafter would be gentler aftershocks, my husband decided to go ahead with the drive to Minami Aso. We had felt gentler tremors only in Kirishima, but Minami Aso is right by the epicenter of the quake. 

It took us 6hrs to make the what would normally have been 2hr journey. We were with another friend who was travelling to Japan for the first time, and she was keen for us to continue on the rest of the holiday as planned.

The service at the Observatory was superb. We were served a fabulous dinner, and there were no other guests there, so we had the whole place to ourselves. The onsen was fabulous too, but the highlight of the whole stay were the telescopes! Takano-san's entire presentation of what could be viewed that night was brilliant. He played the character of a kind but slightly eccentric nerdy star-gazer guy perfectly, and was consistently a great host too.

We went to bed that night glad to finally rest after a long day journeying. We were, however, woken up at 1.25am by very violent shaking. We were completely freaked out, not having ever experienced an earthquake ever in our lives. After what felt like a lifetime of rattling, fearful that the whole building might collapse on us, the shaking finally stopped. We tried to turn on the lights but they were out. We grabbed our phones and used the light to try to look around. Just then, there was a knock on the door. The waiter had shown up with some torches to bring us outside. Downstairs, there was broken glass everywhere. Everything had fallen off the walls/shelves/tables. We were taken outside to an open field. The shaking continued every few minutes or so. It was about 7 degrees and cold. Takano-san arrived and we were then taken to a parked car out in a more open field. The heat was on in the car, they had brought us blankets, drinks and warmer parkas, and they even turned on the radio for updates (though hubby and I understand only very basic japanese). We spent the rest of the night in the car, with Takano-san and the waiter guy in another car. The ground continued to rumble and there were 40-something aftershocks after that 7.8 quake at 1.25am.

When day broke and the aftershocks had longer breaks in between, the staff went back into the auberge and told us to wait in the car while they checked out the situation. I had to use the bathroom very badly, so I couldn't wait for them to come back and get us. When we went up to the building they had cleaned up significantly, and had even made us up a tatami room on the ground floor to rest! We deeply appreciated the gesture, but were really too shaken by then to stay indoor. They even made us breakfast (without electricity too)! 

We were anxious to leave and get to Fukuoka, but Takano-san told us to wait. We only understood why later - the main bridge leading to Minami Aso had fallen down, and there were landslides and cracked roads everywhere. When we did finally leave, Takano-san and the owner would not take our payment, because they "could not provide a proper experience" for us. But they had evacuated us, and had done their best to make sure we were still comfortable even in the direst of circumstances! We felt like we had been burdens through the entire ordeal - no electricity, no food, and supplies would be hard to get for a while. 

We've donated the cost of our stay (and more) to the earthquake relief effort for Kumamoto. Minami Aso is beautiful, I wish we could have seen more of it, and I highly recommend the Luna Observatory to everyone.

Sincere Concern for Guests

My mom found this place on Booking.com when we were planning our trip to Aso in Japan, after driving around Beppu, It took us about another 2 hour drive over beautiful landscapes to reach this very romantic and beautiful destination. I don't think that there is any place quite like it. The hotel owner is a very big fan of stars and his french themed cottage even has a planetarium and an observatory. We were lucky that we were able to see so many stars that night even with the cloudy day.

AMAZING PLACE! Unique and very Lovely hotel.

Mori No Atelier is a beautiful and cozy hotel with a rustic feel. To get here, we drove in from Kumamoto that takes us about 1.5 hours. We stayed in the deluxe room in the main building and it's a floor away from the observatory. The room is huge for just the two of us, it's more like an apartment. Apart from having another bedroom, it also comes with a full kitchenette, bathroom and a balcony. 

There are two private onsens in the hotel and you can book a time slot for your own use. Each slot is 40 minutes but it would be more than enough.

If you have booked your meals with the hotel, breakfast is western style while dinner is french. Dinner was definitely very fanciful! On the second night of our stay, there was even a piano and opera recital for the guests.

On the third level in the main building resides a well equipped observatory for stargazing. The location of the hotel is also perfect for taking star trail or the milky way. Unfortunately, on the nights when we were there, it was a full moon. 

We had an amazingly stay at the hotel and we'll definitely be back to catch the milky way one day.

Charming and rustic hotel

Our group of 3 were the only ones staying that night

We had the evening tour with the resident Astronomist, who was very nice, very good at english, and his enthusiasm showed in his tour. The tour ward completely in english, i guess it was because all 3 of us are foreigners. 

The onsen ( stone hot spring) was nice but quite small, maximum 2-3 people at a time, and requires booking if there were more guests. But since it was just us 3 we could use it freely 

Unfortunately it was super cloudy on the night we visited, and so we were able to see much with the telescope. However the resident astronomist showed us a lot of interesting things in the planetarium and the amazing photos that he took of the night sky 

Food is pretty good. 

Staff were really helpful arranging for our transport ( we didnt drive)

Very nice visit, but no stars due to weather

The hotel is in the countryside, it is tranquil and peaceful but the downside is hard to find.  It is best to check in before dark, and prepare to drive 15 to 20 minutes to find a place to eat if you do not reserve dinner at the hotel.  Unfortunately for us the kitchen was closed the night we stayed.
Beware that the hotel accepts Cash only, we made the mistake of not carrying enough Yen to pay for our stay.  We drove around town for over 2 hours and none of the ATM machines accepts our 3 ATM/credit cards issued from 3 different US banks.  The hotel manager finally accepted US dollars as payment.
We stayed in the room with loft area, the room was decent in size.  It would be better if there was a towel in the toilet room and the shower head pressure can be adjusted lower (kind of like being shot by sharp needles).
The hotel offers water, free coffee and tea in the common area, however the "alcohol free" beer in the glass refrigerator next to the coffee and tea was not free.  They should have posted the price in the glass refrigerator.

Luna Observatory Auberge Mori No Atelier

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