Name: Akao-Kan
Address: 396-1 Nishiakaomachi, Tonami, Tonami, Tonami, 939-1977, Japan
Rating: 8

Shopping on site

Air conditioning

Smoke-free property

Heating

No elevators

Reception desk

General

Room service

Hairdryer

Slippers

Rooms

Vending machine

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet access

Internet

Parking

Fax and copy machine

Business

Doctor

First Aid Kit

Beauty and wellness

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 guest house

Room amenities

Toyama Airport

Komatsu Airport

Akao-Kan

Tonami

The first thing we noticed was its great location for those who take public transportation. The bus stops are right outside of the guesthouse and across the narrow road for the opposite direction. Only the following day then we realised the biggest gassho house (so it claims) is just across the road. Next to it is the Gyōtoku-ji Temple.

Although the hosts were extremely busy (short of staff) and spoke very little English, they did try their best to make our stay as comfortable as they could. Understandably, quite a few things weren't explained clear enough, e.g. the dinner and breakfast arrangements. Anyway, that's all part of the fun of travelling and experiencing different cultures.

The guesthouse provided shuttle service to the nearby gassho villages in Gokayama. We utilised that to visit 2 villages. This alone was worth staying here.

Although we had stayed in a few Japanese style rooms by then, this was the only en-suite one. It was as clean and comfortable as expected.

In addition to the en-suite bathroom, there were two onsens for different genders on ground floor. Non-staying-guests can pay to use the onsens.

Despite the confusion nearing dinner and breakfast time, food was delicious. We even had a room to ourselves for dinner!

All in all, it was a very pleasant stay. Would love to stay there again.

Nice but busy hosts, good location, clean and comfy en-suite Japanese style room

Excellent base for exploring the gassho villages of Shirakawa-go and Ainokura - the latter is better. Fantastic cooked breakfast and dinner. Helpful inn owner who provided travel tips. Comfortable and large rooms and beds. Can't ask for more in this region of Japan.

Idyllic hideout in the mountains

Location wise it is very convenience location especially if you are planning to go to Shirakawa-go historic villages.  However, lady at check in/out counter is not friendly at all.  She took our identity card for photo copied and forget to return next day and not apologies for her mistake.  Also she wrongly charged us rate as 3 adults instead of 2 adults and 1 child, and charge us for 2 beers instead of 1 beer and again not apologies for wrong charges.  
Hot Spring at the hotel is nice and clean and dinner is also pretty good too.

Poor Service but Great Location

I've not stayed in many ryokans but this one is just not up to the standards of the others.  Isolated in a small town, fairly old construction, no chairs in room.  Dinner was good but breakfast was limited.

Acceptable Experience

Akaokan is located near the Shirakawa-go historic villages, it has the best location and superb traditional Japanese cuisine.
We travelled there with our kids and  we had wonderful and unforgettable time in Akaokan's Japanese style room. Akaokan is operated by a Japanese family that stayed in the ryokan itself, so you can see little kids walking and playing around at the common area of the ryokan sometimes. I strongly recommend this place to those who travel with family or with kids, as the ryokan very welcoming guests with kids. Though not everyone could speak English in the ryokan, they are still very helpful and attentive, they saw us going out and quickly passed us 2 sleds in blue for my son and pink for my daughter! How thoughtful! We are always forgetful and left our belongings like wallet, iPads, etc at the common area / lobby, and they always kept and returned to us later. I'd like to highlight the food is incredibly good, breakfast and dinner are served in a warm, heated room and Japanese rice and tea are free flow. Upon check in, they'll ask your preferred breakfast and dinner serving time, they'll call to your room, every time before they serve the food. The room is very cosy and clean, air conditioner, portable heater and heater under the tea table always kept us warm and feel like home staying there. The ryokan is very well maintained, everything looks like new, especially the bathroom and toilet. We love the inhouse onsen so much, and the hosts allow us to visit the onsen anytime of the day without limits, and the onsen is just next to our room! We didn't even had the chance to visit our own bathroom, hahaha... The stay is truly an incredible good experience, I'll definitely come back again next year and will recommend to others!

Akao-Kan

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