Name: Koishiya Ryokan
Address: 2277, Hirao, Shiga-kogen/Yudanaka, Yamanouchi, Yamanouchi, Yamanouchi, 381-0401, Japan
Rating: 9

Air conditioning

Smoke-free property

Heating

Security guard

Ticket assistance

Gift shop

Terrace

Reception desk

General

Family room

Bathrobe

Linens

Slippers

Rooms

Accessibility features

Accessibility

Luggage storage

Safe-deposit box

Concierge services

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Cafe

Restaurant

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

In-room internet

Internet

Transfer services

Transfer

Spanish

English

French

Japanese

Languages Spoken

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Hiking

Fishing

Recreation

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Doctor

First Aid Kit

Beauty and wellness

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Skiing

Winter sports

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Temperature control 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

Koishiya Ryokan

Yamanouchi

Well maintain Ryokan. Very clean and cozy. Large rooms with super comfortable beds (western). The restaurant is wonderful with innovative and fusion menu. The breakfast is really good with the best coffee. Staff is friendly, knowledgeable, kind and helpful. Excellent value!

Wonderful ryokan with high quality restaurant.

Check in process its smooth.

Room - Japanese tatami room is spacious. You will make your own tatami bed. Its a good experience to understand japanese culture. But we are not sure how or if any proper way so we simply do our own way 😅.

Restaurant - served western food. We take out the bagel 🥯as breakfast  before heading to Snow Monkey Park. My kids say its yummy. 

Bathroom - shared bathroom on ground floor. Its clean and neat. 

Parking - walking distance to the ryokan (maybe less than 5 min). However, you can stop in front of the ryokan to drop off your luggage before park your car. 

Modern Ryokan

Usually I research for weeks before a trip but this was a last minute opportunity to see the snow monkeys. My train ticket was held up and so I wasn't sure I would be able to go so booked this on the train wifi on the way there.

They responded quickly to a query and the key things for me were near the train station, free shuttle to the monkey park and restaurant on site.  I wanted to try an Onsen so had already decided on a Royokan. The twin room was spacious and the beds comfortable.  I was close to the Womens bathroom so very convient.  All areas were spotlessly clean.  Being winter the heating system was very effective. 

I could not have been happier with my choice.  The staff were extremely friendly and gave me valuable advice for my first time dip. The Royokan if perfectly placed to wander to the 9 Onsen in the village and only a couple of doors from a very expensive looking hotel.  I was too tired to try the restaurant in the evening but the breakfast was a great way to start the day.  My only disappointment is that I could not stay longer. I would happily return to the area and if I do, I will definitely stay here again.

Last minute booking and struck lucky.

We only stayed one night but we did enjoy the Ryokan, we were 3 adults and share one room and it was perfectly fine, a bit cold but quiet and comfortable. We didn't have any issues sharing the bathrooms, they were clean and well maintained.
The staff is very friendly they picked up at the train station and the next day they drove us to the Snow Monkey Park for free.
We also booked the private Onsen and we definitely enjoyed it! It is really a must and if you don't like to share/ or don't like to be naked, the private onsen is a great option, only 500 yen per person (for about an hour) it's about 5 minutes driving and they drive you and pick you up for free, so no hassle at all.
We also had breakfast and dinner and the food was very nice (a mix Japanese-Western) and the prices were affordable.
All in all, a great experience at the Ryokan and definitely recommend this place. The town is very beautiful and you can easily spend a few more days visiting around.

Lovely Ryokan, friendly staff

We stayed here to see the snow monkeys and enjoy the onsens.

It is a wonderful location to do both!

However our daughter got sick with the flu. 
The staff were so kind to her. 
They rang the doctor, drove us to the doctor, the pharmacy and back to the ryokan. They bought her special food and drinks!

Highly recommend this place to stay!

The staff here are wonderful!

We really enjoyed our stay at Koishiya Ryokan. We arrived before check-in but this was not a problem as our room was ready. We booked a private outdoor onsen through the Ryokan for 1000 yen, it was a lovely experience being delivered to the door in our yukata and sandals. It was good to be so close to the monkey park, and once again we were delighted to the closest place available in winter to access the park. We were early enough to be there without too many other visitors, and we just walked down the hill back to Koishiya afterwards. We had several meals at the restaurant, breakfast baguettes and the coffee were particularly good. We would stay here again as it was great value. We never had an issue with the shared bathrooms, and used the public onsen number 3 which was very close. There were not many other restaurants open in Shibu during our stay, so local menu options for lunch and dinner were somewhat limited. 

Great value comfort and location. 

We just spent three fabulous days at the ryokan and can’t wait for our next visit. Daisuke and his excellent staff were exceptionally welcoming of our family of four and so helpful throughout our stay. From giving us a lift to Yudanaka station to visit the ATM during off hours to picking us up from the monkey park, to helping us navigate the local bus schedule, they went above and beyond! 

This is a great spot if you want to a traditional Japanese experience. Our kids were confused by the futons at first, but we all agreed this experience was a highlight of our trip to Japan (and we all preferred Koishiya Ryokan to our 4 star hotel in Tokyo)! 

Recommendations: if you’re picky about pillows, recommend bringing your own (they provide a small buckwheat / rice (?) filled one). Also be forewarned some rooms don’t have locks, so if you are concerned about leaving valuables, either don’t bring them or request a room with a locking door. Be sure to visit the snow monkey park - exceeded our already high expectations! Access to town onsens was awesome and a cool cultural experience (the ryokan staff was patient in helpfully explaining onsen etiquette to us novices!). Also, if you’re in the area to ski, we had a fabulous experience with Shiga International Ski School at Okushiga Kogen - about 1.25 hour bus ride from the ryokan but worth it, and they may even be able to pick you up in the morning (only ~40 mins by car) if you request in advance. Enjoy your trip to Yamanouchi!!

Traditional Japanese ryokan - great hospitality and family friendly!

Great place, awesome staff, comfy bed and ideally placed. 
Okay so this is probably the best service I've ever received from any hotel, hostel, house. 

The staff speaks very good English, and are extremely friendly. They have free shuttles to the Snow monkey Park, and can recommend and take you to fancy out of town onsens. They also have the keys to the great and free public onsen of Shibu onsen. They helped me book my bus back to Tokyo from the Japanese website (which was 1500yen cheaper than the one I was considering taking), and on the last morning as I was on a tight schedule I had planned to run 40 minutes to the monkey park so I could spend only 20 more minutes there as my train was pretty early, so one of the staff feeling sorry for me actually got into her car and drove me there, free of charge. Such kindness.

The rooms are very clean, confortable, and bed was large enough for my 1m97. This a very nice wooden traditional Ryokan very beautifully decorated. I took the cheap dorm room, which was already very nice! I had hesitated with another cheap dorm hostel in the city, and couldn't be happier I chose this one : the other was much less traditional and interesting, and more importantly as they did not provide the keys to the 9 free public onsens (which are only available if you stay in a ryokan), so if you went to the other you had to pay 500yen and only one of the 9 was available, where as Koishiya Ryokan did provide the key (as well as traditional bath kimono (the Yukata), towels and traditional bath shoes).

In summary as one can tell I am very very enthousiastic about this place. I fell in love with the area and this Ryokan had a major part in that, so thank you so much!

Best place to stay to see the snow monkeys

Very enjoyable stay. All the staff were friendly and had time to chat, answer queries, make recommendations etc. Shuttle service was convenient for getting from the station, going to the onsen in the evening, and also being dropped off to see the snow monkeys. I liked the personal nature of staying at this place after the impersonality of larger places I had stayed (though sometimes thats good too!)

Friendly and personalised accommodation

I initially came into town before the 4pm check-in time as I wanted to get up to the snow monkeys but didn't want my luggage.  There was a sign outside the door saying check-in is at 4 but ring the bell if needed for service.  The staff was very accommodating by allowing me to store my luggage until I came back and called a cab for me up to the park entrance (you can use a bus or even walk but I was short on time since the park closed at 4 and I got into town around 2).

Made it to the park, got some great photos, walked back and checked in.

They offer shuttles to multiple onsens in the area, but I just went to the closest (half a block up the road).  Once again the staff was great notifying me of my options.

Dinner was great.

Wifi is very good (with occasional breaks in reception but I think that's common in Japan...or it has been for me)

Cafe is good as well if you want something from there.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Very much worth the price.  Highly recommend.

Koishiya Ryokan

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