Yuko was a fantastic host, and we were lucky enough to be the only guests at the ryoken, so had full use of the private onsen (which was beautiful!). The breakfast was great and Yuko made the logistics of travelling to the monkey park and station super easy by providing a lift! The ryoken is in the middle of Shibu making it very easy to access all of the 9 public baths! Amazing place to stay, just be careful of the time you choose to visit - our stay was in April from Wednesday to Thursday, and every restaurant apart 1 was closed (assuming it's the off-season). Something to consider as you may need to travel to Yudonaka (a short drive) for places to eat!

Hatsunoyu is located in Shibu, a quaint village with healing onsens, great restaurants, and a central location for exploring the area. Yuko was an amazing host, making us feel so welcome in her wonderful home and she gave us lifts to/from Yudanaka station and the nearby Jigokudani Yaen-Koen (Snow Monkey Park). The room was spacious, quiet, and spotlessly clean with tatami mats and great facilities, including a kettle for making green tea. Nice warm room, even during chilly December nights. Felt like we had stepped into a movie as we walked around town in yukatas in the snow! A perfect place to experience beautiful Nagano.

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Hosts met us at the train station to drive back to the ryokan, even with 2 cars since we were 5 people! Let us leave our luggage until check-in time. Really lovely room with a pretty view of the narrow town streets. Sink in the room, which is rare for ryokans! Comfy mats for sleeping, comfortably warm room (December!), delicious and hearty dinner and breakfast. Beautiful onsen, plus right across from one of the 9 public onsen. They drove us up to the entrance to the snow monkey park the next morning!

I really can't think of anything... It's not the most luxe ryokan in town, but it's lovely! One of our group was bugged that the only bathing facilities were in the onsen, so no private bathing/shower at all, so I guess be aware of that.

The hosts were lovely and their place had a lot of heart in it. One felt really welcome. Yuko picked us up from the station. We dropped off our luggage at the ryokan, and she drove us to the snow monkey park. Giving us advice about the bus to get us back. Her husband cooked up a delicious meal.

I knew beforehand that it would be traditional Japanese bedding which is too firm for me, so I'm not going to mark the ryokan down for having firm beds. It may be important to you though.

centrally located on main street in Shibu Onsen near all the 9 public onsen, simple Japan style accommodation with friendly host who picked us up from Yudanaka station and made a lovely breakfast. Had a lovely sushi at Kozushi restaurant around corner (made a booking via our host)

the place is a little dated and sleeping on the floor was hard

Amazing traditional hospitality. Great experience

Don’t expect a luxury stay, but a traditional ryokan experience. Great food, clean ryokan and a wonderful nice host.

I really liked the owner, she was very helpful with picking us up and dropping us off at the station and the monkey park.

Everything. The best experience I've had since coming to Japan. Highly recommend Hatsunoyu to everyone!

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We loved the tasty food we got for dinners and breakfasts and Yuko's hospitality. The pick up/drop of at station.

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The owners, Yuko and her husband are very responsive and helpful and they picked us up from the train station to the ryokan (and back to the station after we checked out), and also drove us to the snow monkey park entrance on the morning we wanted to visit the park. Yuko is very friendly and she speaks English really well and we enjoyed the meals at Hatsunoyu. She made us feel relaxed and comfortable during our 2 nights stay.

Some facilities are quite run down but they are still clean. What bothered us most was there is no hot water from the room tap for brushing our teeth and washing up and it's rather inconvenient during winter.