Love the Deer Park Inn! It's one of the few places you can enjoy being in the park after hours. The staff are very friendly and the rooms are comfortable. The lounge/kitchen area is a nice place to hang out and meet with other travellers. You're given towels and a few other helpful amenities when you arrive, snacks/ramen bowls are available for purchase from the front desk if you don't want to have to go into the city. The rooms are spacious, get a lot of natural light during the day, and are within walking distance to many of the key points in the park!

It's a bit tricky to get to if you have a lot of luggage. The nearest bus stop leaves you about a 6-10 minute walk from the inn including an uphill stair climb. If you come to the inn after hours the bus doesn't go to the last stop so you will have a 15-20 minute walk from the previous stop. Doors to the inn are locked starting at 11pm so staying out late is not an option so plan your time wisely. Most restaurants in the area close once they're out of food for the day which can be anywhere from 3pm to 5pm so it's best to stock up in town before arriving. The inn can be a bit noisy once the park opens as many children and tour groups walk right past it.

I would 1000% recommend this to anyone coming to Nara (and already have) and want to stay in the Deer Park itself. It is so peaceful and quiet because they have quiet time, super helpful and friendly and they make you feel right at home. There’s a full communal kitchen, dining and living area for people to use which is wonderful and the shared bathrooms are incredibly clean. The rooms are insanely well insulated as well so despite it getting cold at night outside, you were nice and warm in the room - and there is also a reverse cycle system in the room as well!

There are no mirrors in the bedrooms so when you’re trying to get ready in the morning, you have to keep going out into the hallway to use the mirrors there and the wooden flooring is quite creaky so you can hear people walking around as well as yourself but that wasn’t too bad.

The highlight of my Japan trip this place is amazing. The walk to the inn is fantastic 30 min walk from the station going past Japanese woodland with deer everywhere.when I arrived I had a warm welcome i was show around the inn and then shown to my room also giving me tips what to to see and how far away. I spent 1 day here I could have spent a week, looking out your window with deer walking around is amazing. For the price the kind staff location the deers you can’t go wrong.

There was a heater in the room but it can get cold at night just wrap up and there free tea.

Value for money and location - close to many attractions by walking. Loved the hostel vibe of meeting other guests from all over the world. We are a family of 5, including 3 young adult daughters and the 6 bunk bed room was ideal for us. For us it was set up with two double bunks and another bunk bed up high with a lounge underneath. We liked the curtains around each bed and the doonas were really warm. Great to have kitchen facilities.

Hard pillows

Loved being inside the park. I stayed two nights in a private room which meant I could enjoy the deer and the views a bit later in the day/earlier in the morning when everything was closed/yet to open. Or enjoy a quick escape from the crowds during the day. Very helpful staff, great reccs and helped me book a taxi on a very rainy check out day. I walked back from Nara town alone one night - some part of the route is not well lit but was easy and safe - the room key helpfully came with a torch.

You can take about 5-10 steps out of the Inn and meet bowing deer. The deer up the mountain are more fun to interact with than the ones closer to the park entrance, purely due to the amount of rice crackers being shoved in their faces being much lower each day. The ones that chill out around the Deer Park Inn are happy to have a little nibble and pose for all your photo and video needs, whereas the ones lower down the mountain are fed rice crackers all day everyday, leaving them unlikely to want to interact with humans past 9am or so. The Inn itself is a modest hostel style guesthouse, suitable for families or friends travelling together - with rooms of bunk beds accommodating up to 6 people, shared shower and bathroom facilities, a shared common area / kitchen. Right outside the door are some lovely little stores and a nice park area full of grazing and lazing deer. Nara Deer Park is a beautiful place, and the Deer Park Inn is highly recommended for anyone wishing to immerse themselves in the park and it's surrounds. While staying there we were treated to an amazing fireworks show as part of the festivities, and they were being launched about 100m from the small park next to the Inn. Honestly a great experience.

Not much could have been improved in my view, another guest I spoke to wasn't a huge fan of waiting to use the showers if someone else beats you to it, but getting up either slightly earlier or a bit later than the majority would alleviate this issue completely. While you walk amongst the deer, or look out at the sunset from the large balcony of an ancient temple, it is pretty hard to be concerned with having to wait 5 minutes to have a shower to be honest.

Location is absolutely wonderful, it is in heart of national park and there are deers all the time in front of the window, so you can just drink coffee in your room and look at them. Room was nice, clean and all together great for not a huge price. Stuff was EXTREMELY friendly and went above and beyond to make us feel great, they even helped us with our huge lougadge that they absolutely didn't need to do. I would recommend this stay to everyone especially because visiting Nara at night/dawn when there is no that many tourists and when light is changing is really magical

There were deer right outside the inn! It's located in the heart of the Deer Park so on our way to and from the inn we loved seeing all the deer. The room was quite spacious, and the staff were friendly and helpful! The other travellers at the inn at the time we were there also really respectful to the inn's rules, and I was impressed by how all the showers and toilets are kept clean even though it is a shared space!

Not the inn's fault, but walking from Kintetsu-Nara Station with heavy luggage was a BIG mistake on our part. Advice for other travellers, take a taxi or bus to save yourself the struggle!!

The place was seriously beautiful. The rooms were clean and big. The common area was great. Since shops close early, it's nice to have instant ramen just in case you need it. The showers were spacious and had everything you needed. Early morning and relaxing environment for sure! And then the people working there... they were all the nicest!!!!!! They helped me figure out nice spots to watch the sunset and the best spots to take the best photos, they helped me call a taxi and helped me with my luggage, etc. I could go on and on about how nice it was to be around them. To sum up, if you're not booking this place, what are you doing!

The location is incredible. Right in the middle of the park, with deer all around and within walking distance of the key attractions. The set-up is really chilled, with a great kitchen and living area where we read our books and had a drink. The bedrooms were really clean and comfy and the laundry facilities were great on a long trip. It is not a fancy 5 star hotel, but perfect for what we needed!

Nothing for us!