Nishimuraya Hotel Shogetsutei

“2 nights at the onsen”

We spent 2 nights at Nishimuraya Hotel Shogetsutei in January 2026 and it was an amazing experience. The grounds were beautiful, the rooms were clean and spacious, and the staff were the most accommodating I’ve ever seen. We stayed in a traditional Japanese room that was large and had a lovely view… more

We spent 2 nights at Nishimuraya Hotel Shogetsutei in January 2026 and it was an amazing experience. The grounds were beautiful, the rooms were clean and spacious, and the staff were the most accommodating I’ve ever seen. We stayed in a traditional Japanese room that was large and had a lovely view. The food was thoughtfully curated and they catered to some dietary restrictions. Throughout our stay, the staff was kind, helpful and considerate. There was a massive snowstorm the night before we were supposed to leave that resulted in all train service being cancelled to Kinosakionsen station. The staff did everything in their power to help us figure out the best plan to return to Tokyo and ensured we had a room to stay in if we could not make it back. They ended up setting up a bus to take all guests to a working train station in the morning, to ensure everyone could leave when needed. The service here is above and beyond. This was a highlight of our first trip to Japan.

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“Overall Excellent”

We stayed for 2 nights - it was a great all round experience Classic Japanese ryokan - the room with tatami matting bed was set up by staff during dinner - so no effort by guests. The room included en-suite, and were well appointed and kept clean by staff. The included dinners were multi-course … more

We stayed for 2 nights - it was a great all round experience Classic Japanese ryokan - the room with tatami matting bed was set up by staff during dinner - so no effort by guests. The room included en-suite, and were well appointed and kept clean by staff. The included dinners were multi-course Japanese cuisine - served traditionally in a private room with good explanation of etiquette The breakfast was more canteen style - crowded but good selection of both Japanese and western foods The “onsen natural spring bathing” is not to be missed - make sure you try it out

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“XXL”

Everything is large in this Anson hotel. We stayed in a western style suite which was huge, quite a difference from the small rooms in big city hotels. The building is also large and as a nice hot bath area in the back. It’s a bit far from the railway station, but they offer a regular free shuttle… more

Everything is large in this Anson hotel. We stayed in a western style suite which was huge, quite a difference from the small rooms in big city hotels. The building is also large and as a nice hot bath area in the back. It’s a bit far from the railway station, but they offer a regular free shuttle service. If you don’t have your luggage, you can easily walk downtown or to other onsens or to the cable car. Large selection of dishes at breakfast.

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“Not as accommodating for the premium charged (Breakfast) - Ok onsen experience”

Mixed feelings on this one, especially given this is a high end property charging ~$700 a night for a family of 3. Rooms- The rooms are very spacious and traditional Japanese style, which give you good vibe especially if you are coming from Tokyo/ Osaka where hotel rooms are extremely small. We … more

Mixed feelings on this one, especially given this is a high end property charging ~$700 a night for a family of 3. Rooms- The rooms are very spacious and traditional Japanese style, which give you good vibe especially if you are coming from Tokyo/ Osaka where hotel rooms are extremely small. We got a room facing the hills which was a beautiful sight. Quick caveat for those arriving after a day long travel/ overnight travel. You will get rooms around 2 but the futon beds only get set up by 6, so not helpful if you want to lie down for a quick nap/ relax in the afternoon. You can however request not to pick up the futons next morning (else they will be removed while you are having breakfast. Breakfast - Most disappointing part of our stay. While the hotel asked us via email (post reservation) about our dietary preferences - where we clearly stated no beef / no pork and 1 person allergic to egg, don’t think these were addressed at all. The breakfast was mainly beef and pork items, with some raw seafood and eggs. Furthermore, the egg section was mainly sunny side up, Japanese omelette (cold) and soft boiled eggs in some seafood based / miso broth. On requesting if we could get some omelette/ hard boiled eggs for our child, the restaurant staff checked with the chef and said it wasn’t possible. Didn’t get the denial especially for hard boiled eggs as they were anyway boiling them for soft boiled ones. As a result only 1 of us had an egg based breakfast and other 2 had to take bread butter/ some boiled sweet potatoes. I’m unsure what the use of asking dietary requirements if you mean to do nothing about it. I would suggest them to provide a breakfast free option while booking or fix these issues to accommodate people with dietary restrictions. Onsen- We didn’t use the public ones, but booked 2 private ones a which come with a separate charge. Mixed feelings about this. They have 3 private onsens - Japanese, Chinese and Balinese styles. The onsen themselves are very similar, with just the shape of the tub changing. However the hot stone baths are different. So not sure if choosing one over the other makes a lot of difference. The beauty is that the bath tubs are in open areas facing the hill, with walls on left and right, so you feel the chill in the winters while bathing in warm water. For some reason, we felt the Balinese one was a slightly better experience. The water felt warmer plus maybe the fact we were tired after a day of travel when we did that. We did the Japanese one the next morning at 7:30 and experienced was strictly ok, maybe because we had just woken. I must admit we found the Sapporo private onsen to be better, as the water here felt like just plain water, with no hint of smell expected from spring water. It maybe due to the type of spring/ filtration they do, but in our view we had a better experience near Sapporo. The hotel provides complimentary shuttle to the other ryokans and kinosaki station which is great as there is no uber/ limited taxis in the area. Also their dinner reservations run out (we didn’t get any at their hotel - when we booked the hotel ~1 month in advance, and they advised to reserve dinner at their sister property, which we declined. This I realised was a tricky decision later as most of the non ryokan restaurants close around 6 pm. Luckily Colin from their team guided us to book a nearby restaurant that crossed at 8 pm and we used the shuttle to and from which was a 6 min ride one way. Overall it may be a good 1 time visit, but believe not being able to have breakfast after paying such a premium is not something anyone would like.

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