Kiso Mikawaya

“Nice hotel and great location”

This hotel is a nice and comfortable place to spend a few days. The traditional rooms are great and the view of the river and town really makes the place. The onsen is a great perk, especially for after long mountain treks. The staff generally know enough English to be helpful. I wish I could give … more

This hotel is a nice and comfortable place to spend a few days. The traditional rooms are great and the view of the river and town really makes the place. The onsen is a great perk, especially for after long mountain treks. The staff generally know enough English to be helpful. I wish I could give it a 4.5, the only downside is that it is a little dated and dark.

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“Traditional Ryokan on the river”

We stayed in this quite large Ryokan for only one night. Our room with a view over the Kiso River, was very large with its own bathroom. We slept on futons on tatami mats for the first time during our stay in Japan. I must say a little firm sleeping. We had both dinner and breakfast which was typ… more

We stayed in this quite large Ryokan for only one night. Our room with a view over the Kiso River, was very large with its own bathroom. We slept on futons on tatami mats for the first time during our stay in Japan. I must say a little firm sleeping. We had both dinner and breakfast which was typically Japanese at the Ryokan which was very good and substantial. The Ryokan has its own Onsen free of charge for guests. The staff who are very efficient and friendly spoke little English but we managed to get by. This is truly an experience everyone should do while in Japan. Kiso itself has a lovely little folk museum and an old town area to wander around. It is a very peaceful and beautiful area.

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“Useful location for sight-seeing, but not for arrival by train”

Kiso Mikawaya has good location for sight-seeing, but not for arrival by train. It’s about a 15 minute walk from the station, but with luggage we decided to take a taxi at the suggestion of the Tourist Information Center staff across from the station. We arrived early and we were checked in right… more

Kiso Mikawaya has good location for sight-seeing, but not for arrival by train. It’s about a 15 minute walk from the station, but with luggage we decided to take a taxi at the suggestion of the Tourist Information Center staff across from the station. We arrived early and we were checked in right away. The pleasant staff at the desk had enough English to help us with the details. After check-in we were instructed to pick out our own yukata by size from the rack in the lobby. This is especially useful if you want to your wear your yukata to the onsen and also to dinner, as we do. We also were shown the “Drinks bar” with complimentary coffee, tea, soft drinks - free and available much of the day, also during dinner. First we are given a room very near elevator but when we requested a change, we were moved to similar room at the far end of the hall. We were served good meals at both breakfast and dinner and on our 3 night stay we were given 3 different dinners. At some ryokans we've stayed at, three nights meant a repeat dinner on the third night, but not here and we found that quite nice. The same held true for breakfast - 3 different breakfasts. Our room was a large and comfortable tatami room with a view of the river below and the backs of the building across the water. The futons were very good and we had a sound night’s sleep. One thing we didn’t like about the room was the quality of light. It was a naturally dark room with few available lighting fixtures. We had one lantern type lamp which we moved from place to place in the room as needed. In addition, there was no lighting in the very dark entrance area for our room. There is lots of wasted space in large entrance area to room and with no light it is easy to leave something behind in that empty space on the shelf above the refrigerator - take care. The public baths were nice and not very much used. We each had the bath mostly to ourselves when we visited late in the afternoon. A washing machine and vending machine with beer can be found on second floor in a huge room that seemed to have been intended as some kind of game room but appeared pretty much unused and empty. The halls and elevator are quite old and used looking. The whole hotel could do with a renovation. The hotel attracts tour groups on the weekend resulting in a very noisy dining room and conversations in the halls could easily be heard in the rooms due to thin walls. The rooms themselves are clean and pleasant, though the entry carpet could benefit from a good cleaning. We enjoyed our stay but recommend that the management put some money back into the property to spruce it up.

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“mixed bag - review pros and cons”

hard to rate this place where i stayed for a night while walking the nakasendo trail pros: - huge tatami mat room with nice seating area by the window next to river - free drinks bar including fancy teas - onsen usage downstairs - lots of good shops and restaurants nearby (especially soma cafe!!) … more

hard to rate this place where i stayed for a night while walking the nakasendo trail pros: - huge tatami mat room with nice seating area by the window next to river - free drinks bar including fancy teas - onsen usage downstairs - lots of good shops and restaurants nearby (especially soma cafe!!) cons: - unfriendly disengaged staff - creepy claustrophobic shower room (enclosed plastic room that makes you feel like you are on a boat) - main floor of hotel feels like it's partially used for storage. very untidy cluttered vibe - strong smells in hallways - might feel far from train station for most ppl (i didn't mind)

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