Kamisuwa Onsen Shinyu

“Very Enjoyable and Satisfying Stay”

Firstly, the price is very reasonable. I booked myself a room facing the lake at the top floor of the ryokan and loved the magnificent sunset with the lake. The staff were helpful and keen with some knowledge of English though I can manage with some Japanese. Dinner was great as it was a bit f… more

Firstly, the price is very reasonable. I booked myself a room facing the lake at the top floor of the ryokan and loved the magnificent sunset with the lake. The staff were helpful and keen with some knowledge of English though I can manage with some Japanese. Dinner was great as it was a bit fusion with local and seasonal flavours. The chef had put in a lot of thoughts in preparing the menu and they have English menu as well. My booking included a free gift of a bottle of wine which was lovely. The public onsen was cozy and since I went on a weekday so it was very tranquil. My booking also came with a free session of the private onsen. Breakfast was served in the same restaurant in traditional Japanese style. After breakfast, you can join a free bus tour to visit the four Suwa Taisha in the area. It took about 3 hours and I highly recommend this tour. The bus driver is also the tour guide and he gives informative description of each of the shrines, though he only speaks Japanese. Nonetheless, he took care to make sure that I was okay with only Japanese introduction. The bus tour ended at around noon and they would take you back to the ryokan or drop you off at the JR station. All in all, I have enjoyed the stay very much.

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“High End Feel Hotel”

I came to the hotel later in the evening as I took longer than expected at some sites. The hotel is directly facing the Lake and easily accessible by the road. Ample parking as well as I self-drove. The hotel is spick and span. Amenities are abundant and the onsen was great. Private onsen could be … more

I came to the hotel later in the evening as I took longer than expected at some sites. The hotel is directly facing the Lake and easily accessible by the road. Ample parking as well as I self-drove. The hotel is spick and span. Amenities are abundant and the onsen was great. Private onsen could be reserved for about Yen 20,000 and lasted 45 minutes. Get the key directly from the reception. Food was served in private rooms which made it really classy. Drinks were optional and you could order during your meals. Breakfast was also in private room and they had really good meals for the children. Food was definitely sufficient. In the morning, hop across the road to visit the lake and don't forget to spend time at the footpath onsens. Great way to rest your feet for weary travelers.

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“Big Onsen hotel on beautifullake”

Meals were average, rooms looked a bit tainted. staff was very helpful and the private onsen bath was very nice. We stayed on a public holiday weekend so it was very busy. Sunset on the lake is beautiful!

“Food was a MAJOR let down ”

I wish I could give it a better review but that would be dishonest. It deserves 4 or 5 stars for service and 4 for the room but the meals were at best worth 2 stars if not just 1. We stayed for 4 nights which is not typical to have such a long stay but the location of Kamisuwa served as a good ba… more

I wish I could give it a better review but that would be dishonest. It deserves 4 or 5 stars for service and 4 for the room but the meals were at best worth 2 stars if not just 1. We stayed for 4 nights which is not typical to have such a long stay but the location of Kamisuwa served as a good base to us to explore Nagano. The price for the rooms with a private bath with lake view was quite reasonable relative to other ryokans and location (we paid about US$700 per night per room for 2 ppl). Back to the food. The lady serving us meals asked if we didn't like Japanese food as we kept having a lot of food left on our plates. How should I say that we love Japanese food but only if it tastes good. As an example, there was tuna sashimi for breakfast one day and it had such a strong "fishy" smell that made me think it wasn't fresh at all or has been kept outside after being sliced for a while. Another item for dinner was stewed beef which was really bland with a lot of fatty pieces which would've tasted much better if they simply bought a pre-packaged sauce to go with it. Worst of all, in every meal they had some sort of boiled, broiled or grilled fish. I'm guessing they probably cooked the fish in batches early on and then reheated. Regardless, all the fish meat was very dry and tasteless or with a fishy smell. As for the shabu shabu, the quality of the cut of beef was way below average. They claimed it was Shinshu beef but I haven't had any Wagyu that was as tough and tasteless. We can find better beef from any Japanese supermarket. It's hard to describe in words exactly what the problem was and this probably sounds overly harsh but for someone who has stayed at proper ryokans before, the bar for good food is set really high. And they are far below it. I suggest Shinyu to take their chef to visit a few other competitors to better understand the problem or change their supplier if the problem is the quality of the ingredients (which probably was a huge part of the issue too). I wish Shinyu and its staff well but wish they could've done the food a lot better. (PS, if you don't stay in a room with private bath; the public bath is a bit disappointing as well.)

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