The room was comfortable, tea, water abd a few special local snacks provided. The onsen was fantastic. Several public and 3 private onsen baths. The best part was lying in outdoor onsen at night looking up at moon and stars. The food was exceptional. Dinner was a set menu but then also a large buffet. Breakfast was large buffet in mornings.

I didn't realize when I booked that there is a free bus from Karuizawa station to the hotel. I guess I didn't read that in the English description or it was missing. We did take the free bus back on our return to shinkansen. There is also a free shuttle bus from bus station in Kusatsu to hotel and back and to town center in evening until 8 pm. I didn't realize that booking from overseas. These were extra items that made trip even better but I needed more information after booking.

First traditional onsen ryokan experience for me and my Aussie partner. We were absolutely stunned by how elegant and detailed of food was. It was lucky that Tokyo snowed few days ago so we get to see snow covering Kusatsu. We bathed in the onsen admiring how unreal the view was with snow. Brilliant service too but the front desk can barely speak English.

I'm not quite sure their policy when it comes to tattoos. So I majorly used private onsen house. Which is fine but i hope Japan will be able to improve the descrimination against having non-gansters tattoos.

The highlight of this ryokan is its many onsen options. There are 3 private (free) reserved onsens and 2 big bathing facilities with many indoor and outdoor options. The bathing facilities change gender once a day which effectively double your options. For food you have a set main and appetizer with remainder being full buffet and various drinks including alchol! Downsides are rooms are quite small and as onsen is shared with the connected ryokan next door, the private onsens can be hard to get hold of. Location is also just a bit too far from central kusatsu locale (yubatake) by foot. Overall a charming stay.

very nice view outside with superb onsen collection. first there is a large outside public bath with rocks and trees around, since we went during Feb, it is snowing when taking the hot onsen bath, the whole atmosphere and view watching the snow fall down and enjoy the hot bath is such a lifetime experience. And then there are three free private onsen bath, please be considerate and use for 15mins to let others use it too. moreover the breakfast buffet is superb and they treat us a traditional Japanese little hotpot too.

Not that I can think of. Remember the shuttle bus schedule if not you may have to walk there which is a long way.

One of the best hotel/ryokan experiences we have ever had. Everything here was fantastic - the staff, the service, the facilities, the food, the transport to town, the comfort of the room and beds, and just the way the whole place flowed. The 2 onsens were phenomenal, as were the 3 private onsens, which were easy to book for free. We had a wonderful 3 days here and would highly recommend this magical place!

different types of onsen

breakfast is buffet style, many Japanese food choices but not in Western style. the 3 private onsen is marvellous but they don’t have a booking system, need to wait and line up ! I only stayed for one day and want to try each one, thus I need to wait and line up for at least 40 mins to try one, as there’s always one or two groups lining up in front of me.

The hotel did a great job in managing a small temporary issue with onsens. My stay at Konoha / Tokinoniwa has been a great and memorable experience. Meals were great value for the money and they even translated the menu (just) for me. Staff at reception spoke excellent English, the other staff members less well, but we could understand each other.

The WiFi signal in the rooms is weak and sometimes there is no connection.

Very pretty ryokan to stay at. The food was delicious and the baths were amazing. There is a ramen snack between 22:00-23:00 for free. The staff is accommodating but don't all speak English well. They try their hardest though! The bed was amazing, very large and soft.

They have quite a few onsen pools, with water sourced differently. The outdoor pools are sizeable too. For those visiting the town for better onsen enjoyment, this is one of the best hotels.

Staff were super friendly and went into detail about the property and amenities, the decor and location were awesome.

Unfortunately two out of the three private onsens were out of order for the two days we were there which made it hard for our tattooed group members to enjoy themselves fully.