Guest House Kura

The place has many kind staff members but the atmosphere of the place is really like a family. The owner is one of the kindest people I have met and the people that were also staying at the guest house were great too. Also, i had the chance to meet some very kind local people. There's so many delicious local foods that they recommend you, but when you find a place yourself, that's a true gem. This location has quite a few small museums that you can check out too, but even more things are a couple minutes away by train, car and bike

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The guest house was very charming and due to it being an old building, was quite cold. However, we were encouraged to use the heating provided in the room and the shower room, and it worked very well. The room was spacious and the futons were comfortable. The two main highlights of our stay were the unexpected drinking/socialising party we came back to after a night out and the owner herself, Marina, who was more than accommodating and a wonderful person to have met! Thank you for everything!

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Yuki is so kind and hospitable. She has so much knowledge of where to go and how to get there. I enjoyed meeting other solo travelers in a cozy environment with complimentary tea.

We've never experienced such friendliness and care before. The staff did above and beyond by anticipating all our needs and helping us visit many local attracttions. Kura Guesthouse is unique in how it connects the travellers to the local community, so almost every night we got a chance to meet young local people who come to the guesthouse just to hang out and practice English. Marina-san and her staff are the most amazing hosts we ever had. Every night we talked for hours with them and with other guests. The guesthouse is very accessible, only 40 minutes from Nagano by convenient public transport, and the local towns Suzaka, Obuse and Yudanaka have so much to offer that we felt like we just want to explore more and more. We stayed at Kura for 6 days, did nature hikes, saw beautiful temples and waterfalls, visited art museums and nice cafes, and there's still so much more to see that we couldn't fit in 6 days!

This is an authentic traditional Japanese house with paper walls and sleeping on futons, so please don't expect hotel-level privacy :)

The best stay during our tour of Japan. This is the perfect feel of what a hostel should be like, a place to meet people who are also travelling and want a sense of community with fellow travellers. After 7pm there is not much to do in the region of Nagano/Suzaka, so socialising and drinking sake with others was an unforgettable way to pass time. The owners are very pleasant and they went to the local market to buy local delicacies for us all to share. Considering we travelled to the area just to visit the Snow Monkeys, this turned out to be our favourite stop and location

The wall in the shower has a gap in the wall that exposes a cold draft to enter the room.

The traditional tatami mats and the staff!! They were so lovely and nice. Marina-san is so sweet she hosted a gyoza night and a bunch of locals came and we got to make gyoza and chat with the locals. We also did sukiyaki one night and it was so much fun! The staff are so friendly and definitely a highlight of staying here.

It’s a famous guest house in this region and the building is 140 years old so in the winter it gets very cold. There are heaters in each room and they provide electric blankets though which keeps it warm.

I stayed four nights at Kura and it was perfect. Staff were super nice and helpful! They gave me restaurants recommendations and activities to do near Nagano and Suzaka. The house is beautiful. It’s an old traditional Japanese house where you sleep on futon. They have all the equipment you need. The house is next to a combini, it’s super convenient. It was a great experience. Thank you to the Kura Team!

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What a stay. The staff was wonderful and helped us wherever they could. The room was exactly as we hoped. It's an old house, we slept on tatami. It has a shared kitchen and bathing facility which is dated but does what it has to do. Breakfast is additional, but worth the money. At the end, the owner even drove us to the railway station. It is not so far from the snow monkeys which we did not go to, but walked in the neighbourhood. Absolutely wonderful.

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The best thing about Guest House Kura is by far the staff! They are the absolute friendliest people and make you feel so welcome you almost don’t want to leave. They gave me great recommendations for places to go, food to check out and especially a walkthrough on visiting Snow Monkey Park. The room and facilities are also very comfortable and give you a good authentic feel when you’re in it. Loved the experience and would love to bring others back.

A very pleasant and friendly environment, The staff are great and will help you with everything you need. Facilities are clean and comfortable.

It is a japanese style room, so walls are thin and you can hear everything. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but something to consider if that is important to you