Staff were very friendly and attentive. We had the large room for a family of four, which was very spacious. The futon matresses were on the thinner side, but I still slept very well and found the buckwheat hull pillows amazingly comfortable. It is a very traditional Ryokan with its own onsens (gender segregated) with communeral showers/ wash rooms. The ryokan was set in a charming onsen village, which was very quiet when we stayed in mid-July, a lovely change after a busy few days in Tokyo. Good public transport from the station and there was a bus to the national park to see the snow monkeys.. I definitely recommend staying here if you want to experience staying in a traditional ryokan.

As a traditional ryokan, the showers and bathroom facilities are communeral with shared toilets, so if you are more comfortable with private ensuite facilities, this won't be for you.

so friendly. delicious meals. Small family run ryokan it is located on the quiet small road in the middle of the 9 Onsens popular to visit and do a stamp rally. it is opposite a hotel that looks like it is from Ghibli’s Spirited Away movie.

Nothing bad, I’d definitely return if I’m am in that area. but be aware it is an older hotel though, but it is clean and comfortable. There are several flights of stairs to rooms and down to dining room and their small Onsen incase you have mobility issues.

It’s in the middle of Shiba Onsen, such a beautiful place and vicinity well preserved with the Japanese culture. During our stay it wasn’t so busy so we enjoyed the place so well. But the best compliment is the service of the owner of the place. I believed it’s family owned and run. The staff name “Su” was very helpful. They even give us traditional delicacies whenever we go back to our accomodation. The private onsen inside the accomodation is very well maintained too. We’ll definitely come back again. Thanks again! 😄

I absolutely love being in a traditional onsen town. You can fully immerse into the Japanese bathhouse culture. The staff at the Ryokan are extremely helpful and are patient to communicate with me as I was not able to converse in Japanese. As it was our first time being in Japan, the staff explained how to use the onsen, what to wear as yukata and kazi, show us the tatami room and explained how to eat through our Japanese meal. It was very educational. The ryokan environment is cosy with traditional house setting which means no lift. Please do note that if you have heavy luggage, you will have to carry it up to your room. If you are not able to carry it, you can try to ask for help or open up your suitcase and bring the items up to the room in multiple rounds.

For person who is not familiar with Japan, there should be an explaination on what it meant by 'Bathrooms and toilets are shared.' In other parts of the world when Bathrooms and Toilets are shared, it meant that the facilities are placed outside and will be in cubicles. The toilets are in the cubibles but the Shower area is actually and Open area in the Bathroom with no cubicles or shower curtains. So this was truly and eye opener for us.

The location within the small mountain town was excellent. We arrived during the summer festival and each night the streets were packed with tourists and locals enjoying summer activities. They were all so kind and actively encouraged us to participate. The food was really special and yummy. The staff was also SUPER friendly and so nice to us. They were absolutely wonderful.

The pillows were a little hard. We aren't really used to Japanese style pillows so they were a little uncomfortable to our tastes. Other than that, everything was really charming and wonderful about the ryokan.

Our stay in Ikariya Ryokan was amazing. The room was spacious and cosy, the location was perfect and the staff was super helpful, hospitable and welcoming. The futon beds were comfortable and we really enjoyed the onsen. Our special thanks for the staff for taking into consideration our vegetarian diets and preparing amazing and delicious breakfasts for us, we really appreciated it! Hopefully we can visit again some day.

Location is very good, in the middle of the small Yamanouchi town! So enjoyable. You are also provided with a onsen pass that allows you to go in the 10 public onsens of the town and a very beautiful kimono. Room is very japanese style! :)

Outch, futons are not comfortable at all ! :D But it is the game and I chose a Ryokan to try this, so!

Lovely hosts greeted us and looked after us for our trip. Food was great and the private onsen honestly is better than most of the towns. You also get access to the 9 Shibu onsens which are all conveniently located.

The new staff were so helpful and kind. Our room was stunning with traditional Japanese style and the view of the Ibsen street and adjacent hotel was beautiful. This was one of our favourite hotels in Japan

The property is right in the heart of Shibu Onsen and even has its own onsen pool in the basement. The staff, while not fluent in English, were very accommodating and used a translator to provide the best experience they could.